[senco-forum] Backyearing

A friend of mine in the US delayed his entry to Kindergarten by a year, she
did this even though her child was large and comparatively mature because
being in the 'year below' as we might say in the UK would mean that he would
then be able to drive a car in his senior high school year but he would not
have been old enough if he had enrolled according to age (he was an August
baby).

I think some parents choose to delay school entry in the hope that the child
will be 'top of the class' if they are larger and older rather than out of
any specific reference to the child's development or maturity levels.
Something you can imagine being a significant factor in competitive
cultures.

Alison Barton

On 10/03/07, Ruth Newbury <rmnewbury at ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> I have taught a number of students who were, for a number of reasons, out
> of
> their own chronological year group.
>
> Chronic ill health, leading to long absences in the initial stages of
> schooling, family residence abroad for a long period, and more than
> anything
> else, children who had found the academic content of the year very
> challenging, particularly when the first stages of literacy and numeracy
> had
> not gone well.
>
> Now it appears to be a rare occurrance in the maintained sector, and I met
> far more of them within the independent sector.  I can honestly say that I
> have never seen a child where this move has acted to their detriment.  It
> was most easily managed where two "family grouped" (there's a name to
> meditate upon - who remembers those?) classes were run instead of a
> traditional year based infant classes.
>
> One thing I do wonder about.  How many of your "registers of need" contain
> more students born from April onwards, in a size out of proportion to the
> year group - mine always did.  For years I have celebrated a glut of
> birthdays within my department in June and July - and a massive
> celebration
> for those who would not be in school because their birthdays were in
> August.
>
> Currently I am a volunteer worked in a lower school - working with the
> lower
> groups or individuals - none of whom were born in the Autumn term.  They
> may
> well now get the same length of time, but at 4/5yrs - months can make a
> real
> difference in areas like reading readiness and all those other activities
> where the level of development and maturity are not yet quite there or not
> at the level you actually need to be successful.
>
> The child being discussed is a "summer baby" - and I would be considering
> the case for repetition very carefully, because I think that it is a real
> option.
>
> In France it was possible to repeat a year three times in your school
> career.  Our "French family" that we see a lot of had one of their
> children
> repeat two years - to her benefit.  She ended up going to University very
> successfully, after being in the sort of groups we all run for her initial
> schooling - and eventually being in the same year group as her younger
> sister - and this was apparently a very common procedure in Oise, where in
> her school she was not just the one, but one of a largish group, and
> certainly not one that carried any form of stigma for her - or her
> friends.
>
> Regards
>
> Ruth
>
>
>
>