Hi all, I have a soon to be 5yo (in April). We have doing kindergarten for the past year. We live in the Bahamas and school age here starts at 5(gr1). I've been thinking about starting Gr 1 in September when he is 5.5, but i'm also wondering if i should wait until he is 6.5. I'm thinking he may be a bit more mature then. He is pretty smart, and catches onto things pretty quickly...but i don't want to burn him out if Gr1 work turns out to be too much for him. I'd really like some input on when you started your little ones with Gr1. If it was at a later age, or on the younger side, and did you notice any benefits or disadvantages? Thanks a ton, Catrina ETA: Wish i could change the topic subject...after reading it, it makes no sense!!! haha
If you're homeschooling, you can try it and then change it if it seems wrong. My daughter did 1st grade material at age 5, but my son was probably 7 before he started to read on a first grade level. I started 1st grade math with him when he was 6. That's the beauty of homeschool; you can adjust it the moment you discover the need.
The great thing about homeschool is that you can do either. I think a lot of it has to do with the child's awareness of his grade level. My kids are teenager and grade level still isn't important to them. Just go at his pace, no matter what grade you list. Grade levels can always be repeated or skipped later if necessary. We repeated my dd in 1st and didn't start my ds in 1st till he was almost 6. At times they have been ahead and at times behind. It all balances out in the end.
Some things we started earlier and some things we waited on. My daughter is 7 1/2 and she's doing 1st grade reading. Phonics was frustrating so we took it slow. She's doing great now. It just took maturity. It just all depends. And you won't know until you try. Keep progressing with the work, as you are. If he's getting frustrated, hang back a bit. If not, keep going. Like Alice said, that's the beauty of homeschooling. It's on their pace, not the public school.
Thanks for the replies That is the beauty of homeschool! I keep forgetting that i can just stop if it's not right and try something else!
This is true. IMHO it doesn't matter when they learn it, as long as they do by the time they're 18 (or in some cases, even older!). My daughter is in 10th grade and is just now doing Algebra. Up until this year she was so frustrated by it and couldn't wrap her head around it. Again, for her, maturity was needed.
