August born, practical advice wanted

[nutterbutsquash]

My ds is 2 and I have spent the last 2 years agonising over the fact that as an august boy born in a family with few members over 5' 6" he is going to have some challenges at school. He is an extremely happy boy but my concerns over his schooling are taking over somewhat, even though it's relatively far away.
On top of this, I have just discovered that I am pregnant again, due date mid august 2011. I should be feeling delighted but instead feel only guilt and disappointment that I have failed to give another one of my children the best start in life.
I have read the threads and know that it's not always so set in stone but the exceptions seem to be girls, taller children and those that are exceptionally bright.
What I would really like is some practical advice on what I can do to lessen the impact of their birth month on their lives. Sorry for the lenght of this, feeling pretty emotional at the moment.

[SE13Mummy]

In my Y4 class the tallest, eldest child is also the one who struggles most with all things academic. The next two (in terms of age, not height) also find reading, writing and understanding extremely hard. My 'high performers' are February babies.

When you start looking at schools ask about August-born boys and their experience... the schools that take your concerns seriously, and seem to offer opportunities that match your son's interests and personality.

[PollyPhonny]

Please don't worry. My DS is summer born and is the smallest in his class. He is also top of his class by some considerable distance (and they measure this in exam percentages, so this isn't just hearsay). I did defer his school start because I don't personally think school is right for just-four-year-olds; I did the same with my summer-born daughter (who, btw, is somewhere around the middle of her class). The highest achieving children in my son's class all have birthdays that fall late in the academic year. I think that choosing the right school matters a gazillion times more than birth month.

[clam]

My DS is August-born (now 14) and tiny to boot. However, he's a big personality, and has starred in numerous drama and musical productions. Bags of confidence, articulate, friendly, polite and in the top groups for most things at school.
Please try not to worry. There is NO reason to suppose your DCs will be at any more of an advantage or disadvantage than any other child in the class. Certainly not down to their birth month, anyway.

[pozzled]

OP, I'm in a very similar situation to you- DD is 2, born in August. And no2 is due in June 2011. I'm a teacher and I always said that I didn't want to have my children in the summer for the reasons you give. But I'm less worried about DD now that I know her personality, she is a very confident, outgoing girl who loves her time at nursery. And although I can see that she might find school hard at first, I really do think that parental input makes much more difference than month of birth.

As others say, it's the summer born children from disadvantaged backgrounds who really need the help.

Also, FWIW I have taught Yr4 and Yr6 and the children who I would think might be summer-born (ie finding the work hard, lagging behind peers) are often September-born, and vice-versa.

[onceamai]

Be positive - your son starts getting the benefit of education just after he is 4 not when he is nearly five.

DS is christmas, DD is summer. By Y6 not that much difference. Different children, different talents. Also DD as far as the charts go is the bigger child, DD up to 10/11 90th centile, DS up to 10/11 50th centile. DS is the very very sporty one - DD mildly unco-ordinated. Cherish and encourange the individual talents.

DH is August born - played county cricket and then took a double first - still can't make an omolete (sp), tie a bow tie, or fold a shirt

[Catnao]

My son is very late August (25th) and DID struggle in school when little - always asleep on carpet at end of the day etc!) Plus other problems. Had IEPs for not making progress as a "very bright" child should and also in trouble a lot for being chatty/fidgety/ a general pain in the ruddy neck Was then diagnosed with ADHD in year 5 and since then and with medication has really flown ahead - a bit above average now in year 6 wheras behind always before. Always been fine socially really, although a complete pain challenging for my poor colleagues.
So I think MOST of his problems, other than being a complete midget and a bit immature in KS1 are unrelated to his August - ness. Although he might have been diagnosed quicker if NOT Summer - immaturity was often cited as a reason for some of his ADHD related behaviours.

[pugsandseals]

August DD here!

Now in year 4 and she still struggles with attention span and tiredness by the end of the day! But on the plus side I think she would be bored stiff if she was the eldest.

Practical advice - you can make a difference by starting reception at Easter. Before this we fould a fantastic Nursery School (unrelated to school) who helped her gradually learn through play and extend towards full-time hours. Combine this with a good learning to read at home method (Letterland or Teach your child to read with CAT) and some high quality pre-school music classes and they will more than keep up with their year group. I'm not sure she would ever have coped from the beginning of reception year though! And my method does require a fair amount of time and effort on your behalf!

[Milliways]

My DS was mid August, small & Ginger. I worried about how he would cope but he just flew at school, and will take his GCSEs next SUmmer with excellant predicted grades.

Up until recently his friends looked like his minders, but at last he has started to grow like a weed.

He did say it will be odd when they can all drive / drink / get jobs etc & he can't, but it all evens out in the end.

[Saracen]

As thisisyesterday says, if your children don't seem ready then home education can be a good answer.

There is quite a big difference between just-four and nearly-five, but hardly any difference between just-nine and nearly-ten. (And I'd venture to guess that no one even knows that I'm a summer-born 42-year-old; I manage to keep up with my peers with no problem these days. ) If you can delay the time when your child is compared to others, it will keep his self-esteem intact while he has time to mature and the gap between him and the older children narrows. The longer you wait, the better the chance that his school start will be a successful one. He'll be able to manage what the others can do. No one will have to make "allowances" for him.

