First thanks to those who posted some advice/insight, I wish I would have posted this a couple of months ago! Well I decided on retaining him in 1st grade. I did not want to spoil his summer, as I knew he was excited about moving on to 2nd, I told him about 2 weeks before school started. I did not want him to think it was his fault, the schools or mine, I told him it was because he was too young, that he had just turned 7 while all the 2nd graders will be turning 8. I also let him know that his current classmates are all turning 7, so he is slightly older than the others in his class but not by much.
He was a little upset about it, but then accepted the idea, it also helped that there was a fellow classmate from his previous class that was also retained due to similar issues, it was also the parents’ choice. He has a new teacher in a new classroom and building, their elementary school consists of several small buildings. Unfortunately, the 2nd graders are also in this building so he sees his old classmates but while they go up to the 2nd grade classrooms he is on the 1st floor.
We are about 1 month into the new school year, when he is asked what grade he is in, he says “1st grade second time”.
I really hope we made the right decision and I guess only time will tell, I will post updates as he goes through 1st grade a second time.
1 response so far ↓
1 Anna // Oct 3, 2008 at 5:38 am
We are in the same situation. We decided to hold our daughter back in 2nd grade this year. She is very tall for her age and has a late birthday so she is already older than her class. But, we switched schools this year and she has made great strides. See my post on “My Daughter’s Giant Step”. It is the best thing we could have done for her.
If a child is not ready to move on, it can cause self esteem problems. You made the right decision.
Leave a Comment