Advice needed - repeating in 7th grade

[BBoys]

My sons have developed gaps in their learning due to us living in different countries. For the first 5 years they were in Non-English speaking schools. They have struggled every year to keep up, never getting the chance to catch up.

I feel they would benefit from repeating a year, however their birthday is the 2nd week of September, so they would be 14 while most students are still 12.

I am so torn as what to do. We are looking at homeschooling this year to get them one on one help to fill the gaps, but we will still be faced with the same question next school year.

To repeat would mean they graduate at 19 & 7mths approx. has anyone had this with their kids & how did the children in the class react & how did your children deal with this?

[almondbutterandjelly]

Well, hopefully someone will chime in with more been there done that, but here's my two cents.

 

You can't correct in a year what 7 years of inadequate education has done.  Why are you considering not homeschooling for high school also, when regular school has already let you down for seven years?

 

Please take that comment in the kind tone in which it is meant.  Honestly, why send the kids back when school has failed at its job thus far?

 

If you chose to homeschool for the remainder of the kids' school, then you don't really have to worry about how the children in the class react.  You meet your kids where they are and work on getting them where you want them to be.  

 

Best wishes with your decision.

[Alte Veste Academy]

So next year would be their 8th grade year, and you plan to homeschool for that year?

 

What are their weak areas and how motivated are they to catch up? What is their work ethic like? I actually do think it is possible for them to catch up in a year of homeschooling—if their motivation is high and you set and work hard toward specific goals. I wouldn't worry much about content gaps because all subjects start fresh with content in high school. I would be skill focused for a year.

[8filltheheart]

I would place them in8th grade and spend the yr focusing on skills: math, writing, reading and maybe a quick run through broad coverage science (Plato's 3 middle school science 3 courses-- life science, physical science, and earth/space--are easily covered in a single school yr in 45 mins/day. They can be purchased via yr's subscription through homeschool buyers co-op.)

 

A concentrated yr for students that age should cover a lot of ground. If they end next yr in solid footing, they should be ok for 9th. If they are still behind at the end of 8th, I might consider repeating 8th. But, skills are the most important thing for high school. If they can get to speed on their basic skills, gaps in knowledge will just filled in their subject courses in high school.

[dragonflyer]

:iagree: Call them 8th this year and focus on filling in the gaps on skills.  I would even let science slide if they are too far behind in reading/writing.  They can always repeat 8th if you are convinced that they are not ready for high school.  Science and History in high school start by assuming the student knows nothing.

[...................]

I would call it 8th grade but just focus on the 3R's all year long. Shore up their math, use something like Saxon (which although I am not a huge Saxon fan it is perfect for this situation) because it reviews from the ground up every year. Focus on typing, writing essays from scratch (look at Excellenxe in Writing a DVD course), and study skills. I'm assuming even their spelling is weak but you can fix that by teaching them to type.

 

So every day would be :

1.5 hours of math (with jogging and snack halfway through)

1 hour of watching the DVD and working on essay and research writing.

20 minutes of typing practice if they are already not proficient

(I think science would be a good subject to use to make sure their study skills are in place. Note taking, outlining, flash cards, studying in general. Apologia Physical Science is very fun, usable and easy to teach if you don't mind it being Christian.)

 

If they are strong readers you can just choose good literature for them, and let them read. The 1000 Good Books List has tons of suggestions of literature that is worth reading and not useless garbage. I would let them read aloud to you and enjoy books and you can correct their pronunciation and check their comprehension naturally by just stopping and discussing the book.

 

Don't even worry about history. In fact I would be tempted to say don't even worry about science if your kids already know how to study and use flash cards and take notes etc.

 

If the year goes well maybe you'll want to homeschool for high school!

[Roseto27]

I would call it 8th grade but just focus on the 3R's all year long.

...

If they are strong readers you can just choose good literature for them, and let them read. The 1000 Good Books List has tons of suggestions of literature that is worth reading and not useless garbage. I would let them read aloud to you and enjoy books and you can correct their pronunciation and check their comprehension naturally by just stopping and discussing the book.

 

Don't even worry about history. In fact I would be tempted to say don't even worry about science if your kids already know how to study and use flash cards and take notes etc.

I agree with ^^^

That's exactly what I would do. The only thing that I might change is to have them practice study skills with literature so that you're not spread too thin. It sounds as though the math and language remediation needs to be intensive, so history, science, music, and art can all be tabled for now.

 

Depending on how bad the deficits are, I would also google for some informal assessments in each language arts area to see which gaps you should focus on. This site has several that I like [http://thisreadingmama.com/resources-links/informal-readingspelling-assessments/], but feel free to google around a bit. There's nothing fancy about these in particular. The information can help you target specific areas, though.

 

Good luck!!

[OneStepAtATime]

Agree with the above responses but I would caution you that if you are only focusing on the 3 r's please make sure you are also helping them pursue areas of interest.  If they like science, please don't drop science, for example.  You can let it be interest driven, though.  Audio books, documentaries, a project/experiment once in a while.  Or if they like history, same thing.  Or some other area.  Spin reading/writing/math assignments off of their areas of interest when you can.  The point is, if all they work on are the weak areas and nothing that really inspires them they may very well end up hating homeschooling, hating learning and have a hard time staying motivated.  I would also try to keep them in some outside activity where they see other kids, and absolutely make certain they are getting plenty of exercise.