Did your young-in-year DC catch up academically?

[Sola123]

I have a DD who has finished her first year of primary. She is one of the younger ones - 2 months from the cut off. For her English she got a "C" at the end of the year.

I know that young-in-year kids have it harder and she is probably doing fine for her age. But the fact is, she will be measured at the level of the older kids. I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me about their young-in-year kids that are a bit further on in their education? If they are doing well, did they start well and continue that way? Or did anyone have the experience of starting off slowly and then catching up?

Statistically iirc young in year do less well in GCSEs than autumn children.

However you will now get hundreds of anecdotes about summer born children who are top of the year, attending 'Oxbridge' etc. The plural of anecdote is not data.

There is loads you as a parent can do. That will eventually have more impact than which month she was born in.

Sorry that sounded really negative.

Your child is an individual. You have masses of influence as a parent. There is no need for the fact she is summer born to hold her back.

My summer born dc is currently the most academically advanced. Hes now year 7 and often finds he gets bored in lessons such as maths as they are just going over things from last year making sure everyone is upto the same level and he isn't learning. If he had been in the year below he would have been so fed up.

Mine’s ahead in maths, English is passable he’s in year 6. He struggled with writing, that only clicked in year 5. But we’ve given him extra support and picked up where he struggled. How well he will do in the future we hope for the best. He’s end of aug baby.

Yes, I have friends who were young/have young DC that are doing really well. However, they seem to say that they have never noticed their DC being behind etc. I suppose I was just worried after the first year that there was definitely a gulf between her and the older ones.

@THATbasicSNOWFLAKE

My summer born dc is currently the most academically advanced. Hes now year 7 and often finds he gets bored in lessons such as maths as they are just going over things from last year making sure everyone is upto the same level and he isn't learning. If he had been in the year below he would have been so fed up.

Was he always ahead though? That's what's worrying me.

I was told in Y2 by the teacher and TA that they didn't know when everyone's birthday was and there was no great divide between Autumn and Summer born children. I had a younger, first born boy in a class where 22 had older siblings and felt that could also make a difference to where each child sat academically. I'm not sure if they still do it now but there always used to be an allowance made at the 11+ to reflect the difference in age but that's never been the case at GCSE or A Level so there must have been thinking that it evens out in the end.

Was he always ahead though? That's what's worrying me

He picked most things up very easily, although struggled with handwriting until about year 3.

My dd is summer born and was always top of the class (not a particular stellar cohort in fairness!). If you are summer born and struggling academically then it will take longer to catch up but yes they do tend to catch up in the end. Maturity plays a big part and as the girls tend to mature more quickly than the boys they tend to catch up more quickly too.

Are you in the UK? We start school so early here and the age difference between the oldest and youngest makes a big difference. If possible try and smooth out that big gap.

No, in Australia. DD started school at 4 1/2.

DC1’s teacher has commented a few times that they are one of the youngest in the year so I think there probably are some differences in ability otherwise why mention it. They seem to particularly struggle with writing but progressing well in maths and reading.

Sorry I can’t help with your specific question but interested to see if others had DC who were behind in writing and able to catch up.

By primary four (year 3) it seems to have evened out, across the class for all my DCs. Two months from the cut off isn't that young either, so it'll probably be sooner.

In Scotland they measure attainment adjusted for age, so my young for her year DC was graded a bit too highly in the early years (she looks like one of the oldest as well) so always started the next year being given harder work than her level. By P4 it had balanced out completely.

However, I think you might be making this into a bigger deal than it is. It isn't very supportive to be talking about her being behind and looking for an explanation, she is progressing at her own rate and there will be lots of kids getting Cs. It's not been a normal year either, be sure to show her you are proud of what she did achieve - don't teach her to compare herself.

@LetsSplashMummy

By primary four (year 3) it seems to have evened out, across the class for all my DCs. Two months from the cut off isn't that young either, so it'll probably be sooner.

In Scotland they measure attainment adjusted for age, so my young for her year DC was graded a bit too highly in the early years (she looks like one of the oldest as well) so always started the next year being given harder work than her level. By P4 it had balanced out completely.

However, I think you might be making this into a bigger deal than it is. It isn't very supportive to be talking about her being behind and looking for an explanation, she is progressing at her own rate and there will be lots of kids getting Cs. It's not been a normal year either, be sure to show her you are proud of what she did achieve - don't teach her to compare herself.

Thank you, that is reassuring.

I do realise I may be worrying unnecessarily. I was hoping that was the case. I am very supportive and positive with her and haven't mentioned anything like this. I didn't even tell her what grades she got for the year - I just read out the positive comments her teacher had made and said she was doing a fantastic job of learning etc. She did get some Bs and an A in music.

