Gift ideas for 6th grade graduation?

[Anonymous]

I only got gifts when I graduated from high school not grade school or middle school. Money from a peer is strange

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Maybe schools here term things differently.

Terminology I'm used to:
passing or rising: child earned the grades to go to the next grade
promoted: child didn't earn the grades to pass, parents insisted that child would not repeat
retained: child did not earn grades and parents agreed with school to have child repeat

I've not heard of 'promoted' having any connotation other than passing to the next grade. A 'rising' 7th grader would only mean the student has finished 6th grade and hasn't started 7th. Our FCPS elementary school sent invitations to the 6th grade "promotion ceremony". I'd have to go back and look but I believe that on the final progress report, the teacher must indicate whether the student should be 'promoted' to the next.

I don't know what school system you came from but I can tell you that, at least in this area, it's not typical for a child to repeat a grade. It has nothing to do with the parents insisting the child be promoted. It's contrary to school policy and is based on research. If a child didn't learn adequately the first time around and is not working at grade level, repeating the grade and using the same instructional method is unlikely to yield different results. The child needs to be evaluated for learning challenges and be taught in a different way. I've learned a great deal about this because 2 of my kids have IEPs. I had wanted my youngest held back in preschool (he was in a county run special ed preschool) but the school declined and our advocate said it would be very difficult to get the county change its mind.

The move from elementary to middle school in DCPS is called a Promotion Ceremony too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Maybe schools here term things differently.

Terminology I'm used to:
passing or rising: child earned the grades to go to the next grade
promoted: child didn't earn the grades to pass, parents insisted that child would not repeat
retained: child did not earn grades and parents agreed with school to have child repeat

I've not heard of 'promoted' having any connotation other than passing to the next grade. A 'rising' 7th grader would only mean the student has finished 6th grade and hasn't started 7th. Our FCPS elementary school sent invitations to the 6th grade "promotion ceremony". I'd have to go back and look but I believe that on the final progress report, the teacher must indicate whether the student should be 'promoted' to the next.

I don't know what school system you came from but I can tell you that, at least in this area, it's not typical for a child to repeat a grade. It has nothing to do with the parents insisting the child be promoted. It's contrary to school policy and is based on research. If a child didn't learn adequately the first time around and is not working at grade level, repeating the grade and using the same instructional method is unlikely to yield different results. The child needs to be evaluated for learning challenges and be taught in a different way. I've learned a great deal about this because 2 of my kids have IEPs. I had wanted my youngest held back in preschool (he was in a county run special ed preschool) but the school declined and our advocate said it would be very difficult to get the county change its mind.

Most of my experience is with Michigan schools that want to retain k-2 kids who don't have the academics for the next grade, but the parents won't allow it because it will mess up the sports eligibility for HS. The children who are retained are never in the classroom with the previous teacher (if it's a case of a kindergartener who came in with no preschool knowledge who made great strides throughout the year, but isn't up to starting 1st grade yet, frequently the teacher will ask to have the student again, and it may or may not be granted); either way, most of the teachers try to mix up learning style. I've not seen what happens here yet, but if the assumption is that a child has sn just because they were goofing off instead of paying attention, that's another issue. Personally, unless I know that my child needs an IEP, I would prefer to be in a school that retains the child to bring them up to speed, and I've worked with several kids who just needed an extra year to catch up (no sn).

I'm curious to know how a child who didn't learn adequately in third grade would be able to keep up in fourth and what the research says about the child that can never catch up. I would bet anything that the child would be labeled sn and the mainstream teacher wouldn't do any extra work with that child, whereas the teacher with a retained student who doesn't have sn will make sure that child pays attention and understands.