Need some advice please - Grade 1

[HerRoyalNotness]

DS1 should be in grade 1 this year. We've just moved to the states and school has started this week. We are in temporary accommodation and I believe schools are assigned where you live. We are looking for a home but this could take up to 2 months, even 3. DS has trouble settling in and had a miserable kindergarten year although brightened a little towards the end. My options are:

1. keep him off school until we find a home, then send him to the catchment school
2. enrol him in catchment now, then move him when we move

I need to start work by end of the month also which needs factoring in, so 1) would have to be have a temp nanny, but this is more change. We also have DS2 (3yo) who needs to get into nursery, so he would be affected by the enrol in school, move later situation too, although he seems more confident.

I am doing reading, writing and maths to keep him going until we decide what to do.

What would you do? Really struggling with this. Due to long summer holidays here, he's already been out of school for 2.5mths.

I would send him to your local school now. He could get a chance to adjust to the new system, all of you could get a chance to make new friends. I think if you move reasonably locally when you eventually move he may be able to see out this school year there. But I would ask specifically when you go to enrol him.
Also it could taken even longer than you expect to find somewhere.

I would send him off to school. Give him a chance to make new friends and settle into the school routine. Why was the Kindergarten year so rough for him? Is there anything that could be done to insure a better
school year this year? I hate to seem him unhappy about going to school.

Thanks, we're going to register him on Monday at the local school.

In kindergarten he just seemed to get off to a bad start and didn't get out of it. We (and another parent whose child had similar issues) felt the teacher wasn't able to cope with children outside of her expected box of behaviour. So she gave up on them instead. We had a psychologist report done just before we moved so we had an idea of how we could help him. The major things that came out are his severe low self esteem and the need to trust people and build a relationship with them which would lead to him being able to respect them. She also suggested a sensory assessment as he may feel overloaded by the stimulus of large groups. And he has the reasoning ability of at least. 12yo, so may not have been stretched enough. In fact I know he wasn't as the teacher gave up on academics and was trying to work on social skills with him, which only became a problem when he started at the school.

He had 2 wonderful years in a preschool and still talks about it and wants to go back there.

We worried that we'll make the wrong decision.

If he had two wonderful preschool years, he may also find himself enjoying grade one. It is a big step with more expectations as to academic work and this may give him the stretch and challenge he needs. I would encourage you to talk to the teacher before he starts to give the school some background about your child and also to get a sense as to whether or not the classroom is a good fit for him. Then monitor the situation carefully. You know your son better than anyone. You will know if its working out for him. I hope he has a wonderful time at school.