Is My Child Ready for First Grade?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2018
- Parents of children with summer birthdays are often faced with a difficult question: should they advance their child into first grade as soon as possible or wait one more year?
In this video I'll give you my thoughts on the subjects of summer birthdays and first grade readiness, and share my own personal story of how I handled that same problem with my own kids.
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I really needed to see this! My son is 5 and his teacher said he may not be ready for first grade. And here I am trying to teach him in a hurry to have him pass to first grade when he may not actually be ready! Thank you for this I don't want to rush him into something he's not ready for 😊 he's also a summer baby.
I'm in the same situation he's right at cut off date. I homeschooled my 5 yr old for kindergarten but feel he might not be ready (maturity) for 1st grade. How's your son doing?
Yes, I too held both my summer babies one year and one is finishing high school a year early and the other graduated w/ a 4.0. They both learned to read at 10 years old. There is absolutely NO RUSH into academics. We took off half of their school years to travel- no school at all. And they still came out 'ahead.' in the end. Let the Littles be little! Getting muddy and climbing around outside is the most academic thing they can be doing at this age because thats what grows brains. I will say this though- if the child is inside watching screens all day at home, then send them to school at 4! That will be a better option. But if the choice is playing with the hose vs. school - the hose wins all day long!!!
Yeah, brain growth happens with physical activity. Something that isnt talked about enough.
Let them atleast have an elementary year and not rush them into middleschool because playing and then stressing about the extra homework isnt ideal.
@Angelina thanks for that comment. I'm struggling to even have my kids start VPK.
Thank you for this! My daughter has an August birthday and even though she is only 2 I have already started getting comments about how 'lucky' we are that she can start school early 😕 I agree with you 100% that under 7s are so much better off staying in kindergarten 💚
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic. I'm a homeschooling mom, and just as you described my eldest child does indeed have a summer birthday. With the perceived "pressure" from family members around us who are unfamiliar/distrustful of the homeschooling process, the temptation has been to try to push him a little ahead. Your comments are so encouraging and I think I can just relax and let him have the next few years to play and learn at his own pace. Thank you! Blessings.
Childhood is so very brief; as a grandmother, I am glad I didn't push my 3 (now adult) children into school early. Life is not a race, nor a competition. However, I didn't want my kids to be the youngest in class. Why create a struggle where there shouldn't be one? : )
Your video is definitely help me thinking calmly of just my kid’s development, not comparing others. Love all your videos, hope you keep on doing this. I appreciate it very much.
I needed to hear that. Puts my mind at ease.
My older son is also may born. He is in first grade now and I can see he is struggling to keep up with his peers.. He was born premie.. We are confused about making him repeat first grade next year.. so that he would be more comfortable physically and emotionally. Thank you for your video!
I'm so glad I found you my third child turned 6 in July and he is so "behind" in first grade. I don't think he should have passed kindergarten but I couldn't hold him back since he supposedly could do what the school expected from him. We had a conference with his teacher and she recommended us to bring him to the doctor to get tested for ADHD and she said he shows all the characteristics of needing medication because she's taught for 29 years. With that being said Friday will be his last day at that school. I look forward to homeschooling him using the chrispherus curriculum. I appreciate your advice and love your videos.
Love this post. My daughter has a May birthday and was VERY ready for 1st grade. But every child is different. Something to consider -- great food for thought.
Thanks a lot for all your videos ,Sarah..
Thank you so much for this ❤ it answered most of our questions
Sarah you r just amazing, thanks so much you are so right is always time for everything and we only have one childhood, my boy is summer child 10 june, and I will definitely give him the precious gift of extra explore and play year you helped me with my decision thank you 🙏🏼
This was great!! Very helpful.
Thank you for sharing this. My youngest has a November birthday and it is something I struggle with here in Belgium. He should be starting first grade in september 2020 at the age of 5. When I look at other kids who would be in first grade with him... he looks so much younger. It's a good thing we homeschool, and I am planning on giving him an extra summer.
Great advice! ❤
Thank you for sharing your experience.
I adore you and your wisdom! 😘
omg I'm in tears, I'm a grandmother of a 6yr he turned 6 Jan 3, 24, he is small for his age, he still wears 4t in clothes, he is very smart and uses big words for his age that his 8 yr sister doesn't use, super sweet and still has a little babyish to him, if that makes sense, His Kindergarten teacher has written a letter stating she feels he needs to be retained because he's just not ready, we had a parent teacher meeting she went over with me what he was weak in, i told her give me all the info i can possibly get to work with him during the summer and then we can have him retested just before school resumes to see where he stands at that point, And after listing to Ms. Sarah it makes sense, she is absolutely right, I will work with him throughout the summer
but i think he needs to be retained, His sister was the same, she was retained she is passing to 2nd now and she is doing great in reading math writing etc., she was helping her brother
at the table to night how to do his math work, I told her i was so proud of her, i have a treasure box i fixed up for them , they get to pick from after completing their homework, and they love it.
