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Parenting

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Original poster

Anyone with experience of having youngest kid in the class?

9 replies

Shelley76 · 03/07/2012 15:11

My son is the youngest year 3 boy as his birthday is on the 31st of August. Another boy in his class is a whole year older as his birthday is the 1st of Sept. I fear that he is giving up on times tables/maths as he has decided he is 'stupid'. I know it is not because of that but because he is a year younger. I fear this could damage his confidence. Should I insist on him repeating year 3 or would that be wrong too? Anyone with experience on this?

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fatzak · 03/07/2012 15:16

Hi Shelley. We have an August 25th DS. It's awful isn't it seeing them struggle when they are so young. We have had a great year this year as he was in a shared class in which he was one of 5 Yr2 children in a Yr 1 class and he has finally caught up to some extent. Unless you have any shared classes in your school, I don't think that there is much possibility of repeating a year - although perhaps this may be different where you live.

iseenodust · 04/07/2012 11:35

DS is youngest in year 3 and likes to tell anyone youngest in KS2. He's got that from school not us as we don't (in front of him) cut him any slack for this. We knew he wouldn't be top of the class being the youngest so we have sought to build his confidence through sports. I think you should talk to his teacher about his change in attitude and build his confidence by working with him on maths just a little bit through the summer hols. Lots of people on the primary educ threads recommend Percy Parker times tables songs CD.

What do you feel it will do for his confidence if he doesn't go forward with his peer group? Not a step I would take unless had severe SEN.

mistlethrush · 04/07/2012 11:42

What do you do with him in terms of helping him at home? What tables is he confident with? We sometimes do mental arithmetics on the school run in the morning - or going round the supermarket - or whenever there are mental calculations to be done and I'm sure its helped.

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Shelley76 · 04/07/2012 11:50

Thanks for the replies and for the tip about the percy parker times tables songs cd - not heard of that one before.
Luckily son is very tall for his age so even though he is the youngest, he is one of the tallest and strongest. He loves sports and drama so does well there, it's just tough to see that he gives up before he has even read the question in maths as he knows he is not as good as the others. I will have to focus on some fun games involving maths this summer and keep practising times tables and number bonds to make it more automatic for him. He does some really complicated additions and substractions so I know he CAN do it, he just needs to believe in himself some more. He's competitive in nature so really dislikes being bad at things. He's been assessed and their conclusion was that he is 'young' so no SEN picked up. He has also had eyesight and hearing tested so all ok. Just seems to be psychological block. Tough to see him give up before he even starts a maths task and he is the only one in his class not to get the times table badge this year. Class has a party when everyone gets their badges so a lot of pressure to learn them and he feels sad that he's unable to retain the pattens in his head.

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iseenodust · 04/07/2012 12:04

If he likes computer games think about taking out a trial with Mangamaths. the cheap version is less than £10 per month. Lots of curriculum based games but fun eg big bad robots coming at you firing additons or times table questions at you. Type the answer to blow them to smithereens. Looks far more like a game than homework and it is tailored by age/ability.

Dillydollydaydream · 04/07/2012 12:05

My dd is the youngest in her class she's a 29th august baby. She has always been a clever cookie though and has been absolutely fine at school. She's in the top sets for everything and is one of the top in those. If she was born in September like she should have been I think she would have been really bored at home for another year.
However, my ds is also an august baby, he is 3 in August and starting nursery in September, he is nowhere near ready. He's on the waiting list for a speech and language assessment and I am so worried he's going to struggle :(

Hullygully · 04/07/2012 12:06

My dd was/is youngest.

Just tell him the truth: you're younger, by the time you are X's age you'll be doing it too - probably even better! (To make him feel good).

Meanwhile do lots of fun practise at home.

WakyWally · 02/04/2024 22:19

I was an August baby so know exactly what you mean. Felt at a disadvantage really. And when it came to leaving school, i just was not ready to. Having to leave at 15 years and 7 months.

Cormoran · 03/04/2024 04:24

DS1 was the youngest in the class. It didn't affect his academic work, quite the opposite, but years down the line, when he was at uni, yes it made a difference because he wasn't allowed into bars as underaged . He hated being the youngest and would lie about his age.

I believe it is not so much the biological age, but personality. He was always a very serious boy, less prone to mischief and adventures compared to his siblings.

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