Going up a grade?

[Tebbutts]

My daughter is currently in Grade 9 at school. Because her birthday falls in the first half of the year (March), it has been recommended that she jumps up a year into Grade 11 when we get there next year. She does fairly well at school at the moment and is probably sitting in the top third of her grade, if not higher.

My concern is that she won't cope with the work and her marks will slip and that, in turn, will cause more stress and anxiety (on top of the other stresses of making friends and fitting into her new Ozzie life). On the other hand, if she doesn't go up a grade, she will be "too old" for Grade 10. There is also my selfish concern that she will leave home a whole year earlier, but that, I will have to cope with myself. The main thing is her happiness and continued confidence.

So, to all you teachers out there and any other parents who have already been through this, do you have any advice for us?

Always much appreciated!

[Eva]

our one son was pushed up a grade, biggest mistake we made... so from my experience I would say leave her where she is supposed to be... and the whole age thing is a load of rubbish, there are other kids who are older or who have stayed back or only started school later, even if she is older, so what, she will be able to drive herself to school and be the envy of all her friends.

[Tebbutts]

Thanks Eva....that's a great incentive for her to stay back! I am going to use that one (nothing to do with her mom's potential empty nest syndrome, of course!)

[Pertheption]

When my aunt arrived in Adelaide, my cousin was also pushed up to the next grade. But that was because they thought she was way too advanced for the grade she was in. She is still doing remarkably well and it was a good idea for her to go up. It depends on the child I guess. I don't have children so I can't give my 2 cents. But if I was in the same situation I would definately put my faith in my child's abilities.

[followmylead]

We are facing the exact same problem - all 3 my children will go up a year. We visited a good public school and a good private school. The public school said if we are in their catchment area, they have to take us, BUT that the boys will go into the 'up' year and they cannot negotiate that. The private school offered us 'split' classes, where for example, my 10 year old will be in a class with grade 4 and grade 5 together and the same material is taught over two years, giving them a chance to catch up. That seemed to us to be a better option.

You will always be able to 'accelerate' her to a higher year, but going back is harder on the self esteem, so maybe start lower if you can.

[Eva]

followmylead, that was exactly what happened with our son, State school insisted he go up a year, they assured us they would re-asses him after two weeks then put him back into grade 8 if necessary (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) ... needless to say they did absolutely nothing and I didn't even realise he was battling until his English teacher called me half way through the year and said she could see he has never been taught this work etc etc.

well, nothing got done about it then and it was too late to send him back to the 'correct' grade.

if they have not been taught the work before how can they be expected to cope?

[OubaasDik]

Tebbutts,

I wouldn't. She's too near the end of the school career. If she goes into Y11 you have very little time to deal with any problems before it's end of school.

If she's having a problem, rather have an extra year to sort it out.

Just my humble opinion.

[Tebbutts]

Thank you everybody for your replies and advice.

My daughter, Amber, has a friend that is at the school we are hoping to send her to and she (the friend) will be in the higher grade (ie. Year 11). This further complicates things because Amber wants to be in the year where she has somebody that she knows. Telling her that she will make new friends very quickly in the other grade isn't swaying her and she is insisting on going up.

We are meeting with the school when we pop over there at there end of June, so hopefully they will also point us (her) in the right direction. In the meantime, I told her that I have asked for advice on this forum and that she can read all the very wise replies from people who have been through it already, so please keep them coming....

[PrissyMissy]

Talking about going up a grade - what age/grade in Australia and South Africa are children supposed to learn time tables and start doing cursive hand writting.

I currently homeschool - but have started using Ausrtalian published books a year ago vs the New Zealand based books I was using (which my daughter was struggling to cope with).

In New Zealand kids are expected to start school at age 5, and I heard in Australia they start at age 6, and most kids only start age 7 in South Africa.

I just want to keep my options open with regards to schooling.

[AndreaL]

Prissy Missy, each state is slighlty different in Australia, see here starting age for school

In Queensland if your child turns 5 before June 30 they go to prep that year, turning 6 before 30 June they would start year 1 etc. My son turned 8 in February and is in year 3 (his 4th year of school including prep).

They have handwriting books ( you can buy them at school supply shops) I think they started cursive writing in year 2 and it has been stepped up in year 3. Currently they are doing times tables and division, starting simple fractions and counting with hundred, tens and units, the kids at the top level of the class are also doing addition and subtraction with thousands and one or two with 10 thousands. They have been introduced to time and different units of measurment like Kg, cm, mm ml etc.

When you get here, try and get hold of some of the NAPLAN style test books ( Coles did have them) for math and English to get your childe used to that sort of questions ( my sons homework is based on NAPLAN style questions)

He also gets 20 spelling words each week and extension of 5 year 4 words.

[PrissyMissy]

AndreaL -thanks very much for your information.

It is a little confusing, I have a friend in Adelaide whose sun is in Year 3 - turning 10 in November, and he has not done time tables or cursive writing either.

I guess it does depend on state to state.

I need my girls to be on par with what is happening in the state we live, just in case they go to school.

[Eva]

turning 10 in year 3 sounds old for that grade! I have a ten year old, turning 11 in October and he is in Grade 5 in Qld... but he is among the older kids.

[AndreaL]

Yes, that's strange he should be in year 4. I doubt very much if that school does cursive writing, because it seems a little late to start at that age when their writing style will have already developed........mind you, I think the foucs on cursive writing is ridiculous, if their writing is clear and legible it shouldn't matter what style it is.

My son and the other kids in his class have definitely been doing timestables all year. I'll ask his teacher what is expected of them by the end of year 3.

You also need to focus on English. I've found that if kids are not confident readers by year 3 they tend to struggle further on. This year they have focused on writing persuasive texts. Forming correct paragraph sequences, use of adjectives, adverbs etc.Discerning the information sentence in a text, re-ordering a paragraph etc.

My son is at a state school.

[PrissyMissy]

I currently do Aus based booked for year 3-4(age 8-10) that is what the book says - and my child is covering these things in English already and doing time tables - I just wanted to check what other kids are currently doing in school.

What other subjects are children covering in year 3 and 4 - that would be interesting to know as well.

Thanks

[AndreaL]

They do SOSE Studies of Science and the Environment, recently they looked at different biomes, such as desert, rainforest etc and had to find out what kind of animals lived there and the climate conditions etc and do a poster. They have computer classes, drama, music, sport, technology. I'll see if I can get an idea of the timetable from his teacher. Also history, last year they learned about different countries, i.e India, spain etc and learned about the people, the food, the dress, the language and major landmarks like rivers, mountains.

[PrissyMissy]

I am covering most of the above - but it would be great to get a time table of your child's grade and activities.

Please pm me when you have - thanks for all your information.