Will they put DC up a year?

[Ohnoivebecomethatmum]

My dc has just started in reception in a private school, due to having younger sibling and me not returning to work, they didn't attend nursery. DC is very bright for their age, even when looking around private schools this was commented on, along with other parents stating this. They are reading and writing and adding and subtracting already and they are a late summer baby. I don't say this to boast, but to give context. Anyway, they have been at school for a week and we've had the plan for the rest of the month and none of it will stretch my DC. Am I being ridiculous to ask if they will put DC up a year? Or should I just wait and see and ask for some stretch/challenge tasks?

Its good for your dc to attend school with same age peers for socialisation. He will enjoy and feel confident with learning if he manages the classwork side of things smoothly.

Why do you want him stretched, he needs to enjoy himself first and foremost at that age.

Leave him be and dont interfere.

I wouldn’t move out of year group. I very much doubt school would. Reception is lots of free play your child will develop in line with their abilities. My daughter wrote a little ‘book’ first few weeks - they had free access to crayons and paper. She got an award in assembly for just wanting to write! Her and her friend spent lots of time reading in the reading corner. She’s an adult now and has fond memories.

Couldn't agree more. Ridiculous idea.

My DD is super bright (now early 20s) and also summer born. When school aged we let school do their thing and followed her interest outside of school. She was not interested in music at all! So an instrument was out. Instead we did a lot of natural history and I still know more about whales 🐋 and ancient Egypt than I really want to.

Some children plateau and others catch up, some stay ahead. Neither matters, they are a complete person and IQ is just one facet of them.

I worked in a state secondary school where a child was put up a year. (Not quite the same, I know.)

To my mind, it was to his detriment.

@Ohnoivebecomethatmum I had that child in Reception, reading some writing, mathematically very able. He's now 25 with a First from Oxford. You need to approach education as a long game. Stretching children at this young age is quite hard - just accelerating through the curriculum is not going to do your dc any favours at this age (you may find they do it themselves naturally up to a point). Your dc has another 13 years of school and there are times when stretch will be more important and times when thorough learning is more appropriate (example being - ds accelerated himself through the maths curriculum but had taught himself some questionable methods. An excellent secondary school teacher made sure he knew all the correct methods before allowing him to do more of his own thing).
As pp have said, good teachers will do this naturally - try and relax. DS was in the State system and we found that by the first parents evening each year, teachers had sussed him out.
Try music, games, chess, sport, art, galleries, museums as enrichment in the early years.
As an aside, DH was accelerated and went up to Cambridge age just 17 - and was miserable.

In a private school I would expect them to be able to differentiate the work tbh.

It’s a lot more enjoyable as a kid to be the top of your class all the time than striving to keep up with the pack. They’ll grow up a lot more confident in the first scenario… their cohort will be on their wavelength socially too.

In my experience with DC in private school they tailor learning to the child, so my Y1 DC (5yo) for instance is advanced at reading so they give her books aimed at 7yos (Y2) level 7 book. I know many kids in the class are on level 4. So they will probably do the same for your DC without you having to ask.
The first few weeks are for teachers to establish the kids’ baseline / where they are at.

DS was the best reader in the school and quite bored by Reception/Foundation stage academics. He was also prem and tiny. Private school a big mistake as Reception year was all about being able to zip up coat and prepare for more sports than at a state school. So he didn't go up a year and was much happier when we transferred to local primary. More kids to bounce off, better for bright kids imho

I know some adults who were put up a year and it didn’t end well for any of them. Two went off the rails at uni and the other at secondary school.
My ds is a September baby and is very very bright, I did have to challenge his infant school teachers as he would misbehave when bored and I said that although I would always endeavour to teach him to behave well I would not teach him to be bored in class, thankfully it went well, they stretched him and also allowed him to have something to fiddle with during carpet time as he was quite capable of listening and learning whilst fiddling- since junior school it has not been an issue though he is still exceptional (about to head to uni)

@Denim4ever So not a prep sending dc to Eton or top academic schools then? Where many dc are bright, there’s plenty of academics in YR and most parents want sport. Although in YR it’s limited.

Yes, some Yr8 pupils did go on to Eton and the school was a feeder for a minor public school. The fit wasn't right for an academic non sporty child. We left for local school with the possible aim of joining the more academic private school that's a private grammar with entry at Yr7. He got in but decided he wanted to go to local secondary with his friends. It worked out well.

Re sport - by Yr3 it's 3 afternoons of sport so that's the longer school day blown on non academics. It's not for everyone. Reception is well known to be boring for bright kids in many schools.

My son was like this when starting school. He was a July baby.

He's now 24 and eventually other kids caught up to him so while he is still bright, he doesn't stand out any more. He still makes friends easily but thats it.

I would just enjoy your child and not put pressure on them or you. Just take their lead, let them pursue their passions and enjoy them.

I am always wary about labelling children as G and T. My sibling was much as you describe yours - advanced academically and socially, mature for their age, independent, played an instrument and fluent in a second language. Appeared very happy and settled at 4/5/6 and enjoyed the adulation of being perceived as a genius and apart from their ordinary siblings.

By 8/9, they were misbehaving and it was put down to their untested intelligence and boredom. A series of scholarships and private education followed, which resulted in instability for my sibling and further alienation with me and other siblings.

Ultimately, it ended up falling apart, my sibling did not complete their education and there were additiction issues. The resulting impact between the siblings has never fully resolved.

My parents were well meaning, but their pride and ambitions for their intelligent child impacted on their stability, emotional development and place in the family. They would have been much better to leave her where she was and find other solutions to her poor behaviour at that time.

Don’t make your child stand out. If they are bright, curious and enjoy learning, they will find their own way. You can teach them to find ways to challenge themselves or overcome boredom.

No but they may set them. I can’t remember when this started but my high achieving DD and my non academic son were both catered for. And really reception is too early to tell. My DD was unremarkable in her co hort yet still achieved three A stars.

I would focus on extra curricular to stretch my child if so gifted. Piano or a string instrument is a good instrument to study at this age; string instruments come in smaller sizes. Then they can learn to read music and you could work through the music theory with your child yourself. Music theory exams are online now with ABRSm so you can enter as many as you wish, when you want to.

Perhaps look at a sport such as tennis as an extra. An hour 1:1 and a squad will help with gross motor skills, stamina, resilience and tennis players make so many decisions when they play. It improves their processing speed, develops their cognitive flexibility and helps them solve complex problems.

How do you know. I was up a year OP. I know of children up and down a year currently. I think there are social issues from being very young in a year though and I wish I had been left in the correct year.

I think you should read the US accelerated education materials.
The UK guys here will always say "don't do it" because they are inculcated and outdated.

Do… do we want to follow a US-based education system? They trail behind in pretty much everything pre-university.

OP, follow your heart and there are many people in the UK will say otherwise, but don't get bogged down by their conformist thinking.

It’s very unlikely. I was moved up a year after a term in Reception (nearly 50 years ago) and it was absolutely the correct thing to do but I was only 3 weeks younger than the next youngest in the year. Nearly a whole year younger would be too much.

Tell us again how the US is a model to follow?

Lol. What a weird comment. Noone with any sense would think this is a good idea.

I was watching a program about the Unabomber he was put up a year. It was one of the things that made him left out. Make of that what you will!