snowhugs

:curse:I know there are wiki articles about this subject and itsprobably come up before, but could someone confirm what I have understood so far as it seems crazy!

I have done some research, my son is 5 in November has just started reception here in UK when we plan to move to Calgary in possibly 2010 he may have to redo grade 1, no probs there accept this,

However, my daughter who will be 3 on 3rd March 2009 will miss out entirely, although she will have done preschool from age 2.5 when we get to Calgary she still wont be ready for Kindergarten INFACT worked out,that due to her birthday being 3 days over cut off point she wont start full time education untill she is 6.5!!!!!! this completly amazes me

I know everybody feels that their children are bright , but she is certainly ahead compared to her age peers, in size and mentally/social ability.... this poor kid is going to have to stay home until (in my eyes) she is almost 7

this is devastating me as one of our reasons for moving, is to provide a better future for our kids!!!!

NatsnSid

Hi.

I suppose you also have to take into consideration what Canada's pre-school system is like? Would it be like our Reception class anyway?

Also that they stay in school longer than they would in the UK. I understand your frustration.

Im not sure what the pre-school/Kindergarten situation is as my two are alot older - but perhaps you could research what their focuses are for the age etc.

For example - perhaps they are expected to already be able to write their name/number bonds etc etc when they start school in Canada - whereas in the UK they are not.

I suppose what I am trying to say is - there may be reasons why this is like this - im sure someone with kindergarten/pre-school kids will be along to advise.

Good luck - at least when your daughter goes to school she will be with people her own age etc....missing it by 3 days is a bit of a pain.

Nats

(PS - im sure if your daughter shows how bright she is they may consider moving her up etc).

moondevil

Not sure what you have been looking at but the cut off date is end of december

my daughter is 3 now and 4 in december, she starts kindergarten in september next year.
i know what you are saying as my child is very bright for her age and she did playgroup full time in the uk, so now that we are here she is at a lost abit.

We have opted to put her in private daycare for a couple of days a week until next year, but here the kids are kids longer and in some ways when you see it and live it you will understand.

Your child will be one of the older kids in her year and you can opt to move them to a higher grade, our son is in grade 1, although he could wipe grade 2 or maybe grage 3, we have opted to leave him where he is until settled.

Hope that helps

snowhugs

"WHEN DOES MY CHILD ATTEND KINDERGARTEN?
A child who turns four years old on or before March 1st can attend Kindergarten in the fall of that same calendar year. Kindergarten is an optional program but children must start school if they are six years old as of September 1."

from the Calgary Board of Education website

Which means, as her birthday is 3rd March she cannot start Kindergarten (either part time, or if we're lucky, full time) until she is 5 and a half.

What I'm really after, I suppose, is suggestions of what we can do with her until school starts to keep her busy and her mind engaged; i.e. a full time pre-school as per the UK.

Thanks

GetCarter

Hi

We moved to Cochrane, AB at the end of Feb this year, we have 4 children the youngest was nearly 4 yrs old when we moved over was in pre school in the UK for 5 mornings. We struggled to find a pre school for him here in Cochrane as the places get booked up a long way in advance so get your name down as soon as you can. If you are coming out for a recce maybe go and visit some places.

Now my youngest would have started Reception class this September if we were still in the UK, but like your child will not start Kindergarten until he is nearly 5 1/2 and grade 1, so full time, until he is nearly 6 1/2. I was worried about this initially but now I am not because

a) there is loads to do with children their age, lots of mother and child activities and also programs for them to do on their own. For example we have story and craft at the library, Musical Mites, swimming lessons, and skating lessons starting in November. and

b) my eldest two children are 11 yrs and 9 yrs and pretty much on a par with their peer group, and the third child aged 7 yrs is ahead with reading and spelling and slightly ahead on math, but other than that on a par with his peer group.

The youngest is at pre-school for 2 afternoons a week now, that was all we could get, and he is loving every minute.

I have come to the conclusion that somewhere down the line my children who started school in the UK 2 years before the youngest child will do here obviously didn't need to start so soon if everyone is on par here by age 10 or 11 yrs. And like everyone says, each person likes to think their child is bright and my eldest 3 were in the middle to top of their classes academically, depending on which child we are talking about. And there are other things that the children have to learn like Canadian history and geography which of course is completely new to them, and there is the language difference. My 7 yr old was checking with me where a period should go in his written work, took me a moment to work out he meant full stop. So all that is new to them too.

I am making the most of having the youngest one around for a bit longer, I wont get this chance ever again. It is lovely to go for walks in the fall leaves, go swimming together and go for a Starbucks! We have such lovely conversations, and I am savoring every moment.

I am sure others will be along to tell you about life in Calgary with young children, and maybe with recommendations for childcare. There is a free magazine that comes out called Calgary's Child that has lots of info in it too. I think you may be able to access it online.

Just wanted to let you know that this mum was worried about it too but it has all worked out fine

Hope that helps
Mrs GC

gryphea

You are right in your calculations - she won't start until you say. I think its a tricky situation as it partly depends on what your future plans are. I am not sure how I would feel in your position. My two were born in September and December and so both will have as many years as they would have done, albeit 1 kindergarten year as oppose to reception. LIke Get Carter, I loved having my son in KG last year, as oppose to reception in the UK (we came over end NOv). He loved it and I loved spending time with him, doing activities and most importantly playing with friends.

But for you I think your consideration should partly be - will you come back to live in UK in a reasonably short timescale? I think its really important children actually get taught the basics of writing and reading, mostly this happens here in Grade 1, in UK its mostly in Reception, so if you did a year of kindergarten with your first one- she could then go back into year 2 in the UK , having not had any instruction in the basics. That would be tricky.

