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Should we move our son up a grade? He is currently in 4th Grade.
CarSeatMomma January 19, 2010
He was held back in Kindergarten due to social immaturity. He has been recently diagnosed with ADHD. He is now on medication & has been in Therapy.
He has improved greatly. We tried to improve things without meds for a long time. Once our son was on the meds he noticed a difference and likes the effects (how he can stay more focused).
Now, we think he is bored in class and not being challenged. He spent his first 4 school years (K,K,1st, 2nd) at a really top-notch school/district and 3rd & 4th (so far) at a different lower rated school/district, due to top-notch school being FULL. He was an out-of-district transfer!
Over the Christmas break, I had the teacher give me some harder (5th grade level) math work. He was able to do it with a little explanation from me and got them correct. So now I am trying to getting a meeting setup to discuss moving him up to either 5th grade for rest of year or a GATE program. He scored advanced on STAR TEST for both Math & LA. Great Reader.
healthy11 January 20, 2010
Kids can definitely be bright and have ADHD...they're called "2e" or "twice exceptional," and you can read more about them at http://community.greatschools.net/groups/16042....
Under most circumstances, I'd be very hesitant to skip an older child a grade, because social cliques and friendships are very difficult to deal with. Since your son sounds like he's already "a new kid on the block" it may not be as upsetting for him to switch. If I were you, I think I'd push more for the GATE program than skipping him ahead, because the caliber of students and their work ethic is probably higher, and if your ADHD son is anything like mine, he'll benefit more from being surrounded by good role models.35567
monberasai September 19, 2010
Yes move him up I'm sure he will be find at times even our kids knows what's best for them, then we do if he thinks he can do it he will. If not I'm sure the school can send him back to his old class. Ask if he can also maybe just go to 5th for a week or two and you can see were he is at that way to61301
Sarah_Franklin September 25, 2010
I have experience with this: I am both a high school teacher and someone who entered Kindergarden a year later because my parents decided it would be better for me (my birthday was only a few days after the cut-off date, and they were told they could decide either way). I know my mother, a first-grade teacher, also agrees with me. She often says one of the best things she did for me was give me that extra year.
There are ENORMOUS advantages to being one of the oldest members of a class. Your analytical skills are better than your classmates', your memory retention is comparatively better, you have more life experience, and your basic physical skills (motor skills, coordination) are better. In high school, many of the more well-liked kids are the ones who are the older ones in their grades, because people appreciate their maturity (particularly the girls). I think the advantages of being older in his grade level are more important than the challenge he could find academically by going up a grade. Even if he's "ready" for the subject matter, it doesn't mean he'd be better off, in other words.
GATE might be a good answer to this, in terms of work in school. My suggestion for you is that you find some outside ways to support his growth and learning--clubs, activities, visits to museums, classes at the Chabot Space & Science Center, Lawrence Hall of Science, or Exploratorium. If you did the leg work to do the inter-district transfer process, I'm guessing you're already doing some of this, but it's a good thing to keep in mind. It's also a way for him to make friends outside of his community, which can be a really valuable experience for him.
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