She does mention herself what other kids are doing though, and compares.

I was a straight A kind of student, but one of the older ones, so it's difficult for me. It's more that I'm worried that I have not done the best by her, should have held her back a year or done more to get her ahead before she started school etc.

I think if you are very bright it can work to your advantage. You get pushed so don’t get as bored easily in class. You have piers to compete with so push yourself.
I think it is a disadvantage if you are already struggling, come from a less supportive family environment.
You need to look at the individual.
For what it’s worth I am a summer born and did fine as did my husband. We were both naturally academic types and didn’t struggle.
If I look at my kids my eldest son is a bit hyper but bright. He struggles with the sitting still and conforming side of things. This has become more obvious as he has gone into year 2. He is winter born. I would have held him back had he been summer. I wouldn’t have wanted him sat at a desk any sooner.
My middle child born mid year is probably more average but better at conforming. I think she would have been ok with a lot of support.
My youngest is a summer born. He is very naturally bright but calmer than my first born. He also has the advantage of two older siblings who help push his language and goes to nursery a lot. I think he will be ok.

It will even out, even more so if you put some extra work in with her reading/spelling/maths etc.

My DD was late August but has always been bright, did well in SATS (although they've changed since), got 9-7s in her GCSEs and is now taking 4 A levels.

Yes.

OP, do not panic.

I think learning to read and write is a time when they are most 'sensitive' to stage of development. My Dc (Late July born) was an extremely early talker, and I assumed would learn to read fast.

He didn't.

But then I found out that actually the average age for learning to read confidently is 6.

By the end of Yr 1 he was motoring along, and has been performing in top sets throughout his academic journey ever since. Now at a RG Uni, etc etc.

I don't know whether his academic success would have been (even) better had he been older in his year, but its irrelevant - he has got where he needs to be and wants to be at each stage of his education.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I think that's what I needed to hear!

I think the main thing is to make sure they don't get downhearted and stop trying because children 20% older find something easier / can do it better.

31st of August born myself and I’ve done really well academically and as now an academic myself.
2 summer born DCs. DC1 was definitely behind her autumn born classmates I’d say until year 2. She also gravitated towards the younger kids in her class so all of her close friends are summer born too. I did the same actually! It’s pretty even now and you wouldn’t know who was born when.
DC2 is only 2.5 so I can’t comment on her yet. I’m not worried though and I remember feeling worried when my first started having just turned 3.

No not til year 6 he’s always just been ok. Everything was meets expectations (apart from writing). But suddenly he’s got it

My august and end of may born were both quite behind until about yr 2 , extra help from school and both caught up and ended up top sets
Ds 1 august born only achived all 4's in gcse though , but his targets were 5/6 so something went wrong. Although now doing level 3 btech and is achieving merits/ distinctions
Ds2 currently doing gcse and targets are 4 for english , science, 5 maths , history and 6/7 business.
So def behind at first but by age 7 just all clicked and they were as on level pegging with there peers

I think there's a lot more to it than just young in the year.

Yes, some children catch up, some overtake, some fall further behind. That happens across the year.

However what about those that never catch up?
I have a theory that saying "oh they're a young in the year child" actually doesn't help in some cases. Because they don't get the early intervention they need.

My ds is summer boy. Academically he's fine, as long as it's something he enjoys, which is simply personality.
However he is currently teenage and being assessed for ASD and ADHD. I suggested it many times from preschool through to about year 4. Every time I got the response "he's a summer boy, he'll grow into it."
In comparison the similar boy in reception, who was an October birthday was assessed and diagnosed and given extra help by the end of year 1.

So I think part of the problem summer borns have is people don't intervene quickly enough, which must have an effect on final outcome.

I don't think enough thought has been put into why summer borns have a less good outcome. I think it's a lot more complicated than just being younger.

DS2 is still behind in year 5. I think his ADHD is also a contributory factor. He can't tie shoelaces or a tie either. He gets very stressed out if I try and teach him.

Not really age related, but teach her that she is great, teach her to persist with difficult things (maybe a project or task you do together, or learning an instrument or a sport she's not immediately great at). Teach her to be positive in the face of failures or low marks and figure out how to learn from that. Don't benchmark her against yourself or others, tell her a C is creditable. My dd was fairly middle of the road in a good primary school but gained confidence in her abilities, learned to tough out failures and learn technique as a football goalie, learned piano, she applied herself and got excellent gcse grades and now predicted top grades at A level. Turns out she's smart and hard working and not at all average, rather exceptional. Be her cheerleader. She is herself and she is good enough and doing just fine.