eslalwani

Hi There
I have a question about schooling in the us. I moved back to the uk in the hopes my husband would be able to come, as of yet we have had no luck so looks like i may have to move back. My daughter will have completed her reception year here in the uk and i was wondering what i should do about school in the us. Will she have to go in kindergarden after completing reception? would she be covering the same ground. How do i go about getting her in school? how would they determined what level she is at. We would be in Virginia. any help and advice would be great. I am so scared i am doing the wrong thing. HELP

Thanks

naomi

How old is your little girl, I'm assuming around 5? Most children starting Kindergarten are 5, going on 6. Where I live children have to be 5 by September 1, and school starts the first week of September. My daughter is in Kindergarten, and I'm amazed at how much they are learning, she even gets a bit of homework. I probably wouldn't skip K if she's in the right age group, most of the kids in 1st Grade will be 6 going on 7.
Best of luck,
Naomi.

lisa67

Most of the kids in the 2 school districts we've lived in don't go to Kindergarten until they're 6. When we moved over, we were in the same situation as you and put our son in 1st grade on the undertsanding that if he didn't cope we'd move him into K. He was fine. It does depend on the school district though, some won't budge on the rules. Best to contact them and ask them about their policy. They may make the decision for you.

Bob

can't help about what grade...but where you go for school, that depends exactly on where you live, so look through city-data.com and see what neighbourhoods you might like and which schools they fall into.

Welcome to BE too

lisa67

There's been other threads about this....have a search. This is just one I found:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...e+for+my+child

tamms_1965

It's 5 years where I live unless it's a summer baby and/or a male. Most schools do a pre-entrance "interview" in the spring to see if your child is ready for the big "K" in the fall.

Mummy in the foothills

My oldest Ds had to enter Kindergarten after completing his reception class in UK, he was bored silly and kept asking the teacher "when are we going to some work?" It didn't seem to do him any harm and he made lots of friends.
Standards here for K have improved over the years they do a lot more "work" now than when he was in K(he's 21 now) and Dd (age 5) will start K this year.

penguinsix

Some schools have K-4 programs as well as K-5, so there is a chance that some of the kids in your class will have been in school as long as your child has as well.

Please read the wiki:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/What_d...s_in_school%3F

And this very informative thread:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=643985

It's specifically about putting a kid in 1st grade when they should have been in Kindergarden (based on their age, not merely the fact they had done reception already).

In the end, it's going to depend a great deal on the specifics of the program in your district and the emotional, physical and academic development of your child. I would not underestimate the problems that can develop by being the youngest in the class by a full year at this age.

Good luck.

budleigh

It really does depend on the school. We have been here (CA East Bay) for 4 weeks, my 6 year old was placed in Kindergarten despite having moved from being most of the way through Year 1 in the UK.
The school here has been great she initially came home with work and reading books her 4 year old sister could do but they have quickly adjusted the work to be mostly more her level. They also did quite a lengthy assessment to determine if she would be ok to move up to Grade 1 but after a meeting with her teacher and the head we decided it wouldn't really be in her interests to do this, they cover an awful lot in Grade 1 here and she would be towards the bottom end of her class if pushed up now and with older children too so she is staying where she is, coasting a little for the rest of the school year but being set reading etc suitable for her level which we are very happy with. She has settled and made good friends really quickly.
hth

cruickies

We have had a similar sitiation having moved to austin, texas a month ago. After some debate with the school and testing etc, the kids have been enrolled in a lessor grade, to keep them with their age group. We figure we'd rather move them up a grade if they are too "smart" than keep them back...
I have found the school to be more advanced than back in Emglad. our kindergartener has real homework!

kins

We moved just after my daughter finished Year 1 in the UK. She should theoretically have gone into 2nd grade, especially as she was already academically advanced for her class in the UK. But she is young for her year, and not all that emotionally mature so we put her back into 1st grade.

She loved it. The teachers manage to differentiate the learning for her, so she is still challenged, and she is with children her age.

She's done nearly three years now and recently took the NECAP tests and was on the 99th centile, so she's not slipping backwards academically.

eslalwani

thanks for all the feedback. I am driving myself mad with this whole thing all i think about day and night is this move and so many things go round my mind. So glad i found this site.

kins

I found that once I'd decided to make the move, I relaxed a lot. Making the decision was scary - once it was made I could really focus on the practicalities.

Definitely been where you are now - thinking about it day and night

eslalwani

that is just it making the move to do it. My husband has been very good, it has been 3 years since e have been together as a family. It breaksmy heart to leave my mum.

Englishtart

It's a big decision, I know how tough it is living apart from your husband, 3 years is a very long time. One thing I learned very recently (selfishly had put it out of my mind) is that "Dad" is missing out on so much of his kids growing up, my youngest is a lot older than yours (17) but during his life, I would say that he has had around 4 yrs without his Dad, I (as a Mum) have tended to think about it from our Sons persepective. I came to realise that the seperations are just as difficult for 'Dad', my hubby got pretty emotional recently whilst we were talking about our Son going away to College soon

You really have to think about the relationship between Dad and Daughter, 'Dad' has missed out on so much of her life already, if they don't re-connect soon and renew their bond, it could be a lot more traumatic down the road. Good luck sweety, your daughter will be fine in the schools here, try not to make that the reason (excuse) for your not wanting to come back. It's never easy to leave your Mum behind, but your husband deserves to have his family too