Our son has an April 30 birthday. He is behind physically, emotionally and academically (A’s and B’s, but has to work really hard). We are considering giving him a gap year after 7th grade to catch up physically, focus on academics, and mature emotionally. He would then “repeat” 8th grade after a year of online/homeschool. He is an avid golfer and competitive mountain biker, so we don’t necessarily need him to be larger physically for his sports. We would apply to boarding schools directly after a gap year. How would that be perceived?
What do you mean by “gap year”? That word usually applies to a year in which there is no schooling, but some work or other activities instead. You put “repeat” in quotes for what he’d be doing after a year of 8th grade online/homeschool. So I guess my question is, what are you thinking he’ll actually be doing during the year of online/homeschooling?
Also, what do you mean by him being behind physically and wanting him to catch up physically. You don’t mean size, so is there some other physical problem?
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Gap year in middle school? Aren’t children under 16 required by law to be in some kind of school? Would you have some academic program set up?
Between the “gap year” and reclassing that sounds like you would move him back academically two years – is that right?
Also many people work hard for A’s and B’s. Nothing wrong with that.
If you suspect issues/feel he is so behind, I’d start by doing a neuropsych evaluation.
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One year homeschool as a gap year. Should have been more specific. I’m not sure how having a year of homeschool for 8th grade followed by a year at public school in 8th would be perceived.
Physically, he still lacks a few years before puberty. His doctor’s words, not mine. Most of his peers are much further along.
He would attend an online school for History, Pre algebra and science. We would use a separate homeschool curriculum with a tutoring program for language arts.
Is he having problems at school beyond getting A’s and B’s but having to work really hard? I am wondering why he can’t just take courses one level down in difficulty if he’s overwhelmed with the amount of work. And I’d be a little concerned about sending someone to boarding school after a year of being homeschooled and repeating a grade due to being “behind” in so many categories.
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Is the goal to have him in boarding school for HS or to find him the right environment whether or not it’s boarding or a local private school? Who is teaching/supervising him for his home schooling and is it someone with teaching experience appropriate to his grade level/interests? How much of a factor is budget?
I’ve seen a couple of these plans with varying results. Some kids do NOT have a giant developmental leap in 8th/9th grade, so pulling him out of school in the hopes that he’ll have one may or may not be successful. Some kids fall apart with the lack of structure, miss their friends, they even miss their teachers. Some kids – as it turns out- are A, B or C students regardless of whether they are held back or not, and so homeschooling him may or may not result in a change in how hard he needs to work to get where you think he needs to be. And some kids are too social to actively participate in online learning- they need the hub-bub of a classroom.
Just things to think about. There’s a kid in my neighborhood now who is finishing up something close to what you describe. I’d categorize his year as “lots of hanging around”. The parent who is supervising his homeschooling is sort of a free range parent to begin with; the notion that the kid is at the local gym for hours at a time when he is supposed to be taking social studies doesn’t seem to faze the family; nice kid but he’s spending WAY too much time (IMHO) with the older HS kids who also have free range schedules (they can leave campus when they don’t have classes so they also spend a lot of time hanging out).
I think kids need structure but that’s my bias. I also think that parents way underestimate how hard it is to teach adolescents. And some kids are just not going to get much out of sitting in front of a computer for hours a day- look at the post-Covid research for data on kids and online learning.
Why not meet with the guidance team at your local public school to get their feedback?
And puberty or the lack thereof is NOT a reason (in my opinion, again) for holding a kid back!!! Talk to actual educators- they will describe the very broad range of students physical, emotional, intellectual development in their classrooms. That’s a feature of schooling, not a bug.
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Alternatively he could do 9th grade at a junior boarding school, and then repeat 9th at a boarding school. (Or find he doesn’t need to repeat, and apply for boarding school as a 10th grader).
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Foreign language? Is a parent planning on supervising this daily?
Most kids in our area don’t take foreign language in middle school.
Great suggestion!
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April 30 is mid-year birthday IMO, not young for a grade (this could be regional).
Kids develop at different ages and different aspects of them develop at different times.
If they are getting As and Bs I don’t see anything to be worried about, and you say for their sports size doesn’t even much matter. (I think doing anything off of sports is silly, anyway, unless your kid really is on path for olympic level stuff). Sports are ECs, not life, for 99.5% of people.
