AIBU to worry about my summer-born daughter moving into Year 1?

[MamaOooh]

My August born daughter started school last September and is nearing the end of reception. She is not yet 5.

I was aware that we could have chosen to defer her school start at the time we were applying for schools but it definitley wasnt the standard in my area and all of the other summer born children we knew locally and from her pre school have also gone, so it seemed a no brainer. Pre school also said she was definitley ready, she herself was very excited and has absolutley loved reception.

However now we are almost at the end, and we are being given information about year 1 classes and curriculums I just feel so... deflated for her. Reception has been great and she has breezed through the phonics up until now and it was easy to get her to practice at home. But theyve started Stage 4 (little wandle/big cat) and she hates it - she has to so 5 books a week at home and its such hard work getting her to concentrate on it. She just wants to play and I dont blame her. I know year 1 will be such a step up in terms of having to sit for longer, focus on things etc and even though yes she probably is capable I feel like it will be an uphill battle.

I havent anything tangible to base these feelings on (other than the reading), her teachers have always said she is doing well academically, she has made lots of friends and overall been very happy. Occasional lapses in listening and is a bit of a chatterbox but nothing out of the ordinary for reception. I just have a gut feeling that the transition to year 1 is going to hit her hard and Im suddenly wishing I had given deferral more thought. But sadly it seems like you either defer right at the start or not at all :(

Has anyone else had these same feelings about their child going from R to Yr1? Did it turn out ok?

We've had children join and then redo reception year. Feels like it wasn't that easy though, watching their friends progress whilst they stayed behind. But could be worth asking the school if you feel that's the right path for your child?

I was very nervous about my eldest transitioning. He seemed to really struggle with concentrating and the idea of sitting at a desk all day felt mammoth. But he's just finished year 2 and is doing well. Next upgrade to KS2 feels just as daunting. Perhaps it's just the way with change/unknowns?

Still occasionally get tempted to bust them out of the system and homeschool rather than sending them to sit in front of a screen for multiple hours a day. But realistically I don't think I'm cut out for it!

Just read stuff she enjoys as part of bedtime. We never did the school books with DD, we did stories at bedtime and read with her at other times. Don't make reading a battle.

If she is doing well with her phonics then who's going to know if you did the books or not.

Your daughter sounds like she is thriving in Reception. The jump to Y1 is big but they will be doing it all together and teachers are aware it is big.

FWIW my friend was born 31 August in the evening. Mere minutes before the cut off. She did brilliantly at school and is now a senior nurse. Your kid will be fine and will adapt.

Even if she was to wait another year, the transition from YR to Y1 would still be shit. Sitting at a desk type learning should start much later for everyone in my opinion.

My ds is summer born and even more stressful was that he sat the 7+ exams just after he turned 6!! A lot of the kids were turning 7.
Hes doing absolutely fine and teachers will be aware and adjust for the age. The jump will happen and some kids will adjust just fine.

My grandson is currently in year 1. He's the youngest in the class, born end of August. He struggled a little with Reception, mainly wanting to be outside running around etc. But he's done so well in Year 1, has settled well, managing all the phonics, maths etc. The only thing I'd say is he's now getting tired, I think he's ready for the holidays and a break from learning. He's been sad going into school this week, and says he feels tired.

We worried about whether we should have deferred our son too, and I'll probably always wonder, but he's happy. He's at the end of year 1 now. He's doing really well overall academically, though he struggles a bit with spelling. He's started liking it a bit more recently though now we've been rushing it less and talking about checking work and just doing your best. 5 books a week is a lot. We only get 1 a week. Can you do things like you read one one one night, she reads the next. But overall, moving up is probably a challenge to lots of the kids there, even the older ones

@MamaOooh I had a summer born child and the reading just clicks after a few months in YR1. By Easter and being extremely reluctant my DD was reading fluently. Just keep practicing without too much stress put on your child - you want them to gain a love of reading rather than hate it.

Yes I felt exactly the same except my DS wasn't doing well academically. I had considered deferring him before reception, but emotionally and socially he was ready for school. At the end of reception and throughout year 1 and most of year 2 I wished I had deferred him! He loved reception and I definitely didn't feel he was ready to move up at that point

He's just finishing year 3, and this year something has clicked and he's now doing well and I'm glad we stuck with his correct year

It really doesn’t sound like you should be holding her back, I don’t think summer born children should be held back at all unless there’s a very good reason (I am summer born myself).
Be lead by your DD a bit though, forcing reading every night can have the opposite effect of improving reading.
She doesn’t “have” to read 5 books a week, it’s what school send home but they can’t force it. I think this sounds excessively intense for reception age children anyway - I have one in secondary and one just finishing year 6 and they are both doing really well but we didn’t do nearly as much reading at home and some weeks didn’t bother at all.

My soon was born very end of August, i was worried about him being 11 months younger than some of the class. He's now in year 3 and is on one of the highest reading bands and was the first in his class to get his pen license. Dont worry too much

We are in the last term of the school year, honestly I feel like this every year. I don't know if DS is going to cope with the step up to the next year, listening and low level behaviour goes to pot generally cross the class in the final term. And DS is a Sept born child so I don't think your worries are limited to just parents of summer born children.

Your DD sounds as if she is doing really well so I wouldn't want to hold her back. You risk her getting bored as she can easily do the work. That is not a benefit to her either.

Reading - we have rarely read the school books. I spoke to school about it once in year 1 as I was 100% sure DS was just memorising the book (as they do it all week) not actually reading it, they said as long as we were reading something it didn't matter what. So we chose a book from home to read at home. DS is now end of year 3 and reads for enjoyment not just because he has to for homework.

Thank you for the replies! Im glad they are positive experiences and maybe just that general end of year feeling.

To clarify its 5 reading sessions per week not 5 books, my error in my OP! It can be the same book 5 times. I didnt used to think it was a lot when she started because it was just a sheet with a few CVC words on that took a couple of minutes but now the books she brings back are much longer. I still read a book of her choice to her a bedtime or whenever she fancies.

Its strange as i didnt worry a jot about her starting pre school or reception but I'm mindful that she has quite a 'go go go' personality and would always choose playing and running about over sitting down and cracking on with something.

I think it’s natural to worry when you have a summer born baby. My eldest is an August baby. We did go through a stage where she would refuse to read but now her confidence is up she always wants to read the bedtime story. We didn’t always read the school books and just encouraged her to read a little bit of a story of her choice at bedtime. She is year 1 now and she’s at the top of the reading groups (not showing off just trying to give reassurance that your child will eventually get there with the reading)!