age/grade of children?

[Suz]

Good morning,
Looking for some advice from you experienced moms :)
Well, after 2 1/2 years of homeschooling my ds and dd, we have decided that it is time for them to go to school this next year.
My ds just turned 10 and is just ready for that peer motivation/competition thing -
Both kids were tested last week and did exceptionally well - whew! Dd will be going into 2nd grade, she just turned 8 in April. She was a late reader and just needs that extra time, she will do well being the oldest in the class. Anyway, ds turned 10 in May - he could go either way - 4th or 5th grade - Any of you have any experience with this? Are your kids the oldest or youngest in their classes? How has that affected their overall achievement, etc. Thanks for any advice/info!
Susie

[MaryL]

My ds1 is 10, and is going into the 5th grade. (He's a December birthday, his b-day is kind of in the middle of his peer groups, so he's got kids both older and younger in his class.)

Ds2 is 8, and is going into 3rd grade. (He's an April birthday, and is one of the younger kids in his particular group.)

Every class will have a different mix of "youngers" and "olders". I find that as children get older, that "younger/older" label doesn't matter as much. I teach Kindergarten, and I can definitely tell who has a late or early birthday. However, if I watch the 4th graders, it is much harder to group them by that criteria. KWIM? It's kind of like babies....while dks are babies, we relate to them in terms of months (She's 16 months...etc). Pretty soon we add the 1/2 age (My niece is 2 1/2). As they reach school age...that drops out, and they are just "5" or "6", etc. (Of course...kids like to add that 1/2 age ;).)

In my teacher opinion...I would recommend your ds go to 4th grade. He's just turned 10 (technically a "late" birthday, I guess), and I found the 4th grade curriculum to be quite challenging for my ds last year. I was amazed at what kinds of things he learned.

Hope that helps.

[JAK]

Originally posted by MaryL
My ds1 is 10, and is going into the 5th grade. (He's a December birthday, his b-day is kind of in the middle of his peer groups, so he's got kids both older and younger in his class.)

Ds2 is 8, and is going into 3rd grade. (He's an April birthday, and is one of the younger kids in his particular group.)

In my teacher opinion...I would recommend your ds go to 4th grade. He's just turned 10 (technically a "late" birthday, I guess), and I found the 4th grade curriculum to be quite challenging for my ds last year. I was amazed at what kinds of things he learned.


Mary, I didn't realize that our kids are the same age!

Anyway, dd is 10 (March b-day) and will be in 5th grade. In 4th grade they learn SO much information that I don't think that's a grade level that should be skipped unless the child knows all the material already.

Ds is 8, but will be 9 in Nov (he's one of the oldest in his class) and is in 3rd grade. It was harder with ds and gade level/age because we have moved 3 times in the past few years. In NC he missed the K cutoff by 6 weeks. He was ready acadamic (sp? ) wise, but his was very shy. In AK he was one of the oldest in the class with just one child older than him. Here in CA he would have made the K cutoff so he is 1 year older than some of his classmates, but it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

[AnnW]

My dd is 10 (March) and going into 5th. Age wise, your son will be right in the mix, maybe just a tad younger. I agree with everyone else that 4th is a huge learning curve year. I also think there is less damage to holding a child back than pushing forward, but some questions to ask yourself.... How is he size wise? Will he stand out as so much taller than the 4th graders? Will he be smaller than most 5th? Emotionally, what's his age? Scholastically, will he be bored in 4th?

[Suz]

Well, I called and talked with the Principal today and asked him all of the kids ages :) He was so patient with me. All things considered we decided that ds would do best overall by going into 4th grade. The class is smaller than the 5th and the ages of the kids were comparable to his - there were quite a few his age, some younger and actually a couple older.
The Principal and I both agreed that 4th would be a great grade to enter. I also heard that the 4th teacher is awesome, so I'm excited about that!
I feel so relieved now to have that decision made - now the only thing to worry about is what to do with all that time I'll have on my hands ;)
Thanks for everyone's input!!!