How does the Waldorf model handle gifted learners who are more than one year academically advanced but still their correct age mentally? How do you combat the academic boredom while still meeting their developmental needs?
My son turns 6 right at cut off date Sept. 1st, I homeschooled him for kinder, he's ready academically but not emotionally. I was about to register him this week it just didn't feel right, thinking of homeschooling him for 1st grade. I hope I make the right decision for him.
Well said
Some children can do with the extra year of play. Some children brain develop so fast and need intelleectual stimulation and challenges. My 4 year old son is moving slowly. My 2year old daughter is way ahead. She was potty trained in 1 day. She watched youtube videos and can identify letters. I wont keep her back. At 1year, she was switching the words of songs to suite the situation she is in.
I agree with you. From what I heard and through comments written here, often, girls seem to be ready at an earlier age than boys.
Usually the second child is smarter ...they tend to learn everything form their elder bro or sis
I’ve had the opposite issue. My son taught himself to read at age 3. His birthday makes him one of the oldest in the class and he does better with kids older than him but is in class with kids who feel much younger than him academically and emotionally. I wish he could be in the grade ahead. He is also the size physically of older kids.
Dear Sarah thank you so much for making this video. I have a question for you, but first, let me give you a little bit of background detail. We are from Lima Peru and we just got through the readiness evaluation process of my children who turned 7 at the end of August (they are twins). They used to attend to an alternative kindergarten until age 6 and then for about 6 months homeschooling doing the curriculum of a strong regular school. However, after the first few months and first exams I realized that studying this way and using the regular methods was going to be a painful and not positive process for them. Previously we wanted to move back to Europe and my children were going to attend 1st grade in a Waldorf school (it was always the nr 1 option for us due the personality of our children) ..but plans have changed and in the rush I decided to do the homeschooling .. which now I admit was a very bad decision. So, about 4 months in the process, I actually realized there were 2 Waldorf schools in Lima so we applied to the one that has a long history in Lima. After 3 weeks of a very detailed evaluation process, we got excepted..in 1st grade. Since it is spring in Lima, we have about 4 months until year ends. We agreed that even though the kinder might have been a better fit for them, but at the same time the teacher committee also saw something in them that made them accepting my kids in 1st grade and together with the teachers we are working towards to see a maturing process. Apparently, they seem to be more mature physically than in their behaviors and emotional intelligence. So my question is, what can I do at home, to help them? I already minimized the amount of TV etc that they can watch, they have a new daily routine (sleeping early, getting up early, each activity is done in a certain order to maintain a healthy rhythm for them), but I would like to know what else I can do to make them feel more secure, to help them make this step of individualization, to support them in this journey of being more independent (especially that they are twins). If you can, please make a video on how parents whose children start 1st grade with no previous Waldorf experience can support their children to re-enforce and make sure they can adopt the new environment on a smoother way, since in our school the 90% of the children in current first grade were also attending Waldorf kindergarten. Many thanks and I really appreciate you are making these videos, they are extremely helpful. Have a wonderful day, Darla
I gave my son an extra year in kindergarten and he's not a summer baby at all. He just wasn't ready for first grade. I have no regrets! I was wondering if you could point me to any resources regarding housekeeping/homemaking from the Steiner perspective. Thank you!
I came to this video trying to find answers to what I'm seeing as a future educator... I've been observing some classes, including special education; and it made me wonder if 6 years is the right age for everyone to start first grade...
My kid was born in December 2015 and we live in Brooklyn, NY where the cut off is December 31st. Based on that, he was supposed to start 1st grade when he was only five. He was always the youngest in PreK and he simply couldn't sit still for so long. Then when the pandemic hit we kept him home for Kindergarten and 1st grade but also because we wanted him to be at least close to seven when he returns to public school. This September 2022 he should be starting 2nd grade. Two days from now I am going to register him for school but I don't know if they'll let me register him for 1st grade considering he was homeschooled for 1st grade. There isn't much information on this matter available online so I am just left to hope they let me sign him into 1st grade. If anyone reading this knows more about if parents can make that decision in NYC I will be very grateful if you could share it with me. Thank you.