Of course, it may turn out that your children are particularly mature so that their birthdates won't be an issue after all. Why not wait and see what they are like closer to the time when they are eligible to start school?

[jackstarlightstarbright]

My late August born nephew is suffering a bit a the moment. He is in year 2 and still gets lots of support - but is struggling to keep up.

My sister was recently told by the head - that the school was doing their best to help him -'to the detriment of his class mates' .

But the head also admitted that if he were in year 1 (i.e if he had been born 3 days later) he would be fine and about average in the class. From that we assume his development is roughly 6 months behind his chronological age.

It seems being six months behind is only a problem if you are summer born - otherwise you can at least keep up with the class. I suspect that is one of the major causes of the 'relative age effect'.

[Mercedes519]

I think it will be really interesting as the single intake becomes more common and the results start coming through.

I really appreciate the effort the school has gone to to help my DS settle in and start to learn effectively. And I'm sure they have done it for all the other children responding to their needs - the one that cries all the time, the fidgety one and all the other individual character traits kids have - age/maturity is just one of them.

He does go to a very good school though

[jackstarlightstarbright]

Mercedes - the government's research indicated summer born children do better in 'one intake'. I have my doubts - but time will tell.

I find all this 'making allowances' and 'extra support' a bit sad. Being born in the summer shouldn't make you a special category.

I would prefer all children to be able to learn at a level and pace that's age appropriate.

[Mercedes519]

jackstar DS's school has been great in managing him and making allowances, I really feel they have got to know HIM and what he needs as a child, including for his age.

Do you think single intake will make a difference to the disadvantage? DS has come so far this term I can see how starting in January (and especially Easter as they used to) would leave him behind the older children.

[jackstarlightstarbright]

I also agree with Wilf - the real problem will be for the summer born child from the lowest social groups.

[jackstarlightstarbright]

"teachers do tend to be very aware of child ages, particularly in primaries, I've found"

The research tends to suggest the opposite. Although there as been more awareness lately - so maybe it's changing.

[jackstarlightstarbright]

Wilfshelf is correct. The last government commissioned research into the 'relative age effect' and found allowing, for social class, a disadvantage to being the youngest in the year.

Although it's true that other recent research implies that social class is the overall biggest factor in educational attainment.

There is also research which finds the 'relative age' disadvantage lasts until about A'levels - summer borns are slightly less likely to go to Uni but do better than Autumn borns when they get there.

But it is only statistics and so much depends on the individual. I know of many summer borns who benefit from being the youngest (working harder and more academically stretched than their Autumn born class mates).

[seeker]

My December born clung to me crying at the beginning of every term until year 4. And would probably still do it if she could get wawy with it in year 10.

Conversely the brightest, most confident child in ds's year (now year 5) would have been in year 4 if she had been born two hours later. And she\s tiny too. They are all different.

And [glances round to make sure nobody's looking then whispers} sometimes people go on about their Summer born children having problems, bring difficult and so on when they would have had problems or been difficult whatever month they had been born it!

[catinthehat2]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.
Early tea and 6pm bedtime are going to be your saviours, particularly in the first term, most particularly if that is the winter term.

[Goldfrankincenseandmyrrhberry]

My dd's birthday is 26th August and she started school last year. She loved school from the beginning, happily made friends and is doing just as well as anyone else. She's now in Year 1. She's about average height for her age, but is skinny and looked tiny compared with most of the other kids when she started (and still does). I can't say that it has seemed to make any difference to her progress, popularity or anything else tbh.
I think the best thing you can do is to avoid communicating any of your worries about it to your ds. If you stay positive, he probably will too, and that will make everything easier.

[SpringHeeledJack]

teachers do tend to be very aware of child ages, particularly in primaries, I've found

[SpringHeeledJack]

middle class?

moi???

[WilfShelf]

To clarify, that means socio-economic status might be more important. However, what this means is that children from poor backgrounds born in August are doubly disadvantaged. Which is a real issue we should worry about, not just our own possibly middle-class kids...

[Mercedes519]

And I'd be interested to see if in 10 years time summer children still do worse as the current reports are based on staggered intakes which means they get less school. In single intake results this will disappear and we will be able to see the impact of age.

[WilfShelf]

Statistically, the effect of having an August birthday has an impact on educational outcomes regardless of socio-economic status. Because they controlled for that in the study design.

[Mercedes519]

My DS was 4 at the end of august and started school in September. First of all does your area do single intake? He might actually go in January when he's 4.

And then, I had a baby 3 months ago but actually managed to get her in September but it strikes me as ironic that dS took some time to settle in but DD will be soooo ready so basically you can never win!

As others posters have said, your DS may struggle a little with stamina and tiredness and in our case it meant we had some behavioural issues. However the school has been fab at dealing with it, letting him have naps and having loads of tricks and ways to engage him and reward good behaviour. Academically it has made no difference at all, he is already reading and writing as well as the other kids in the class.

Other posters have talked about deferring, I did look at this but was put off by him going straight into year 1 as this is 'proper' school rather than foundation 2 and the difference is quite significant.