Moving from British Curriculum to American Curriculum in Year 9

[AmAM124]

Hi all ,

We are planning to move US west coast in 2 years time and my son will be in Year 9 British Curriculum . Has anyone moved from UK to US with children of same age ? How was your experience ? My son is a August born and he is youngest in the class and will he lose one year when we move as Americans starts schooling a year later . I know there is 2 years time , but just want to know whether we need to give him extra support to make this move easier .

Year 9 in the U.K. is 8th grade in the US, which is the last year of middle school. Perhaps not the best socially, but probably better academically to give him a grounding in the style, structure, and demands of the US system before high school.

I agree, it will be a good time academically to move. High School starts here in 9th grade (which is England Year 10). High school is 4 years of earning credits to graduate. Its good that you will be moving during our 8th grade. Time to get use to American way of school before starting High School.

@Justawaterformeplease @YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer Thank you very much for taking your time to reply . So I understood Year 9 in UK is Grade 8 in US , my only concern is will he get admission to Grade 7 instead of Grade 8 depending on his age ? He was born in August 2010(Year 6 now , will be starting Year 7 this September ) . Reason why I am asking this because one of my friend's son in US who is just one year younger than my son is Grade 4 now while my son is Year 6 now. So there is two grades difference for one year of age difference .

Where I live in America, a child born in Aug 2010 would currently be in Grade 5. Was your friend's child born later then August? Most places the cut off age for starting school is end of August. But every state makes its own rules so it is possible there are some that have a different cut off. Do you know what State you are moving to?

@YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer I think I got it wrong , my friends son is August 2009 so currently in Grade 4 which is equivalent to UK year 5 . So it make sense . It was my fault I was comparing Grade 4 and Year 6 . So my son won't loose any year when we move .So when we move do we have to take any exams there ? And also is there any exams for high school admissions ?

If your friends son is born Aug 2009 it would be very unusual here to be in grade 4. He would be age 11 that would be a Grade 6 age here. As for exams for High School probably not since you are moving while he is in Grade 8. They dont have Exams in America like they do in England. No GCSEs. Graduating High School (which is 4 years) is earning enough credits in the right classes. They do have Final Exams at the end of each class they take. How many credits and what classes will depend on the State/School District. Example my son is in 12th grade and graduating this year. He has had to take 4 years of English, 4 Years of Math, 3 of Science, 3 of Social Studies. 2 Years of Phys Ed and some more stuff too. But thats just ot give you an idea.

@YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer , I got all wrong . What I meant my friend’s son is Aug 2011 grade 4 now . What is this Sats exam ?

@YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer Could you please let me what all foreign languages are offered in the curriculum .

Could you consider putting him into an American/International school in the UK now, so that he has time to get used to the system? It would probably have to be private though.

SATS are a test that high school kids take to get into College/University. Some states do SATS and some do the ACT. You give your score when applying to college/university. Some schools have stopped asking for your score when you apply, but in general they do. But even if a child does badly on this test they can still find college/universities to get into.

As for Foreign Languages that depends on each particular school. Usually schools will have at least Spanish and French. After that it depends. My son's school also has Latin, German, Italian and ASL (american sign language). My son took 3 years of ASL. I know there are places that offer Chinese. My son's school is a Private School so it may have more options for Language then typical high schools, I'm not really sure though. In America everything is determined by State so there is not really one way that everyone does it. The state you move to may be different then the state I live in. An example, the State I grew up in I had to do 4 years of Phys Ed, but where I live now my kids only had to do 2.

OP, unless your friends who are giving you their information are in the same state, city and school district, it won't necessarily be helpful to you. There are different cutoff dates all over the place, different language provision, etc.

You would do well to put him in an IB programme there and then find one in the city where you're moving to. IB is consistent internationally and there would be much less confusion for you and him. Even going to an American school abroad won't take into account the differences between states.