Skipping a Grade

[daisies72]

What are pros and cons to skipping a grade????

We started our daughter a year late, technically she's old enough to be a 5th grader, but doing 4th this year. Academics have always been easy, but not boringly so, we challenge her. Its a possibility, she is very motivated, and we could do both 4th and 5th grade this year. Are there any real pros though? Its not like she's bored because we move on. Sports would be a con, she's small for a 4th grader, would be even smaller for a 5th and we play sports year round...... Hmm...

[Ellie]

What are pros and cons to skipping a grade????

We started our daughter a year late, technically she's old enough to be a 5th grader, but doing 4th this year. Academics have always been easy, but not boringly so, we challenge her. Its a possibility, she is very motivated, and we could do both 4th and 5th grade this year. Are there any real pros though? Its not like she's bored because we move on. Sports would be a con, she's small for a 4th grader, would be even smaller for a 5th and we play sports year round...... Hmm...

 

If she's old enough to be a fifth grader, then that's what she should be. She wouldn't need to do fourth and fifth grade work. Call her a fifth grader and be done with it.

[daisies72]

cons??

[Ellie]

I can't think of any.

[Farrar]

When you're talking about homeschooling only, I don't see any reason not to just call a kid by the grade they're in by the cutoff date when you first start kindergarten.  There may be specific reasons to reclassify a grade in school though.

[Trish]

Don't sports generally go by age, regardless?

[MinivanMom]

Why did you start her a year late?  In general it's always best to call your child the grade they would be according to local school cut-offs and then teach them at whatever level they are currently working at.  If she is a 5th grader according to local cut-offs, then call her a 5th grader.  There is no need to consider it a grade-skip or to force her to do extra work.  Call her a 5th grader and continue teaching her at her current level.

 

I don't know why sports would be a con.  Most teams use birthdates to determine their cut-offs, so it doesn't matter what grade she's in unless you are planning to put her in high school for sports.  She may be small now, but you never know when a growth spurt is going to hit. 

[Farrar]

Yeah, my understanding about sports is that there is a very mild advantage to being older, but it's older according to the birthday cutoff, so that's just luck of the draw.  Unless of course, one planned to have a superstar athlete by getting pregnant that the right time. ;)

[zenjenn]

When you're talking about homeschooling only, I don't see any reason not to just call a kid by the grade they're in by the cutoff date when you first start kindergarten.  There may be specific reasons to reclassify a grade in school though.

 

Yeah, I agree.One of my children is substantially accelerated; she's on the young side for a 3rd grader (May birthday), but all her academic work is classified as 4th or 5th grade work. I'm sure some will be 6th by the second half of this year. I never call her anything but a "3rd grader" when asked what grade she is, though, and she answers the same. I feel for emotional and social reasons, it's best. 

 

I actually think one of the advantages of homeschooling is that she can just be a "third grader", without there having to be some kind of disconnect between academic level and social level for things like activities. If she ever actually has to be put into school, I think we'd have to have her skip a grade. Putting her in at her grade level *in school* would come with all sorts of negatives. I can't imagine her being in a 3rd grade classroom. She would learn next to nothing. At home, I can jolly well call her a third grader and still accelerate her academics as much as she needs. No stigma of being weird or different or outside of her element socially.

[Erin]

I kind of thought that was one of the blessings of homeschool, actually. 

You can call your kid whatever grade you want, and give them whatever work best fits them.  Both are completely arbitrary...

[Ellie]

I kind of thought that was one of the blessings of homeschool, actually. 

You can call your kid whatever grade you want, and give them whatever work best fits them.  Both are completely arbitrary...

 

The grade level you hang on your child has only to do with outside activities such as Sunday school or other places that group children by grade level. To put a grade level label that's high or lower than what a homeschooled child would be in if he were in school can put him at a disadvantage if he does group activities based on grade level. It has nothing to do with his actual academic achievement or ability; it's just an imperfect way to group children in order to get an approximate idea of the group's age-appropriate abilities.

 

I have had multiple discussions over the last 25 years, in person and on the Internet,  with people who held their children back on paper and it came back to bite them later. Many people do that and they have no regrets, but I could not recommend doing something that has the potential for problems when the "fix" is as easy as just going by the children's birthdays and the cut-off date in the states where they live.

 

And honestly, until I became a member of TWTM forum I had never heard that a May birthday was "late." I say this as someone with two daughters who have May birthdays, a July birthday herself, and a dh with a September bday. I don't ever remember even knowing when my homeschooling friends' children's birthdays were. I find it so curious that so many of y'all know when your friends' children's birthdays are. o_0

[texasmama]

Sports usually go by age-related grade assignment, although my youngest son is "playing up" in a middle school basketball homeschool league even though he is a 5th grader by age.  He is essentially doing middle school work along with my 7th grader in all subjects except for grammar this year. 

