alihouse

Hi all,

My 6 year old has a one to one test booked with his new school at 7.30am the morning after we arrive in the States!

They have told us what to practise on which is great, but just wondered if anyone's kids had been through this and how it was done / how it went? I would like to prepare him as much as possible, I'm much more nervous about it than he is....

It's to decide if he will go in first grade or kindergarten.

Thanks for your help

Alison.

ian-mstm

My mom had the same issue when we moved from Glasgow to Toronto. I was almost 6 at the time and was initially put in kindergarten because that's where you went when you were 6 years old. Within 2 weeks I was moved to grade 1 because I could already read and write! No one asked whether or not it was something I wanted... it was just done.

It was a mixed blessing - I was more engaged in school activities, but I was a year younger than all the other kids in the class... and stayed that way right through to high school graduation. It created a very socially awkward environment. Think about it for a moment and imagine a 16 year old boy surrounded by 17 year old girls whose only interest is dating 18 year old boys! If that's a bit extreme, imagine yourself as a 15 year old who can't do the things the other students are doing... like learning to drive! Or worse... not being able to go to PG-13 movies with your friends, because you're not yet 13!

I hated school... with a passion - all because my mom thought it'd be somehow better for me to not be with my age group! But hey... that's just me!

Ian

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Ian's right, there's no hurry. Keep them with the age group, it will be good for them socially and they'll be one of the smarter kids in the year.

alihouse

Yes I agree with both of you as I am in no way a pushy mum!

The website says that the kindergarten age is 5 by 31st August and he was 6 in May, so that makes him the right age for 1st Grade, however sometimes they put 6 year olds in kindergarten too? Does that sound right?

It was the school that asked if they could assess him, not our request to push him up. I think he'll have enough to deal with, such as starting school at 7.30am for a start

tuxedocat

If they test him to recognize sounds that rhyme or differentiate sounds it really might confuse him with the new accent. You might make it a point to mention that. If he has been learning to read at home or in a previous school, I would ask them to give him a book to demonstrate his reading ability. I would casually practice sums to 10, counting, finding the missing #, point out shapes, go down the info they gave you. I don't know what is on the list, but from a test my son took at that age, I would find some US change and practice recognizing the name and the value, print off a ruler and show him "" inches.

www.starfall.com is a great phonics site.

American public schools are funded by attendance. They should ultimately do what you want.

lisa67

Both my kids, at my request because we thought we'd be going back to the UK after a couple of years, were put in to grades equivelant to where they'd be in the UK and were both, therefore the youngest in their class.
We decided to stay in the US and both have gone through the school system, (eldest just graduated High School, youngest in 11th grade) with no problems both academically and socially.
Only you know you child and what's best for them. Just be prepared to be flexible if your child ends up in a grade he isn't happy in.

Rete

Actually here in the NE of the US, children are 5 when they enter kindergarten and are 6 when they start 1st grade. If that criteria were held for the poster's son, he would going into the 1st grade automatically.

My 4 yo granddaughter can count to 50 and recognize numbers over 100. She can read new books never seen or heard before on her own. She can sound out the words and if she doesn' know what they mean, she will ask you what it means. She can subtract simple numbers, i.e. 7 from 10 without using a physical object to subtract from (fingers) and she can do the same with adding.

AmerLisa

My daughter just made the cutoff date (which is August 31st where we live as well) and was placed in kindergarten at 5. While academically this was a good placement for her, socially she could have waited a year and been more in line (age-wise) with her friends. I had mentioned this to her kindergarten teacher and she felt that to have held her back would have been harder for her.

I have a friend whose daughter started kindergarten last year and was immediately moved up a grade. She has a fall birthday, so she was the oldest in her kindergarten class. She was academically way above her classmates. While she could have stayed in kindergarten, it would have been very boring for her and then you encounter another set of problems.

USIOMUS

Both of our kids took a bunch of tests when we registered them in their school, first in PA and then again a few months later in NY. In both cases, the testing was done one on one and in both cases the testers seemed to approach it in a very low-key way that relaxed the kids. While the older one (10 at the time) did a bunch of written testing in PA, in NY it was more just to check that he was reading at an appropriate level. The little one (5 at the time) also did some written work in PA. The older one tested as "gifted" but performing at or just above grade 5 level (having just finished year 5 in the UK) and we ended up deciding (with the school) to put him with his age group into 5th grade. This had the advantage of being the last year at elementary where we were living, so he didn't have to start middle school until he had a year of American education under his belt. The little one, at 5, was kindergarten age, but she was already reading and writing and spelling and adding, subtracting and multiplying so the decision was made that she would be too bored in kindergarten and she was put into 1st grade. She was the youngest in the class by about 4 and a half months, but she was top of the class academically. In New York the cut off is December 1st rather than August 31st, so now she is only 6 weeks younger than the next youngest and is still top of the class academically, although as classmates begin to hit puberty, the age difference can sometimes feel like an issue. Socially she hasn't seemed to have any problems...we will see....

