I have a child currently in first grade who is struggling to keep up academically. May 2008 birthday, grade is Jan 1-Dec 31 2008. He is working very hard, probably about 45 mins/day on academics after a school day that is 7:45-4:30. He is reading above grade benchmark and has outstanding comprehension – but math and writing are abysmal. He is the bottom of the class.
Should we hold him back?
I’m sorry, but it’s been a long time. What are first grade “academics”, again?
Have you had him tested for a learning disability? There are things like non-verbal learning disabilities that manifest in this way, but you need a professional evaluation, not the opinion of a bunch of strangers on the internet. Talk to your physician and get a referral for disability testing. That may not be the issue, but that is where I would start.
@intparent Yes. He has had a full neuropsych workup. Ironically he tested for a LD in reading - the only subject in which he excels.
Is this post for real?!
@justonedad Well, writing a few sentences complete sentences in response to a question (e.g. What do people do in the winter?). Math = simple word problems (e.g. Alex has 22 jelly beans. He has 13 more jelly beans that Sarah. How many jelly beans does Sarah have.)
@alwaysamom Why wouldn’t it be?
He’s six and a half and reads well; my guess he is a late bloomer and just might ‘get it’ in the next few months.
A nine hour school day and then more academics can’t be good for him.
Do you have to decide now?
Red-shirting refers to keeping a pre-kindergarten kid home another year before starting school. If he has specific issues with writing and math, I would encourage you to get assistance for these specific issues. Grade retention doesn’t help with specific problems and many kids who are retained end up doing poorly in the future as well (especially if they are not getting assistance with their specific problems and are just repeating the same curriculum again.) Boys often have poor handwriting and could use help with fine motor skills. Then, you are just needing some help with math.
(assuming this is a real scenario…)
Cheddar is correct – retention is sometimes helpful for social/behavioral issues, but rarely gets you anywhere for academics. In K-2 , we see a very wide range of abilities and that spread tends to lessen in 3-5th. If your school has support services for math, he should be in that at the teacher’s discretion. And if you have parent conferences, ask about his relative abilities and retention. If you don’t, reach out to the teacher and see what s/he says. But retention is probably not an appropriate solution.
Spring birthday children are always a little behind their peers. That’s okay. Because he has trouble with math now doesn’t necessarily mean he always will, but maybe it’s not his strong suit. 45 extra minutes might be a good thing, depending on what you are doing. Drilling is very passive. Worksheets are passive. 4 ten-minute sessions with you is great. 45 alone at a table with a worksheet, nothing good’s happening. Having him measure food, count towels, match toys, add boxes, sort pantry items – active math learning can sometimes trigger a connection between the paper skills and the larger concepts. Don’t label his ability as good or bad. He needs to feel okay about not getting it as quickly or thoroughly as some do, because the ability to admit confusion and ask questions is really, really key to learning.
My younger son (July birthday in a system with a December cut off date) always seemed about six months behind the program throughout elementary school. He didn’t learn to read until second grade. But once it clicked he went straight to Harry Potter and read The Lord of the Rings in third grade. He was always the last with math minute things. He got tested for LEDs in 4th grade. They didn’t really find anything very specific - he was very average in some areas, and off the charts smart in others. He actually did really great in the math reasoning section. He had a 504 plan for a while that gave him extra time in tests, and was supposed to put him in less distracting seats and gave him access to a keyboard. He hated it and dropped it in high school. He did very well in high school with the exception of Latin and chemistry. Ended up at a very selective college where he continued to have somewhat uneven grades, but was on the Dean’s List senior year. All this is to say, some uneveness can be very normal. Kids are not necessarily equally good at everything. It may take a little time to find the best ways to deal with your weak areas. I’m not seeing any need to have your kid repeat first grade.
There is a lot of info here that leads to a lot more questions. What are the teachers suggesting?
As intparent mentioned, there could be a learning disability. The difference between reading/comprehension and math ability points that direction, so certainly worth looking into. Is this a private school? (the hours suggest that).
