Drawbacks to repeating a year in school?

Periwinkle
Fri, 20 Mar 2015 14:53:30 +0000

On the other hand, Mrnephew, sometimes things have changed over the years. Some of the older threads could be misleading because they’re outdated.

On the topic at hand, if you’re coming to boarding schools from public schools, you should know that quite a few students are older for their grade than the public school norm. That has several reasons.

1. Private K-8 schools often have competitive admissions. They are able to decline to enroll a child who is younger than their preferred entry age. Thus, while a child who is 5 in August might be able to enroll in a public kindergarten, at some private kindergartens, the parents might be encouraged to enroll their child in the following year.

2. Students who change from public to private often have parents who feel the public has not prepared him or her adequately. When “changing streams,” so to speak, it’s not uncommon for such parents to opt to have the child repeat a year. This isn’t as bad as you would think, as the schools we know have had curricula at least a year ahead of the public school expectations.

3. Maturity. Many parents shy away from sending an immature child (usually male) away for school.

4. Sports.

Although parents often fear the students who are older than the norm will have an academic edge, I have not seen that among my children’s peers. In the first year, the child who repeats may have an advantage, if he or she is reviewing material, but that edge does not last. It may lead to a dreaded “declining trend” of grades.