Late summerborns starting reception this year

[Tensmum1234]

Accidentally posted this on the ‘education’ board but this one seems more appropriate...

Is anyone interested in a thread for summer borns starting school this year?
DS is mid August so will be starting school at just turned 4... I imagine there will be children starting school about to turn 5, which makes me feel a bit sad and anxious for him as he seems so young and small.

I hope this doesn’t turn into a discussion on starting at CSA- we thought about that and realised it’s definitely not for DS.
Academically he seems to be on track with the older kids from his preschool- is reading and writing CVC words, is keen on phonics and numbers. He’s pretty independent and can dress himself etc. It’s just annoying that he’ll be the youngest and the autumn borns have such an advantage! He can also be sad at drop off and I know he’ll be exhausted by the 5 full days so we’re maybe going to start him part time.

Anyone else care to share any thoughts on their summer babies starting this year? Might be nice to have a support thread and see how everyone’s doing! I’m definitely feeling more nervous about it than him!

[Zodlebud]

I have a very end of August child and just to offer some reassurance - she was absolutely fine. Very tired for the first few weeks but the only things she ever felt “behind” with were pencil grip and skipping.

She is now about to start secondary school. Top sets in all subjects, a great 11+ grammar pass and a lovely lovely bunch of friends. They really do catch up.

My other child was born the very start of September and actually struggled more in reception. She was bored with the work and socially it wasn’t great as the year was full of summer borns.

Based on what you have said, he will be fine.

[allfalldown47]

I hope I can help reassure you, I teach in early years.
By far one of the biggest issues for a child starting school is language, the school I work at has a high percentage of children who speak very little English and the early days of school can be very difficult for them. To say the way they pick up language and adapt is amazing is an understatement!

I obviously have a handful of August born children each year and yes, sometimes it's obvious but by and large, the biggest factor is the experiences and life the child has had before entering school.
A September born child who has never been read to (sadly this is very common) and has had limited life experience (by this I mean being spoken endlessly to about the natural world in the local park etc, not 4 years of international travel!) will be almost at a disadvantage to a child who is just 4 and has had years of stories, been played with and entertained endlessly and generally had a lot of 'life' experience.
I hope that makes sense? It's actually hard to put into words!

And as far as being 'school ready' focus on them learning how to independently fasten coats, undress and dress for pe, name recognition (useful but not essential!) and managing the toilet by themselves.

[Tensmum1234]

Thank you for the reassuring responses.

@Zodlebud that’s great your summerborn has had such a positive experience at school. I feel like we may have the same with our DD who is at the other end of the year with a sept birthday! She’s nearly 2 and can keep up with older cousins and DSs friends so might end up being bored with the rest of her school year, but who knows!

@allfalldown47 that totally makes sense. Luckily he seems to love books and has taken to phonics and writing really well as he seems to enjoy it. I feel like academically he might be ok to start but I worry that he’ll feel disheartened and demotivated if he can’t keep up with others.
Emotionally he’s good at communicating but is quick to get upset so I worry that he won’t have the emotional resilience as older ones might have.
He’s pretty independent and can dress and go to the toilet by himself but if he does need any assistance or if he has the odd accident will someone be able to help him at school with the new Covid restrictions?

[Shelley54]

Given the vast majority of children (my son included at 4 and a half) cannot read or write CVC words upon entering school, I'm not sure there's an academic disadvantage to your son.

[allfalldown47]

@Shelley54 what we really like is a clean slate! There are a variety of phonics programmes out there and schools follow different schemes etc
A child who is spoken and read to endlessly is in a great place to begin learning.

[KangarooLady]

@Tensmum1234, my youngest dd is starting school next year, her birthday is today! We want to start her off doing the same amount of days as the rest of the intake so she can get used to the full 5 days. Our school are phasing in their day length, first and second weeks until lunchtime, third and fourth weeks until the afternoon and they start the full day on the fifth week. Does yours do something similar? It could help him cope better with the day length

[IHateCoronavirus]

Early years teacher here, some of my most ‘brilliant’ little learners have been summer-borns. As pp said it is the life experience and language skill set that gives the greatest advantage.
My own dd was a left handed summer born she just finished year six with flying colours, a happy well rounded child.

[Cutesbabasmummy]

My son's best friend at school has just turned 5 on Monday. DS will be 6 in January. You wouldnt know there was much difference now they are about to start year 1.