Geordie Lass

Hi everyone

Feel like I am hogging the board here but I might as well get all my worries out in one go!!

Now as you lot probably already know the cut off for starting each school year is 31st August birthday. My son is at the end of August so he started school full time literally when he was 4 and a couple of days old. So he is the youngest in his year.

So now he is almost 6 and he can read fluently - his writing is ok, maths keeping up with the class etc.

In Canada kids don't start school til the Sept after their 5th birthday right? (We are looking at Calgary if it is different for different areas).

So does that mean that my son will have to almost repeat a year of schooling? and does it mean that he will be way ahead of his peers because he has been in school a lot longer? Part of me thinks it won't do him harm to have his learning re-enforced and of course it will be different out there anyway and then part of me thinks he'll spend the year bored stupid if he can already do what he is being taught.

How have you guys handled it? did your kids repeat the year as such or did they get assessed and go into a higher grade??? my issue with that would be he would be the youngest by a mile if we do that (if it's even an option). Or is the teaching so different that it hasn't been an issue?

Thanks everyone - this site is great!!

xxx

gryphea

He will start KG just after his 5th birthday. He will be about the middle of his class age wise. He'll love it.

iaink

My oldest started JK when she was 3. Including a bus transfer at the high school on the way home.

Back then full time (5 day) kindergarden wasnt an option, now (depending on the school) it is.

In my area kindergarden starts in the fall of the year they turn 4.

You are right though, if a 6 years old arrives in grade one able to read and do simple math there is a danger they will be bored shitless, its going to be very teacher dependent.

gryphea

PS can't believe for one minute in Calgary with his birthdate that they would place him up, and honestly I don't think thats in his best interest (unless you pick a mixed grade school and he stays behind one year when half the class moves up)

Geordie Lass

Thanks for the replies everyone...

Iain - what's JK? not sure I understand? why would they get a bus transfer on the way home?

Did any of you have kids that started in the system here and then moved over?

Thanks x

iaink

Junior Kindergarten
Senior Kindergarten
Grade one
etc
Grade one is not really when school starts here, although at that point its compulsory. Most kids start with JK and SK, but there is more focus on socialisation and learning the ropes than on the 3Rs.

Bus transfer is changing from the bus that picked her up at the little kid school to the bus that takes all the kids back to our area. Its not uncommon. The school arranges for older kids on the bus to be "bus buddies" to make sure the little ones get on the right bus, and there is adult supervision at the transfer to make sure they get to the right bus home. I only had to pick her up a the highschool the once... still, its a lot for a three year old to cope with, but she did. Far worse for her mother with hindsite

In part this palava was because we thought it worthwhile to go the french immersion (or rather "extended french") route, so they had to go to the school in town that offer that option, rather then the more local school.


IS your plan to come to canada for good, or are you just here on a work permit for a few years and then off again? I would try and keep him with kids his own age, at that age the difference in physical ability between a 6 year old and a 7 year old is hard to bridge, but then if you are heading back to the UK in only a few years you have to sort of plan for the academic gap which is closed up later on.

TheThornes

Hi Georgie Lass. Certainly, in our area (Cochrane), the cut off for starting each school year is the end of February, not August, which is why your son would be in the middle of his year age wise as apposed to the youngest. He would be in the same year group as my son who is probably just a couple of weeks younger than your son as he turns 6 early September. If your son was here now, he would have just finished Kindergarten and would move on to Grade 1 in September. Some of my son's classmates can read fluently but not all.

We were already here by the time my son started school so previous schooling wasn't an issue for him. My daughter (also a September birthday) was in Year 2 in the UK when we moved over and she went into Grade 2 when we moved here which was pretty much in line with where she was at in the UK.

JK is Junior Kindergarten but that is not something available in our area as we only have one year of Kindergarten available which is usually a half day program. Other areas vary.

Certainly, in our our kids' school, the classes are mixed about every year and I'm told they try to group kids together who are of a similar ability.

I'm sure it will all work out and he'll be just fine.

gryphea

Sorry

I didn't read he was almost 6 and going into Grade 1.

There are some good readers in Grade 1 at our school. In our school they put them in reading groups for guided reading according to their level and they all read at different levels - they also read with grade 2s if appropriate

He will likely be ahead in maths and that is something you can discuss with the school

Geordie Lass

Wow... thanks for all the replies everyone!

It's a lot to get your head around isn't it?

So with regards to Kindergarden - if there is just one (in places were there is no JK and SK) is it typical that kids only go for half a day?? That seems like an awful lot of time to be at home compared to the UK!!!

(This obviously isn't an issue for my son as he is older but it's a consideration for the future).

I presume going to Kindergarden is free??? (please tell me it is).

Are there any school costs that I need to be aware of in Calgary. What I don't want to do is come over there and get slammed with something we weren't expecting....

I am sure it will all work out but I am the kind of person that likes to plan... and have a plan incase the first plan doesn't work etc!

Thanks

xx

JonboyE

(BC based so YMMV)

Kindergarden is free.

You have to buy your child's school supplies - paper, pens and pencils, binders etc. There is also a charge for activities that are not part of the core curriculum. I seem to remember we spent about $100 -$120 for supplies and activities each semester.

TheThornes

Certainly in our area it's typical that Kindergarten is only half a day. I found that strange to adjust to after experiencing full time school for my daughter at that age. We were fortunate that we were given the choice of am or pm. There are before and after school clubs available for parents who work full time but these clubs do not come cheap. My son did the afternoon sessions of Kindergarten which started at 11.48am although a little earlier on Fridays.

Kindergarten here is free as such although there are certain other expenses involved. We had to pay a registration fee, although I forget how much now this was. We have had to pay for things such as year book (optional), headphones (for computers and a one time purchase only) and this coming year, for the first time, we need to provide our own supplies (pens, pencils, folders etc). There is also the cost of field trips and you also need to pay for the school bus if you wish to use this service. I think there were a few other sundry expenses too; nothing particularly expensive but, of course, all these things add up!

iaink

You pay for the school bus in Alberta?

gryphea

In Calgary you now pay a lot for the school bus (went up 20% recently, up to 335 per year); its not cheap.

If you pay for the bus you don't pay lunchtime supervision, but if you don't pay for bus in calgary next year its $295 a year per kid. I just wrote the cheque. Fees are less; but they provide supplies. i think our school fees were around 200 last year per child

iaink

Blimey, just goes to show how asking for information about "Canada" is pointless. Alberta might as well be a different country to Ontario.

No fees here for busing or supervision, not had to pay for books or supplies yet either, just the occasional field trip, and of course the near obligatory start of year PTA fundraiser of crap chocolate etc.

Maybe that where our PST goes...

britsnake

In Quebec how much you pay depends on your school board and school.

For you Elementary school I have to pay about $800 per child for Supervision and supplies.

you get a list at the end of each year telling you what you have to buy for the following year. They usually say do not buy from the dollar store

for high school I pay about $500 for books and supplies but once you add in extracurricular stuff (Team subs, uniforms, etc) it costs me much more.