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What Grade?
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My son turns 6 on the 2nd September. Do I do grade 1 stuff with him or do another year of Kindergarten?
Go with your gut instinct. Do you feel he’s ready for K work or 1st grade? You can also do a combo.
I have 3 out of 5 children who have November birthdays. I always waited to do 1st until they were 6 going into the school year to do 1st grade. It’s just a matter of personal preference.
For example, my dd who will turn 7 on November 5, I did K with her last year for some things, 1st for others. She will be “officially” 1st in September.
That’s the beauty of homeschooling…you decide what’s best.
Nanci
One of my daughter’s b-days is Sept 14. I started to do K the year she turned 5 and quit two weeks in. She was totally not ready (this was before I had found SCM or really knew much about homeschool options). We started K the year she turned 6 and did 1st last year when she turned 7. This year she will turn 8 two weeks into her 2nd grade year. That is just our situation but it was wonderful having the freedom to do what worked best for her. If I had enrolled her in K at school I have no idea what we would have done after we realized it was a mistake. Like Nanci said, do what you feel is best, you can’t screw it up b/c if you don’t like your decision you can change it without any damage.
I would say just teach him whatever he needs to learn next and not think about what grade it’s called. I know that can get tricky though if you’re in a state that requires testing or to tell what grade he’s in for your homeschool notification form. But I have extensive experience with a daughter that thinks that’s all that matters. I wish we had never told her there were grade numbers. She’s 11 now and insists she’s in 6th grade–no way. It’s 5th grade all the way, but I can’t talk to her about it anymore.
If there’s any way to avoid the subject with your son, I would. All kids in the same grade are learning different things at different rates anyway. My older son was doing way more work and harder work in 3rd grade than my younger daughter is now, but we still call it 3rd grade.
So just teach what’s next; that’s what he needs anyway.
But if you do need to designate a grade, I would go by emotional maturity, willingness, attitude, and ability to pay attention more than anything else if he’s okay with the actual school work.
Just my 2 cents! Hope it helps.
When our oldest began kindergarten (public school) he was 5 1/2 (he was so not ready to be away from home and didn’t want to go, but is compliant, so he went). We pulled him out in the beginning of 2nd grade for a variety of reasons. Our second boy turned 5 the month before school started, of course we were hsing by then, but I still started school for him. He basically did preschool work. The next year, when he was 6 1/2, I counted as real K, he really needed that. extra time, but I think I did more than he did. Homeschooling one was hard enough at the time, then we had another to hs and a new baby. Anyway, all of last year I counted as 1st grade, this year 2nd and now he is 8.
Basically I “enrolled” him in school at the age that is required in our state, which is 6. But, he does mostly 3rd grade work or could if he had to.
When my kids ask what grade they’re in I tell them so that when they are with ps kids, or whoever, they have something to tell them that they (meaning the person asking) will understand. Otherwise, I tell them that it’s difficult/unnecessary to put a grade level on certain things, like, what grade level is horseback riding, karate, community service, etc.? You can’t really put those in a grade level, more like a skill level, imo.
To answer your question is difficult since all kids are different, but I do know that I did one more year of what I would consider K, but threw in alot of different things if I felt he was ready and just went with it:)
HTH and doesn’t confuse the issue…
I agree with the others. Do what is right for him. If he’s not ready for 1st, then keep him in “K.” My 3rd dd (age 3 1/2) has a bday in Nov. She is SO ready for 4yo work, though. I have said for a couple years now that I will start K stuff the fall she turns 5, even though she’s technically only 4 at the beginning. But like I said, she’s ready for it and loves it. My older 2 I also did at their own pace. My 2nd dd just finished K. Took her all year (and then some) to finish it. My oldest dd did grade K in 4 mths, and took 1 1/2 years to do 1st grade. The beauty of hs’ing is you can go at their pace, not the school’s pace. 🙂
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