I think the March date is due to the recommendation that kids be 5.5 at the start of Kindergarten. This recommendation is that their functional age is at 5.5. The testing that my son had last year was entirely based on comparisons to a 5.5 level is many different categories. They looked at where they were compared to their actual age. It was interesting info. My son also started Kindergarten this year with an April birthday, however the test indicated he was ready, if it didn’t, he wouldn’t have started this year.

I just wanted to give an update for our struggle to decide what to do with our boy. 
He finished 1st grade.  Academically he exceeded all benchmarks for the 1st grade, socially he did not.  We decided to switch schools and keep him again in 1st grade. 
He definetely feels better and safer with his age group in 1st grade, but the problems continue.  If before he would get in trouble only at recess, now it happens during the class.  I think that he is absolutely bored and this is one of the reasons for him to act out. 
I’m seriously thinking of sending him back to 2nd grade to challenge him at least academically. 
We also tested him after advice of one of bloggers with educations psychologist.  He tested to have an IQ of 146 and falls into “exceptionally gifted” category.
Parents of kids with high abilities who are acting out at school, are you there?!?!  What do you do about it?  Am I the only one that faces this problem?
I would love to hear from you!

new_to_irvine - 29 September 2009 06:09 PM

I just wanted to give an update for our struggle to decide what to do with our boy. 
He finished 1st grade.  Academically he exceeded all benchmarks for the 1st grade, socially he did not.  We decided to switch schools and keep him again in 1st grade. 
He definetely feels better and safer with his age group in 1st grade, but the problems continue.  If before he would get in trouble only at recess, now it happens during the class.  I think that he is absolutely bored and this is one of the reasons for him to act out. 
I’m seriously thinking of sending him back to 2nd grade to challenge him at least academically. 
We also tested him after advice of one of bloggers with educations psychologist.  He tested to have an IQ of 146 and falls into “exceptionally gifted” category.
Parents of kids with high abilities who are acting out at school, are you there?!?!  What do you do about it?  Am I the only one that faces this problem?
I would love to hear from you!

As someone who is likely gifted (untested) given my academic background ...
1. I was bored a lot in elementary, middle, high school, university, and later at work.  Get used to it - doesn’t matter where he is, he is going to be bored sometimes (meetings or class discussions anyone?).  He needs to learn how to behave anyhow. 
2. Sounds like you decided the problem was the school and switched, and now are thinking of switching grades again.  Perhaps instead of always switching, it might be worth a try to find a way with whoever his current teacher is to fix the boredom (ex. maybe there is a book or other project he can work on when he is finished his work in class), as if his experiences are like mine, he is going to be bored wherever he goes.  Even if he has some fun intellectual project at home (ex. write a book, have a hobby or whatever), he can think about it when he’s bored at school - worst case, teacher calls on him because he’s daydreaming, he gives the correct answer to whatever’s being discussed in class, then can go back to daydreaming with no further consequences.

tmare - 29 September 2009 01:56 PM

traceimage - 29 September 2009 05:37 AM

Our pediatrician’s office recommends that kids with birthdays in March or later to hold off on starting kindergarten at age 5. So that would make the oldest ones 6.5 when starting kindergarten, and 7.5 when starting 1st grade. Their recommendations don’t distinguish between boys and girls.

Personally, I think it depends on the kid.

I hadn’t heard that one before but it sounds about right, particularly for boys. Most of the boys I have seen may be academically ready but their ability to pay attention and sit still is still not there until they are at least 5.5 and maybe 6. It definitely depends on the kid, most of the preschools do an assessment at the end of the year, parents would do well to listen to the results.

I was surprised when I read it, but it makes sense, especially these days when a lot of kids seem to be starting school later. Back when I was a kid, if you were a year or so older than the other kids, people would think you’d been held back. Hopefully this stigma is gone.

The pediatrician’s reasoning was that kids today have such long life expectancies, so they don’t need to rush into school as they have plenty of time for school later.

new_to_irvine - 29 September 2009 06:09 PM

I just wanted to give an update for our struggle to decide what to do with our boy. 
He finished 1st grade.  Academically he exceeded all benchmarks for the 1st grade, socially he did not.  We decided to switch schools and keep him again in 1st grade. 
He definetely feels better and safer with his age group in 1st grade, but the problems continue.  If before he would get in trouble only at recess, now it happens during the class.  I think that he is absolutely bored and this is one of the reasons for him to act out. 
I’m seriously thinking of sending him back to 2nd grade to challenge him at least academically. 
We also tested him after advice of one of bloggers with educations psychologist.  He tested to have an IQ of 146 and falls into “exceptionally gifted” category.
Parents of kids with high abilities who are acting out at school, are you there?!?!  What do you do about it?  Am I the only one that faces this problem?
I would love to hear from you!

Don’t be so narrow minded. Gifted and being extroverted will serve him well later in life. You can’t teach either, but you can nurture them. Maybe he needs a physical outlet. Have you considered football?

OC_Boston_Bay - 30 September 2009 06:36 AM

new_to_irvine - 29 September 2009 06:09 PM

I just wanted to give an update for our struggle to decide what to do with our boy. 
He finished 1st grade.  Academically he exceeded all benchmarks for the 1st grade, socially he did not.  We decided to switch schools and keep him again in 1st grade. 
He definetely feels better and safer with his age group in 1st grade, but the problems continue.  If before he would get in trouble only at recess, now it happens during the class.  I think that he is absolutely bored and this is one of the reasons for him to act out. 
I’m seriously thinking of sending him back to 2nd grade to challenge him at least academically. 
We also tested him after advice of one of bloggers with educations psychologist.  He tested to have an IQ of 146 and falls into “exceptionally gifted” category.
Parents of kids with high abilities who are acting out at school, are you there?!?!  What do you do about it?  Am I the only one that faces this problem?
I would love to hear from you!

Don’t be so narrow minded. Gifted and being extroverted will serve him well later in life. You can’t teach either, but you can nurture them. Maybe he needs a physical outlet. Have you considered football?

Dementia Risk Seen in Players in N.F.L. Study
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/sports/football/30dementia.html?em

Any doubts I had at the beginning of this thread / end of last school year about starting my son in Kindergarten at 5 and 1st grade at 6 were totally removed today. I just got back from the Fall Parent / Teacher conference. (He is 5 months shy of the cut-off date in this district.) He’s already met the 1st grade end-of-year goals in reading comprehension (he was evaluated at a 2nd grade level) and it’s only October. He’s also one of the only children in class to have passed every math test with a 100% score. Now I can’t imagine what it would have been like to hold him back a year. It was noted he struggles with sometimes talking too much during work time (my main area of concern) but apparently it hasn’t interfered with getting his work done or absorbing what is being taught. Interestingly, it was pointed out that the reason he’s talking is to help the child next to him understand his work. That made me LOL for some reason. I had some doubts during Kindergarten when he was harder to reign in and focus on one thing but I see now that kids this age are capable of so much progress in such a short time. They develop so rapidly!... more than I expected. Anyway, this is my experience as a new school-mom.