I am confused at your goals, honestly.
If kid isn’t thriving in school, by all means homeschool for a year and see how it goes (assuming you realize how much work this is for parents! I homeschooled a year, and it is a LOT).
I think BS will look at whatever you send them, and they see a LOT. You will want a story/explanation of why you homeschooled a year though, and it should be truthful. “We wanted our kid to have more time to explore ABC or prior school wasn’t meeting their ABC needs” is fine. They will want evidence of what they did during the homeschool year, too.
I like the above idea of a jr. BS for 9th, and re-classing then if you really think kid needs time to develop in some way and isn’t prepared for 9th after 8th.
Also I would stop saying “gap year” and just say homeschooling (or online schooling).
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Thank you. It may be regional. We’re in Austin, TX. It may be sports related, but most kids here with an April birthday or later are held back. My husband hit puberty at 16. Puberty has to do with size, but also with maturity. I’d rather him be an older 9th grader starting boarding school for these reasons. If he’s like my husband, he’ll look and sound like an 11 or 12 year old until he’s 16. If we reclass him, he’ll be 18 his senior year rather than 17 until the last month. Going into College, we’d prefer him to be a little older as well. Our daughter has an early September birthday and the oldest in her class. She’s thriving and mature beyond measure compared to her peers. It’s really served her well.
interesting.
In CT, until 2023 K cut off was Jan 1, so April still seems old to me! Most states I know have Sept 1 K cut, so some July/Aug kids are “red shirted” in PreK or K, but virtually never before that UNLESS we are talking a later re-class in BS/prep school which does happen obviously.
Anyway, I am personally biased to only worrying about academics unless social issues are a big issue. Tall kids can get teased, early puberty kids get can have trouble for different reasons and personally I think trying to avoid issues around physicality is a fools errand, but others definitely disagree, which is cool. Certainly no hill I will die on 
(Once again, if we aren’t talking about truly elite athletes at top .01% or something…)
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Good info! Here, September 1 is the cutoff. April is considered very young because the majority of spring and summer boys are red shirted. Since we’re looking at NE schools, maybe he won’t stand out the way he does here!
A dear friend did this years ago. They homeschooled from a rented home abroad and did a lot of traveling from their foreign base. They were less interested in applying to BS or even setting up for better college outcomes-- it was all about maturity. It worked exactly as planned. Their son returned home, did the grade he had “done” as a homeschooler, and was much better adjusted.
Over the years, I’ve known a number of homeschool families who have switched to BS at 9th for many of the reasons you’d expect. My sense is that the schools were simply concerned about readiness, not how they had gotten there. If BS is the path you choose, there will likely be a school that is a good fit.
Fwiw, I don’t think this is a bad plan if you have clarity around how you will use the year and have solid plans for “re-entry” into the structured schooling world.
I’ll add that while my friend was very pleased with their plan, many people around her thought it was unnecessary. You will also have to come up with some pat responses for the naysayers.
I grew up in Austin. My birthday is in July and my sister’s is in October - my parents got her tested so that she could go to school early. I was #1 in my class and she was #4 (at a top public school you would know of).
My kids feed into Westwood Highschool, so I assume you’re either referring to Westwood or Westlake.
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We homeschooled for 1.5 years during Covid and traveled extensively. We would participate in an accredited online school if we homeschool. Yes, this is definitely about maturity. Difficult to explain on a forum, but my son tends to be a follower socially. He’s also very sweet and has no edge. I think it would serve him well to be the same age or a little older than his peers. Some of his closest friends were red shirted and in the grade below him. So they’re the same age but in different grades.
I’m not sure about where you live, but there are no “gap years” here (MA). If you complete a grade, whether in public school, private school, or homeschool, you can not repeat in public school unless you have failed both English and math for 2 years. So, if he leaves public school in 7th grade, then does homeschool for a year, he’d come back as a 9th grader.
I think the more common route would be to just stay with his grade and then reclass once he goes to boarding school. My cousin reclassed his kid in 8th grade (going from private to public) and it was a big mistake. He did it for sports, but there was no advantage. While if he had waited to reclass until 9th, he could have taken some high school courses and come in a bit ahead, enabling him to take more advanced classes before he graduated high school, which would increase his rigor and AP opportunities.
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