PirateWench8 wrote:Trust me I'm one of those Summer babies (born in the middle of August) and until I was in fourth grade I did nothing but struggle. It took me that long that I was able too Emotionally and Academically catch up too the rest of my classmates many of whom were eleven to ten months older than me. My younger brother (also born in the middle of August) was placed in Transitional First grade (it was implemented three years after I started school) and he excelled in school and had no problems. I wish they had it when I was Ollie's age, because there were many tears of frustration shed by me because I just wasn't able to keep up with my classmates who I was almost a full year younger than.
There’s benefits to being kept with your peers though. School isn’t just meant to teach academics, it’s social learning as well.
Where we live, there is no option to hold kids back or skip them. Doesn’t matter if you were born January 1st 2019 or December 31st 2019. Kids born in the same calendar year all stay in the same grade together, no September cut off.
If anyone is ahead or behind, they adjust their specific learning materials to accommodate that, but leave them in the grade with their peers.
For example, my son was born in October, and has a learning disability. As a result, he was a full year behind his peers in nearly every subject, and more than a year behind in reading. They accommodated that (for him and others), by making multiple levels of books available in the classroom and tweaking lessons to groups of students at similar levels.
Alternatively, my daughter was born in January, and her teachers say she’s two years ahead in literacy and math, and a year ahead in all other areas. She stays with her peers, and they bring in higher level books for her.
The best part about this system is that there is no stigma for being held back or being “that kid” who’s a full year (or more, in Ollie’s case) older than everyone in the class. No one stands out as “the dumb older kid”, which sounds harsh, but kids notice that stuff and WILL bully kids for it.
They’re also used to having kids their age with varying levels of abilities within the same classroom, all being accommodated based on their needs, so they learn early on that people within a peer group will not always be at the same place academically, and that it’s okay.
I truly believe that it is ALWAYS best to keep same age kids together. Skipping kids who are ahead is a bad idea, and holding kids back is just as bad. Think about their future schooling. I wouldn’t want my daughter to skip ahead two years and start high school at 12. Ollie will be a freshman in high school when he should be a junior. His high school social and dating life will be a nightmare for him.