 

The con of this is that he is a bit stuck in limbo because, in his own mind, he is a middle schooler...or an adult.  :)  He doesn't want to attend the church children's programming ("too babyish") so he just comes to the regular service with us.  He is the youngest kid in his co op classes but is able to handle the educational and social aspects of this.  I suspect he would be like this regardless of whether or not we homeschool.  Homeschooling allows him more flexibility in grade assignment depending on the activity, but it doesn't change his personality, if you know what I mean.  It is just the type of kid he is. :)

 

When people ask what grade he is in, I just label him as in 5th.  No one really cares what level he is working at academically.  They just want to know his approximate age.

[Erin]

 

 

It has nothing to do with his actual academic achievement or ability; it's just an imperfect way to group children in order to get an approximate idea of the group's age-appropriate abilities.

Yes.  That was my point...

[G5052]

We've always kept ours on grade-level on paper, but done advanced work at home.  That way they are with their age-mates in activities, and I have wiggle room if we have an off year where we need to catch up.  A friend of mine always did this with hers, and it saved her bacon when one kid had a really rough year with major medical problems.  They were able to stay above water in math and reading and let the rest go, and then pick up the next year without missing a beat.

 

If they want to graduate a year early, you can make that decision in high school sometime around what would be their junior year.

 

 

[boscopup]

And honestly, until I became a member of TWTM forum I had never heard that a May birthday was "late." I say this as someone with two daughters who have May birthdays, a July birthday herself, and a dh with a September bday. I don't ever remember even knowing when my homeschooling friends' children's birthdays were. I find it so curious that so many of y'all know when your friends' children's birthdays are. o_0

 

I think usually people talk about schooled kids in reference to a May birthday being "late" (though I don't consider it late either). When my oldest went to school, there were kids in his class that had been redshirted just because they had summer birthdays. It actually caused a problem for my son who was NOT redshirted (he has a late June birthday, and his due date would have been after the Sept. 1 cutoff if he hadn't decided to come early!). Academically, my son was absolutely ready for K. Socially, he was ready for K with other 5 year olds. He was NOT ready for K with 6 year olds. I was amazed at the difference in maturity between the 5 and 6 year olds, and how that affected the social atmosphere.

 

I don't know of any local homeschoolers that redshirt their kids, as that seems completely unnecessary in a homeschool context, but I know plenty who have redshirted their school kids. It's very normal around here. I remember hearing advice to redshirt any BOY with a summer birthday. Girls are rarely redshirted here, but it's just the boys. Basically, they're trying to get around the fact that many boys aren't ready to sit at a desk for 8 hours at age 5. :tongue_smilie:

 

There are a few friends whose kids' birthdays I know, simply because we're such good friends. :D Two friends in particular, I know the MONTH of all of their kids' birthdays. I couldn't tell you the exact days though. None of them are redshirted, btw, even the kid with an August birthday (but that's a GIRL, and again, it's usually the boys here that are redshirted).

 

For the OP... If it makes sense to bump the kid up to where she should be, do it. Give her academic work at her level. There isn't a specific set of work that is "4th grade" and "5th grade", except math. Continue her math program as-is, of course. I can't think of anything else that would require "catching up" in order to call the material "5th grade"? And again, in a homeschool context, it doesn't really matter. My kids are all over the map in levels of work. Their grade labels just tell how old they are, not what school work they're doing.

 

[RootAnn]

I let my summer birthday boy play last year when he technically would have made the cut-off for my state for K. He started K-type work in January, but neither of us worked too hard to make him do reading & math every day. That starts this fall. I don't see any problem pushing off formal academics for a half a year or a year if the kid isn't ready.

 

To the OP - Does your dd have friends in her current "grade level" in terms of the sports she plays?

For example, by our state's cut-off, my oldest would be going into 6th grade this fall. However, she mostly identifies with & knows kids in the area who are going into 7th. If I signed her up for sport-stuff, I'd put her in 7th with the kids she knows. (Her homeschool friends are all-ages.) In our area, community-run sports are "by grade" - but you can put down whatever grade level you want if you homeschool. (We can't participate in school-run sports, but most of our younger sports are community-run.) I know someone who put her kid down for preschool for library storytime & 1st for track. No one questioned either one.

 

If yours mostly does fine with other 4th graders, I'd keep her there for her outside activities.

 

I'd do whatever level of academics she can handle & do it as quickly as she likes. That's one of the benefits of homeschooling.

[go_go_gadget]

And honestly, until I became a member of TWTM forum I had never heard that a May birthday was "late." I say this as someone with two daughters who have May birthdays, a July birthday herself, and a dh with a September bday. I don't ever remember even knowing when my homeschooling friends' children's birthdays were. I find it so curious that so many of y'all know when your friends' children's birthdays are. o_0

 

It's not curious at all; I know when their birthdays are because they have birthday parties.

