Parents What to do when the hours are too much?

[caligymdad]

Our DD is 8, Lvl 5 with TOP's, we do about 21 hours a week. We realized a full day of school would not be conducive to this training regiment so we are in our 2nd year of homeschooling. We are enrolled in a homeschooling charter school where we can select from multiple curriculums across all the subjects. I understand that being able to homeschool may not be a reality for everyone but I would advise it if you can make it work.

 

[wandrewsjr]

18 hours might not be a lot for upper level optionals, but it is a lot for an 8 year old. That is 2nd grade around here. Plus if it is every school day, that is very hard. My girls have always had school days (1-3 of them) off each week so that they aren't going every single day. It is not until level 9 that they go Mon through Thursday. I would look into dropping a day or reducing hours at least one day a week.

That being said, it will take a few weeks to adjust to anything new, regardless of what it is. So you may want to give it time before saying it isn't working.

I haven't heard of a US system where kids would be 8 years old at the start of second grade, if you don't mind me asking what state are you in? In my state you must be 5 by Dec 1st in the year you start kindergarten, so 8 year olds are either in 3rd grade or in 4th grade and will turn 9 before Dec 1st.

 

[raenndrops]

I haven't heard of a US system where kids would be 8 years old at the start of second grade, if you don't mind me asking what state are you in? In my state you must be 5 by Dec 1st in the year you start kindergarten, so 8 year olds are either in 3rd grade or in 4th grade and will turn 9 before Dec 1st.

If you start kindergarten at 4 (turning 5 by December 1), then kindergarten would be 4-5 or 5-6 for late birthdays. 1st grade would be 5-6 or 6-7. 2nd grade would be 6-7 or 7-8. 3rd grade would be 7-8 or 8-9. So in your state, 8 year olds should be in 2nd or 3rd.

Where I am, the cutoff is August 1, so everyone is either 5 or 6 (August 2- start of school birthdays) when kindergarten starts.

Where I used to live (same state, different district), the "unofficial" cutoff was March 31 for boys... Meaning they had to turn 5 by March 31 before starting kindergarten. Girls had a little more leeway and didn't have to turn 5 until the day school started. It was crazy.

 

[Seeker]

An 8-yr old 4th grader would not be possible in our state unless they skipped a grade. And that seemed to be strictly not allowed based on our experience with public school.

 

[my4buffaloes]

I haven't heard of a US system where kids would be 8 years old at the start of second grade, if you don't mind me asking what state are you in? In my state you must be 5 by Dec 1st in the year you start kindergarten, so 8 year olds are either in 3rd grade or in 4th grade and will turn 9 before Dec 1st.

I worked with 2nd graders last year and kids were either 7 turning 8, or 8 turning 9. So 8 was definitely the common age for 2nd grade.

 

[wandrewsjr]

If you start kindergarten at 4 (turning 5 by December 1), then kindergarten would be 4-5 or 5-6 for late birthdays. 1st grade would be 5-6 or 6-7. 2nd grade would be 6-7 or 7-8. 3rd grade would be 7-8 or 8-9. So in your state, 8 year olds should be in 2nd or 3rd.

It's September, so any 8 year old would be in 3rd or 4th, in my state.

 

[bookworm]

In my area,a lot of parents hold their 5 yo kids out of kindergarten because " you name the reason but it's not their age", so they start kindergarten at at least 6 yo , so they would be 8 at the start of 2nd grade on their schedules...

 

[wandrewsjr]

I worked with 2nd graders last year and kids were either 7 turning 8, or 8 turning 9. So 8 was definitely the common age for 2nd grade.

Turning 8 during 2nd grade(or the summer after) I thought was the most common path. If they are turning 9 in 2nd grade, then they would be turning 19 in high school, I didn't think that was a common path, but I know each state has their own age cutoff line to start kindergarten. Most seniors in high school in my state are turning 18 during the year.

 

[wandrewsjr]

In my area,a lot of parents hold their 5 yo kids out of kindergarten because " you name the reason but it's not their age", so they start kindergarten at at least 6 yo , so they would be 8 at the start of 2nd grade on their schedules...

Yes holding off to start K happens here too, age cutoff is Dec 1st in California but a number of parents don't start their fall birthday kids(especially boys) in kindergarten at 4, they wait until the next year when they are 5. Waiting until 6 would be pretty unusual here, definitely not a lot of those.

 

[Seeker]

It's September, so any 8 year old would be in 3rd or 4th, in my state.

An 8yr old 4th grader??? Do they start K at 4?

 

[wandrewsjr]

An 8yr old 4th grader??? Do they start K at 4?

Yes, age cutoff to start school is 5 by Dec 1st. But not uncommon for those with fall birthday kids(especially boys) to wait until the next year when they are 5, essentially using the more common Sept 1st cutoff date(that's what is was in every other state I've lived in).

 

[Seeker]

Yes, Sept 1 is the cutoff where we live and my dd has an Oct birthday. I cannot imagine sending a 4yr old to K, esp the way it is now!!! I would def hold back a year.

 

[raenndrops]

It's September, so any 8 year old would be in 3rd or 4th, in my state.

So 4th 8-9 would be 3rd 7-8 and 2nd 6-7 and 1st 5-6 and K 4-5... For birthdays before December 1 only.

 

[skschlag]

I haven't heard of a US system where kids would be 8 years old at the start of second grade, if you don't mind me asking what state are you in? In my state you must be 5 by Dec 1st in the year you start kindergarten, so 8 year olds are either in 3rd grade or in 4th grade and will turn 9 before Dec 1st.

My DS was 8 when he started 2nd grade. He is a summer birthday so he started Kinder when he was 6.

 

[sce]

Yes holding off to start K happens here too, age cutoff is Dec 1st in California but a number of parents don't start their fall birthday kids(especially boys) in kindergarten at 4, they wait until the next year when they are 5. Waiting until 6 would be pretty unusual here, definitely not a lot of those.

That cutoff was moved, it is now 5yo by Sept 1. This new cutoff started in 2010. Even then, some people hold their kid back if they have a summer birthday, so many California kindergarteners are 6yo.

 

[sce]

My DS was 8 when he started 2nd grade. He is a summer birthday so he started Kinder when he was 6.

When is your kindergarten cut off date. Was the date why he started at 6 yo or did you decide to wait the extra year?

 

[skschlag]

When is your kindergarten cut off date. Was the date why he started at 6 yo or did you decide to wait the extra year?

So the cutoff for our state varies by school district. our school district is sept. 15. But, D was so tiny, and so busy that we decided to wait a year to send him to school. best decision we made for him!

 

[wandrewsjr]

That cutoff was moved, it is now 5yo by Sept 1. This new cutoff started in 2010. Even then, some people hold their kid back if they have a summer birthday, so many California kindergarteners are 6yo.

Yes! Forgot they had changed the date. Makes sense they moved it to be more in line with other states, that was a bit of a hassle growing up moving around to different states.

Sorry to hijack your thread OP! Try not to stress too much the first month of school, everyone takes time to get used to a new schedule. And you both will get more efficient with time. And as others have said, small adjustments can make a huge difference, talking to the teacher about getting homework in advance really helps relieve one of those daily stresses.

 

[Mish]

My daughter is 7 and trains 22 1/2 hours a week (2nd grade) level 6 and tops. She does leave school early tues and thurs at 12:30 to go to the gym.

What state is this? Would not fly around here (Long Island).

 

[Mish]

I don't know why my post did that^^^^^ I was asking OP what state, as I do not think these types of arrangements can be made in NY.