Is 7 "too old" for first grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not put your child a grade behind. He/she will be able to adjust fine.

Kiddo is doing academically well, but even I admit there can be some social/emotional improvements, and that's on me, not my child. I need to help them and set new boundaries.

The impression I got from the school is that they would reject my child if being considered for 2nd grade, but not for 1st.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s only second grade. I’ve worked in both first and second. Your child will be fine. Put your child in second grade.

Kiddo is doing academically well, but even I admit there can be some social/emotional improvements, and that's on me, not my child. I need to help them and set new boundaries.

The impression I got from the school is that they would reject my child if being considered for 2nd grade, but not for 1st.

Money grab for the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not put your child a grade behind. He/she will be able to adjust fine.

Kiddo is doing academically well, but even I admit there can be some social/emotional improvements, and that's on me, not my child. I need to help them and set new boundaries.

The impression I got from the school is that they would reject my child if being considered for 2nd grade, but not for 1st.

If the child is doing academically well, the child should be placed in second grade. The social excuse is all over the place for kids this age. Your child will adjust and I guarantee there are other children who are in the same boat who have been attending school.

[Anonymous]

The ole social/emotional excuse.

[Anonymous]

I have a child with a similar birthday. It's a challenging birthday because no matter what you do, they will be on the edge of the age curve. So there's no right answer, but that also means there's no wrong answer.

My child started 1st at just turned 6 and it's been fine. However, if the school had recommended starting 1st at 7, I would have been totally fine with that. In some ways it's better to have the school tell you what they think will work best because then you don't have to guess and you can be more confident that they will provide your child with the support he needs, whether he's among the youngest or among the oldest.

[Anonymous]

Pretty common redshirting month aug. If school recommends I’d agree. Probably kids in 2nd that redshirt too.

[Anonymous]

The OP never said the month of her child’s birthday.
Regardless, if her child was born in august and doing well academically, she should not redshirt her child.

[Anonymous]

As others have said, 7 is not too old for first grade, as "on time" kids start tuning 7 on the first day of school and sooner. My Fall boys were 7 for nearly all of first grade.

The question is whether you agree that homeschooling has held you child back socially. How often has your child been in a situation with 16-20 age mates for extended time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OP never said the month of her child’s birthday.
Regardless, if her child was born in august and doing well academically, she should not redshirt her child.

We can assume August (or late July or very early September) because she said he turns 7 right before the school year starts. Pretty much all schools start in August or September, and private schools in particular tend to start at the beginning of September. So probably a late August birthday.

[Anonymous]

OP here - birthday is late August. When the school said they wanted to chat, I had a feeling it would be to ask to have my child considered for first, rather than second.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child with a similar birthday. It's a challenging birthday because no matter what you do, they will be on the edge of the age curve. So there's no right answer, but that also means there's no wrong answer.

My child started 1st at just turned 6 and it's been fine. However, if the school had recommended starting 1st at 7, I would have been totally fine with that. In some ways it's better to have the school tell you what they think will work best because then you don't have to guess and you can be more confident that they will provide your child with the support he needs, whether he's among the youngest or among the oldest.

No, it is not best for that school to make that decision. Are you crazy and a lazy parent?

Ah, I recognize you.

Yes, it is best for the school to make that decision because they will have a far better idea of what the age range of other kids in the grade will be, as well as what will be expected of children in the grade and what skills the kids will be expected to have coming in. Especially in a private school, they are best able to make a recommendation. A parent might know their own child well, but especially coming to a school for the very first time after traveling, can't really have any idea of what the classroom environment will be like or what the other kids are like.

School is not an individualized experience. It's a group experience. It works best when kids are ready for what they will be asked to do and when they will fall within the expected range of abilities and behaviors. If you want a fully individualized education, homeschool or hire tutors. If you want school, you will need to defer to their judgment on some of these things, and your judgment comes into play in choosing the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have said, 7 is not too old for first grade, as "on time" kids start tuning 7 on the first day of school and sooner. My Fall boys were 7 for nearly all of first grade.

The question is whether you agree that homeschooling has held you child back socially. How often has your child been in a situation with 16-20 age mates for extended time?

Her child is 7 before. It is irrelevant is others turn 7 after the cut off.
If a child cannot be with 16-20 similar age mates in second grade, they won’t be able to do it in first either.
Her child can hang with kids his own age in second grade. Jfc, it’s second grade, not college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - birthday is late August. When the school said they wanted to chat, I had a feeling it would be to ask to have my child considered for first, rather than second.

Definitely fine. This is very commonplace. See all of the threads on redshirting. DC will probably not even be the oldest in their grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - birthday is late August. When the school said they wanted to chat, I had a feeling it would be to ask to have my child considered for first, rather than second.

Definitely fine. This is very commonplace. See all of the threads on redshirting. DC will probably not even be the oldest in their grade.

It is not commonplace to put children below their academic level.
The overwhelmingly vast majority of children across the entire US are in the grade for their age.

[Anonymous]

I'd ask Jeff to move this to the private schools section. This is fairly common, and folks over there will have experience.