I love all of your videos
Thank you for sharing! This is what I’m concerned about with my first born son. In Australia, in the state we live in the law states that children must be enrolled in a school if they turn 5 on or before the 31st July. We start our school years in late January. My son won’t turn 5 until late December and then will be expected to start school in the January. He won’t be 5 for another couple of years but our laws concern me! What parent here have been doing is sending their child to school and then the following year, asking for them to be repeated or to do grade 1 again. Some parents send them to a different school to repeat the grade.
We can’t afford a private Steiner school and I should be returning to work around that time for financial reasons but I’m considering home-schooling him for a year and then sending him to school to do grade 1 ‘again’ rather than sending him to school when he’s 5 to get around the laws here!
Here in the States, I put my October born child in Pre-School for one year (thank God it was 1/2 day) and then transitioned him to Kindergarten the following year (also 1/2 day). I am sure, looking back, it was the right thing to do. Maybe there are Parish Schools near you? Here in the States, many Parish schools are not strict about all the children being members of the congregation. They accept children of many faiths. It's less expensive than private school. Just a thought. Best of luck to you! : )
Hi there, my daughter is a January baby.
She is at a Montessori school, doing pre school. She will go into prep/ kindergarten when she is only 5, but the school considers it cycle 1, she won’t go into cycle 2 until she is 7 (unless she a exceptional - which I doubt lol), cycle 2 is the start of grade 1. Works out great for me but if I went to a regular school, she would be 7 going into grade 2!
Me and my twin taught each other to read and write when we were 4 years old. My twin lost her first tooth at that age too. Our family didn't teach us anything more than how to write our names and according to our mom we took it from there. I've always wondered how something like that would work in a Waldorf school. Would the kindergarten teacher stop us? tell our mom to get rid of our letter magnets?
@Ashley W No, but how would they respond to questions like "how do you write apple?" "why is the E in my name (pronounced) different from hers?" "How many shapes (cursive/type font/capital) are there for R?"
These are questions I asked as a kindergartner, and I wonder if a waldorf kindergarten teacher would answer those questions with explanations. And if they might discourage this interest in reading a little, by distracting a kindergartner with a developmentally appropriate activity.
I might not need to worry about it at all though: the majority my family has/had no interest in reading and writing until the age of 7 or even 8.
Am currently in need of advise. My son who turned 6 this year in may started first grade this year in august this past week, me and my husband attended a parent teacher conference he is super behind. His kindergarten wasn’t the best while he had never been in pre-K levels. Am finding myself so overwhelmed. Because now he is attending a private school minimum of 5 students and teacher still states she cannot stop and hold back the others from being taught on current subject when he is behind. He does not know his shapes or math very week. He is lacking writing and reading. And coming from a public school of 26 students per class. She can’t manage to help in a 5 student class. So I feel like my son is being passed by. If you have any recommendations or any advise. Am desperate at this point. I feel like I am failing my son.
My twins are going to be 7 in March ,they have mastered kindergarten work ,but can't fully read yet and they are really struggling with 1st grade work what would you suggest.
Update my girls are doing much better steady as we go but happy to see all the helpful materials addressing the fact that some kids struggle with going from kindergarten to 1st grade.
My child started first grade at 5 years old and he was just not ready.
I'm getting ready for 1st grade
wow is first grade really that bad? they don't play anymore?
This video and the comments make me even more angry about the system in the UK! Here, most children start school age 4. The legal starting age is the term following your 5th birthday; however, if a summer born child is kept out of school til then, they're not allowed to go into a 'reception' year, but go straight to year one, and of course go into a group of kids who have had a reception year and who have been together a year; so in practice nearly all children start at 4. My son, as an August born child, was just turned 4 and was not ready. It's absolutely nothing to do with children and whether they're ready, in this country.
I live in UK and have a 2 year old son. It puts me in horror thinking he will need to start learning letters and writing his name etc. in less than 2 years time! Why? What is happening with this country?
I am sad to read this is the case in the UK; is there no discretion allowed for parents to say their child isn't ready? I hope this changes, and that you can have a choice. Best of luck to you both from the States.
OceanSwimmer my son came out of school in the end and was very happily home educated - and has just started a college course, so all ended well for us: but we did spend years repairing the damage left by our school system! It really is a ‘too much too soon’ system over here, more about getting parents into work than about what children need. Our education system is a terrible mess.
Watch the video at x1.5 guys. Your welcome
Thank u