7:45-4:30 is a long school day! Then he is doing 45 minutes of homework, that he is struggling with? That is too much for a kiddo that age. I’d ease up on the homework.
What exactly is it that he is struggling with in math? Math tends to be different chapter to chapter, so students may struggle with one unit, but not have as much difficulty with the next. In first grade you are still talking about development readiness too. Kids often catch up with each other, developmentally, in 2nd and 3rd grade. Many schools start to level students in math in the upper grades, so that might be helpful to him, if that is the case.
What do you mean by writing? Handwriting, or expressing himself in writing? Handwriting can also be developmental. Is he in speech (or need to be referred for speech?) by any chance? Issues of speech and small motor skills often go together. Does the school have OT (occupational therapy) available? I’d ask them to evaluate him. Issues with handwriting can also affect the written expression, since the kids can’t read their own writing.
Some schools (mostly public where standardized tests are required) have mandatory retention at some point if tests aren’t passed…Here it is in 3rd grade. That is often a concern when considering retaining earlier, as there is a fear that the student may end up being retained again. On the other hand, if there is going be a retention, most teachers would probably agree that 1st grade is the time to do it. In your son’s case, if he is doing well in reading, I would lean toward not retaining, but there are obviously many other factors to consider.
What does the teacher say? Is there a school/district psychologist or specialized evaluator?
My kid still has terrible handwriting. He had to electronically sign a document recently and he signed his name a dozen times before he had one that he thought worth scanning.
I agree it sounds like a long day with too miuch homework - when had young kids the amount of homework recommended was 10 minutes times your grade level. So a first grader would have 10 minutes, a second grader 20 minutes etc. Maybe he’s just in the wrong school.
No, you should not hold him back. First and second grade curriculum aren’t that different at that point student skill levels all over the place. Don’t compare him to other students or his brother, and just focus on loving your sweet boy. (Which you obviously do, otherwise you wouldn’t be so worried about him.) He will be fine.
Hi. I’m a second grade teacher. How do you know that he’s “at the bottom of his class”. Is this your opinion or his teacher’s opinion?
What specifically is abysmal about his math and writing? Is it his penmanship or the structure of his written responses? Many young writers don’t have the fine motor skills to write more than an few words. The ideas are there but it is hard to write them. Also, young writers need time to talk about their ideas before they write. Is he given this time? Does he know how to spell sight words that can’t be sounded out? This is important to increase writing fluency in the upcoming years. He sounds bright. Many bright kids have figured out that if they write more, they will naturally make more mistakes. So…they write less. Are you or his teachers focused on encouraging a lot of writing or are you focused on grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors? The goal now is to write more. Focus on one error - that’s it.
Does he not understand what numbers represent or does he just not know his addition and subtraction facts? It is not appropriate for young learners to simply memorize facts. Some old-school teachers emphasize skills that are easy to measure but developmentally inappropriate at his age. There is so much that can be going on here.
Take a deep breath, encourage him to love learning no matter how quickly, or slowly others around him are progressing. Praise authentic accomplishments and back off and go outside and play just before things get frustrating. 
That’s an awfully long school day. I’d be burned out too after eight and three-quarters hours. Are you sure the school is the best fit for the way he learns?
If he is reading above grade level I have no idea why you would consider holding him back. Doing that creates other issues like getting his driver’s license before his peers, and robbing him of a year of his life, to name a few.
My district did this for about 33% of it’s kindergartners for years, until they realized it increased the drop out rate. Plus, teachers in upper elementary were still seeing the same learning issues that the extra year was supposed to correct.
So no, don’t hold him back.
There is a wide difference in skills/ability in K, first, and second, which then seems to correct itself by third grade. (By 3rd the early and late readers all read, etc.) Holding him back is not the answer - keep him where he is and if there is no LD he will be in line in a year or so.
In NYC, with a strict December 31 cut-off, a kid with a spring birthday is older than most of his peers.
Current NYC policy is that if a kid doesn’t go to Kindergarten during the calendar year s/he turns 5, s/he will be placed in first grade when his/her parents enroll the child in school.