In my experience the schools over here tend to work harder to find out about each child's individual abilities and are very willing to work with parents to find solutions that work for each child, even if a solution only applies to a single child in the whole school. (Your experience could be totally different, of course.) Take school records (report cards, evaluations, whatever the school he currently attends will give you) with you as well so when you discuss his test results you can also provide other documentation as to his progress elsewhere (American's LOVE documentation). If you feel strongly that he should be in one grade or the other make sure that your thoughts are communicated to the school. In PA we ended up having a meeting with 6 or 7 administrators and teachers as well as the school psychologist who had administered the tests in order to discuss placement. As it happened, the official recommendations exactly matched what we were thinking, so it was all good, but it was an open forum for us to argue if we felt the need.

As to how the tests were run, in PA I was allowed to sit in on the testing and my little one even did some of the answering while sitting on my lap. In NY I was not allowed to be in the room, but my daughter didn't end up unduly traumatized by the experience! ;-) The PA testing took over an hour, but they had the big decision about class placements to make, in NY the sessions were much shorter, and were really just about checking reading levels. In PA, the little one was given lists of words to read, some oral and some written math problems and a bunch of "IQ" type tests where she was given blocks and asked to assemble them into a certain shape in a given amount of time and that sort of thing. She also took a spelling test, starting with simple words and building up to more difficult ones. Once she said she couldn't figure out a couple in a row, they stopped.

Hope some of the above is helpful! Good luck!!

Peachbythebeach

I honestly can't imagine putting a 6 year old who is emotionally and academically solid in Kindergarten in the states. Especially if he's already been in Reception. I'd think he'd be bored quite easily. It's not like his birthday is bordering on the cut-off date - turning 6 in May gives him ample cushion.

If you have concerns for him academically or socially, that's another issue and you should go with your gut. I'd ask if you could be taken on a tour of the school and take a peek into the Kindergarten and First Grade rooms so you can get a feel for it.

I'm still in shock at hearing about these August 31 cut-offs! Where I teach, the cut-off is December 1st and parents complain about that b/c they want their kids in 'real school' as soon as possible. We've had kids who turn 5 as late as December 12 enter Kindergarten b/c they scored well on the tests, which was crazy. They were too young.

Anian

There are a few eager moms around me who have a child born latish in the school year (June) who want their kids to be held back a year before entering kindergarten specifically so that they will do better academically!

My daughter is in the awkward position of being one of the youngest in her year, small for her age, but top of her class (when she received her second commendation we were told it was unusual for a kindergärtner to get one. She got four by the end of the year). Being put forward a year (skipping first grade) would be good for her academically but she would be easily the tiniest in the class. Somehow, she has made of 2nd-5th grade friends at school but I'm not sure how well she would cope socially in a class of them, seems to be handling things okay right now. She will be in the 2/1 split instead of first grade, which is for the brighter 1st graders and slower 2nd graders.

AmerLisa

By grade 2 she could be tested for your district's Highly Capable Learners program. Some districts have different classrooms for these kids.

Anian

Thanks, just looked it up and it seems that she wouldn't be tested for this until grade 2 and then won't be in the program until grade 3, but her school does have a program for it. Looks like she ticks all the (rather vague) boxes in the questionnaire.

Sue

Here in NC a lot of parents will hold off and won't start their kids in Kindergarten until they are 6. For instance my neighbor did this with her child. Her son turned 7 in April and yet will be going into 1st grade when school starts back in a couple of weeks.

My son started Kindergarten at 5 (his birthday is in August) and he's nearly always been the youngest in his class. In some cases he's been 18 months younger. Eg One of his friends who was in the same year as him at school turned 20 in March and yet my son only turned 19 a few days ago.

In some instances parents deliberately hold their children back an extra year as they believe it will give them an advantage academically, and make them stand above their peers.

It really does depend on the child, but if your child has already been in education for a year prior to moving here, then I think you should push for 1st grade. He may be bored to death in Kindergarten.

tuxedocat

One more thing - teach him American words for punctuation.