I know someone on a WP whose son was in a similar position and they knew they would probably be returning to the UK (although that may not be as true now) and so she enrolled him in Oxford LEarning centres preschool to make sure he would get phonics etc before he went back and she enrolled him in quite a few non-parented classes at the YMCA. These can get booked up so need some planning.

Preschool places can be tight in Calgary, best to get over before Jan/Feb the year you want her to start BUT we arrived end of November and got my daughter a place immediately. People tend to move around a bit. BUT we didn't have a choice- but I quite liked the preschool so that was OK.


Gryphea

gryphea

PS- WHat you may find when you get here is that feb and maybe JAnuray babies get the option to defer a year and in my experience over half did, so your daughter won't actually be the oldest.

ALso a canadian friend of mine deferred her boy- but has put him in private junior kindergarten attached to a preschool, so he does 5 half days and will then go and repeat kindergarten in the more scarey atmosphere of school.

Gryphea

andrew & linda

Hi,

The same happened with our son - he missed out beginning Kindergarten last year by two weeks! I felt he was ready but the school wouldn't budge.

I know everyone's circumstances are different and thankfully I'm lucky enough to be a stay at home mom so I cherished the extra year I had with my son (can I say the year went in VERY quick and it's time that you'll never be able to buy back).

Now, he is the oldest in his Kindergaretn class but comes home every day and says 'it was the best day today'. The headmaster has also told us that it should stand in good stead and give him some maturity when he reaches his teen years and (hopefully) won't be a sheep when it comes to 'peer preasure'.

His reading has just been assessed and he is graded as the reading age and comprehention of a Grade 1. So, his teacher is giving him Grade 1 reading so that he won't get bored.

I know it's no consolation that it's happened to others but, enjoy the time you have with the kids - it goes by all too quickly.

Alberta_Rose

I know everyone worries like stink about what they are or are not doing with their kids at any age, but now mine are 22 and 17 I have realised that if they take an extra year here and there as they go along, it will NOT be a blight on the rest of their lives, but a valuable time for learning, growing and enjoying life.

Try to relax a little and enjoy them while they are young.

misplacedheidi

Can only agree with the other posters.
Unless you are going back to the UK in the foreseeable future, just go with the Canadian system. It is much better to integrate into the society than pushing the kids.
My kids missed the grade above by 2 weeks. My daughter had been reading since she was 4 yrs old and was then put into a grade 1 class where only half of them could read at all. We could have pushed her up a year - but why? She'd end up leaving school earlier and having to work earlier! My son had the same situation too. As long as you are reading and writing with them at home too, it doesn't make any difference. I would also agree that being the older end of the year has also helped them.

We found it was much better that they learned the system and just settled. As long as they all end up reading and writing, it doesn't really matter.
They are both really happy here.

If, of course you are only here short-term, then different rules apply!

bodgerx

Exactly. What's the big deal in wanting to pack 'em off early? (Do you want to get back to work or something?)

There is even some recent research done here in the UK which suggests the later school start ages maybe actually be beneficial to a child's education...

The slightly older start age is actually something that my wife finds attractive about Canada...

Steve_P

My thoughts too.

What is so wrong about letting kids be kids, they learn so very much from unstructured play.

Why do we feel the need to be teaching three and four year olds how to read and write?

snowhugs

The main problem is that we will be going over on my full time WP and OH will be finding full time employment asap.

We have researched things further after reading this and have relooked at the classification of the different types of schooling available. Looks like we will put her into preschool initially for 3 full days (if there is a place available ) as I'll be doing 3x12h shifts a week.

I was mainly concerned that she was going to be too bored, but looking at photo's and work examples on the preschool and KG websites, they actually look quite advanced.

Thanks for your help.

LotteW

This is pretty much how I feel...

Ok so it was tough on my 5.5yr old to come from UK where she had been at school full time, and to find that she was put in half-day kindergarten, the toughest thing being her older sister "taking the pee" and saying "C is going to play group".......

But the younger ones who were decidedly "pre-school" didn't have that effect, and the older one who went into grade 2 again found it roughly comparable to what she had been doing in the UK - somethings were different obviously, some stuff had already been covered that she hadn't done in the UK, some things she was repeating. But 2.5 yrs on she is on a par with the rest of her peer group. As is "C" who had to "go back" and do kindergarten where they were all learning to read while she was a fluent reader..... In reading she is still way ahead of the rest of her peers, but partly I think that is just her (I was also very advanced at reading).

I actually LIKE having my younger children at home with me until they turn 5.... There is a reason I had children, and it wasn't so that I could pack them off to school at the first opportunity!

Aviator

Why is it crazy? It is just different. Moving to another country is a choice to be made if one is willing to accept the culture and the way things are done. Criticism of ones potential new home is often unwelcome by locals.

The are loads of kids here who have done it and are doing just fine. In the UK many kids leave school at 16, whereas in Canada most will stay on to graduate, age 18 or so although, they can drop out at 16 in grade 10 if they choose.

Kids may get moved up into a higher academic year, quite often this does not help the child as they are then in a more advanced social group and may be left out socially, especially in grade 10/11 when other kids are driving and they cannot. There really is nothing to gain for the student in the long run by putting them ahead. Bumping a year is a decision made by the school based on testing, it is not a parent choice.

Kids have to adapt to a new country as well and may find their educational abilities enable them to focus more on social adaptation rather than trying to keep up with academics as well.