I've gone back and forth whether or not to post something about this... but it's a big part of what has been going on in Braeden's little life for the past month or two. A couple weeks ago, they finished doing some placement testing on him at school. It was in their opinion that he should be in 1st grade, not kindergarten. His principal called a week and a half ago and told us that he tested very high and it was the opinion of the placement board that he should move to 1st grade. Of course, it was still our decision. We wavered back and forth on things such as: Will he be behind physically? Will he fit in with the older kids? Will this give him a disadvantage in the future in athletics? Will he eventually fall behind? After taking everything into consideration, the answer was easy, Braeden was ready for 1st grade and it would be the best thing for him. I can tell that academics are going to be very important in Braeden's life, not just for us as parents, but in his eyes as well. He already has a love for reading and math, and he's like a sponge soaking it in. I'm proud of him and how hard he's worked to improve his reading and be a good student, even if he was only a kindergartner.The transition for him should be a smooth one. For the past 2-3 months he has been spending the first 2.5 hours of school in a first grade classroom doing language arts. Over the past 3 weeks, he has been doing their spelling tests, and has done very well on them. I had a chance to meet with his new teacher (the same classroom he has been going to) on Thursday and she said that he gets along great with his classmates. The girls take him under their wing because he was "their little kindergartner" and the boys are just buds. At church, his Sunday school class is full of 1st graders, so I think that helps.
I'm anxious to hear how he says his first FULL day goes!!
8 comments:
I'm sure he'll do great!!! He is a smarty pants in class.
Oh my sweet boy!! He will probably be at the top of the 1st grade class also!! He IS a sponge and loves to learn. Goooooooooooo Braeden. It's hard to watch him grow up so fast though. I want him to stay little so he'll always want to hug and kiss Grandma!!
We have Graeden a year ahead in first grade right now. The only doubt I've had so far about this is watching him at basketball practice. He just looks so young next to the other kids. Time will fix that. At the end of the day, it is better to be around your intellectual equals rather than be the same age as everyone else. Just look at you and your husband :o) or any other couple/family for that matter.
And maybe if more of us would move our kids ahead in school then it would be more "accepted". I don't think the kids have issues with it...it's other parents. Good luck with this transition.
I can't say I'm surprised. Braeden has always surprised me at how smart he is.
That's exciting! Way to go Braeden!
Wow that's wonderful!!! I'm impressed your district allows that - our does not! Julia's in Kindergarten and her testing shows she could probably easily move up to 1st or even 2nd grade but they just tailor the curriculum to each kid in the classroom. Sigh. I'm sure you'll be very proud watching him grow and learn in his new grade!
Ya, Cailean, we're happy that they do that here, too. They actually even have a higher step in each grade (here they call it GT - Gifted and Talented). With his testing results, they think he should be able to move up to that, too. So we'll see. That's too bad that they don't do that for Julia because it's MY opinion that they can only tailor the curriculum to each child so much!
Way to go Braeden! Just like you said on your birthday, "I'm not just smart Nanu, I'm brilliant!" You are so right!!!!! Love you and hope you have a great time.
Post a Comment