 

I don't come from a sporty family so there could be some nuance I'm missing, but it seems bizarre to me to use sports as a deciding factor in an academic matter. If the child's actual age and her school work both say she's a fifth grader, then she's a fifth grader, IMO.

[MinivanMom]

Yeah, my understanding about sports is that there is a very mild advantage to being older, but it's older according to the birthday cutoff, so that's just luck of the draw.  Unless of course, one planned to have a superstar athlete by getting pregnant that the right time. ;)

 

Hilarious!  It's hard to know how big an influence Malcolm Gladwell has had on obstetrics.  I have a hard time imagining crazy sports parents going that extra mile, but I used to know a mom who smugly told everyone that she had conceived her children so that they would be born in the spring.  She thought it gave them an advantage in school to be older, but not the oldest.  She looked down on parents of summer birthdays who clearly had not planned well.  Um, not everyone has the luxury of planning the perfect birthdate.  Some people are very grateful to have conceived at all.

[carriede]

Socially, he was ready for K with other 5 year olds. He was NOT ready for K with 6 year olds. I was amazed at the difference in maturity between the 5 and 6 year olds, and how that affected the social atmosphere.

 

A friend of mine has a son with a late-June birthday who is new 5 year old that started K at a private school a week ago. He tested into 1st grade reading and math, which is very exciting... But now this young 5 year old is going to be in a 1st grade class with 6-7 year olds - and some will be 7 already because of this redshirt phenomenon.

 

I don't have any alternative ideas for the boy (besides homeschooling!), but it just baffles me to think he's going to be in classes with kids 2 years older than him.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Red shirting is a crazy phenomenon.  Here it isn't unusual for a boy to turn 7 in kindergarten on purpose without having failed.  I am with the person who said their child was ready for k with 5 year olds or maybe young 6 year olds.  My ds (now 10) was not ready for k with 6 turning 7 year olds and he has a Dec. b-day and turned 6 halfway through the year.  By the time my girls with summer bdays made it to 3rd grade, they were 8 years old with 10 year old boys in the class who had never failed.  They were red shirted.  It makes no sense.

Here is the thing....are you going to need to report this grade to your state?  I have heard it is very hard to adjust grades if you move up one year and decide you should move back another year.  Will you be able to utilize in the future any programs from your state which will require a grade level designation for your child?  

I think as long as you are a traditional homeschooler who doesn't have to designate to the state the grade of your child, then you can call your child what grade you feel comfortable with at the time.  

We went with an umbrella school last year and it was a big change and I do wish that I would have started one of my children a grade lower than what they were doing when we traditionally homeschooled.  If you ever think you may utilize something similar, then I would think long and hard about what the grade level number really means b/c there is a big difference in certain grade levels in certain states.  It is not easy to change once you have designated a grade level with the state.  If that isn't an issue for you, then choose what you feel works best for your child. :)

[daisies72]

Thank you everyone for your feedback! We really could do this, making up for the year we started her late. I taught public school kindergarten for many years and decided (because my kids went to public school back then) to start her late because she was just not ready (emotionally) you know? We have never regretted that decision, she has always done very well academically, scores high on end of year tests (see - she's a year older than her grade level peers). We don't hold her back to "grade level" math, reading, etc - we pretty much just go and then keep going so she isn't bored or unchallenged.  The only immediate thing I could think of at the time that would be affected is her sports, ours go by grade level, but she'll grow! lol! I wondered though if there could be something later on affected by the decision to skip a grade now, our oldest is only 13 so we haven't been down the high school and college road yet. However if she stays in this grade level she will turn 19 the month she graduates. I'm thinking too though that if we are going to skip this is the time to do it, it may be more difficult subject wise in middle school or high school. We have a ton of freedom, I'm a certified teacher home schooling and in my state it does not require much in the way of reporting, etc. Hmmmm.....we start in a week! I need to make a decision, thank you all for your input, it gives me a lot to think about and reassures me that we could do this!

[EKS]

Generally, I recommend that people use age-grade designations when homeschooling unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.  When considering an official grade skip, I find it helpful to work backwards from high school and ask yourself some questions:

 

• Do you want her to graduate a year earlier?
• Do you think she will be ready for high school work a year earlier?
• Is she already accelerated, meaning did she complete 4th grade work last year? 
• If not, is she ready for 5th grade work now?  Will the work be a struggle or easy for her?
• If not, will you be able to accelerate enough so that she is ready for high school work in 9th grade? 

 

[Tidbits of Learning]

My oldest just basically skipped 8th grade due to choices by our cyber school.  It is going ok but I would recommend doing it earlier if you are going to do it.  Jumping into a high school system has been good and bad for us and there is a big adjustment.  So if you feel she is ready to do the work for the grade she is age appropriate, I agree do it before high school.