School (hold-back) question (Rutherford: school district, pros and cons, legally)

[jjpd]

We always planned on holding our son back a year. He has a Sept. birthday, so he is always the youngest in his class.

But we were never able to, because he was in preschool, then went right to kindergarden. And it never felt right to hold him out of school a year.

But now we are moving, and it seems like the perfect time.
He is currently in the 1st grade and we are moving in the summer.
So what are plan is, is to have him repeat the 1st grade in out new town.

Are you allowed to do this? I know we will have to bring his transcripts. He does very well in school. Will they be able to stop us from doing this?

I'm not sure if it's different from school district to district, but we are moving to Rutherford if that helps.

If anybody can shed some light on this for me, it would be much appreciated.

[manderly6]

He does very well and you want to hold him back a year? Just let it go.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by jjpd

We always planned on holding our son back a year. He has a Sept. birthday, so he is always the youngest in his class.

But we were never able to, because he was in preschool, then went right to kindergarden. And it never felt right to hold him out of school a year.

But now we are moving, and it seems like the perfect time.
He is currently in the 1st grade and we are moving in the summer.
So what are plan is, is to have him repeat the 1st grade in out new town.

Are you allowed to do this? I know we will have to bring his transcripts. He does very well in school. Will they be able to stop us from doing this?

I'm not sure if it's different from school district to district, but we are moving to Rutherford if that helps.

If anybody can shed some light on this for me, it would be much appreciated.

Let him progress as he is now, since he's doing well. If he wasn't I would say to hold him back.

I'm a baby boomer & the teachers wanted to skip me. My mother refused & it was one of the worst decisions that she made concerning me.

[MJJersey]

My parents did that to me because my birthday was near the cut-off date. Since then I never really felt like I belonged in the class. I would say, if he is not struggling, then just let him go.

[jjpd]

thank you for all responses.

We know all the pros and cons, and to be honest I myself thought it was ridiculous when I first heard of this.

But people alot more in the know than myself (teachers, administrators, etc.) have all reccomended this to us.

So the question is, are you allowed to do this?

We have heard of holding them back a year before they start. But not holding him back a grade voluntarily.

[labcjo]

I know legally you can do this up through Kindergarten (I think up to six years old). I don't know if you still can.

Teachers and admins have recommended it at this particular age?

[bay]

Originally Posted by jjpd

But people alot more in the know than myself (teachers, administrators, etc.) have all reccomended this to us.

If he is doing well in school, why teacher recommand to hold him back?
I know 1 friend hold back her son when he was in PreK. She just let him enroll another PreK...meaning he stayed in PreK 2 years, but in different schools (private factilities). Then he goes to public K with kids who are 1 year younger than him. Grade 1 could be too late to do so, but you can ask school administrator.

[tahiti]

I don't understand why you'd hold him back if he's doing well. Someone has to be the youngest.

[qbrctr]

What is the obsession of holding the kid back?? I don't understand the original poster's point...If the kid is doing well in school why in the world would you make him repeat a grade? My brother barely made the cutoff date by a couple of days and when graduated from High school he was considering Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. He was always on the Honor Roll his entire years in school. Who cares how old he is if he's doing well.

[CHAOS Mom]

If he's doing fine, there's no reason to hold him back. If his teachers have expressed concern over his academic or social performance, maybe it would help, but if it's just because you don't want him to be the youngest, don't hold him back.

I think if you hold him back even though academically he's doing fine, you'll have problems because then he'll be bored doing stuff that he's already done. Then you could run into a new set of problems.