Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!! 
10/03/2009 20:22 - Ask Mother Hen
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Good to hear back from you Jay. Your daughter´s situation is now much clearer. It was difficult to make a proper assessment until you supplied the recent details. Your daughter, if she is 9 but nearly 10, could be in either 3rd or 4th. Perhaps the school thought they would give her the benefit of being in 3rd class, to allow for the change of country and the fact that you seem to have arrived in the middle of a school year. Perhaps the number of pupils in 3rd class was smaller than in 4th and it was felt she would have a better opportunity in 3rd.
Being your one and very special daughter, I´m sure she is very well stimulated. From what you´ve now described, she may very well be ready for 4th class. You could try arranging a meeting with the principal, explaining your situation and exploring the possibility of skipping a class after the summer. I certainly wouldn´t blame the school, as many of these situations are extremely difficult to call, especially if a family arrives mid-year. It´s great that your daughter has such a lovely teacher- That´s important also in helping her settle after her move.
I hope that the advice you have been given will be of help. Good luck!
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
10/03/2009 19:00 - Ask Mother Hen
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I understand your frastrations and those of your son.My daughter is also more mature than her class mates and she feels let down by the education system and her school.Her teacher is great and have helped her in all ways possible and even gives her extra assignments,which she likes and am glad.I never knew it was going to be this frastrating and to be honest its wearing me down.Am ending up spending so much time running around from one club to the other and spending extra money because am left feeling guilty for moving countries.Lets just hope that at the end of it all it will be worth it.All the best.
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re : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
28/02/2009 17:29 - Ask Mother Hen
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Difficulty and confusion often arises with the naming of classes in this country, as opposed to other countries. With Junior and Senior infants, many parents arriving from overseas, find it difficult to see that ´First Class´ , for example, is the third year in school.
If your daughter is nine years old, am I right in saying that she is in 4th Class? You mentioned 5th Class books! At 9 years old, she couldn´t possibly be in 5th class. The fact that she´s enjoying some 5th class books and understanding them well, means very little. By all means, challenge your daughter with fresh material- current affairs, general knowledge, Irish Centre For Talented Youth etc etc. Putting her into 5th class, with children who would be much older than her would be a big mistake. I´ve seen children struggling socially and being in big trouble when they hit second level, when they are just too young.
I would also say that if you are introducing her to the textbooks she should be doing next year, without realising it, you could be compounding the problem and ensuring that she´ll be well and truly bored next year.
Try to relax. Let your daughter enjoy the fact that she is doing so well. Otherwise, she will pick up on your anxiety which, I can guarantee, will not hellp her in the long run.
If your daughter is 9 years old, she could easily be in 3rd class, probably 4th (depending on when she was 9) but certainly not 5th class.
I hope this will be of benefit to you.
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
05/03/2009 13:30 - Ask Mother Hen
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Why not try to get your daughter to enrol in after school activities you feel she would enjoy? Perhaps you are doing this already. The most important thing for your daughter when she is settling into a new school and country is to establish friendships and to get involved in other activities, outside of school. The fact that your daughter is doing really well at school, academically, is something you must celebrate and don´t be worrying. There are bound to be elements she has covered in her former school but by the same token, she will certainly be learning new things every day. All children do.
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re : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
03/03/2009 16:22 - Ask Mother Hen
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Hi Jackie,
I would certainly agree with what Margaret has to say. If you were to move your daughter to a higher class, she would be far too young for secondary school when the time came. From a social point of view, she is with the right age group and that is vitally important. Mixing her with a higher age group will force a level of social development and maturity on her that is inappropriate for her age.
Enjoy the fact that she is getting on so well and finding school easy! A lot of what is done in 4th class is a repeat or revision of 3rd class concepts. When she moves to 5th class she will be introduced to new concepts and will be more stimulated.
You can provide her with more stimulation but make sure that you do not use 5th class books - as Margaret said, that will only compound the issue next year. There are lots of other ways she can be stimulated. Check up on art and craft classes, dance, sports activities, music classes and so on in your area. Join the library and encourage her to read - reading will give her plenty of stimulation and also fire her imagination. You will find that she will settle down as time goes on. It is very early days - you need to wait a least a year for her to ´find her feet´ in the new school system.
Above all, keep her with the appropriate age group - my golden rule is to try to help their childhood last as long as possible.
Good luck,
Mother Hen
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
05/03/2009 17:34 - Ask Mother Hen
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I agree with goldilocks. Investigate after-school activities in your area. There may even be some organised in your daughter´s school. Go for the ones you feel your daughter will enjoy most. Perhaps she already has a friend who is involved in an activity which she could take up and they could enjoy it together- eg. swimming, gymnastics, speech and drama, taek won do.
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
09/03/2009 23:29 - Ask Mother Hen
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Pumikel, you say your child is 8 and 1/2 in first class. That is quite old for 1st, certainly.
This lady´s situation seems very different to yours, however. What we know is that this lady´s daughter is 9 years old (we´re not sure since when)and she is in either 3rd class or probably 4th class but looking at 5th class books.
As was said in an earlier post, there are very good reasons why this little girl is not and should not be in 5th class. Unless we know when this little girl was 9, it is difficult to say whether she should be in 3rd or 4th class.
Knowing some Maths or having a good grasp of English in a particular class level are not the only things that are important. Many children in a class can be way ahead of classmates as children can improve or develop at different rates and at different times. Some are later developers but can come on at a tremendous rate later. Others have particular strengths in other forms of intelligence and excel in different areas, at different times in their educational lives.
I understand your frustration but this lady´s situation appears very different to yours.
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
04/03/2009 23:47 - Ask Mother Hen
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It´s not necessarily a good thing for children to skip a class. I remember my sister did that when she was young because it was felt that she was ahead of her peers. There was great excitement at the time and she was treated like a genius. The time came when she was out of her depth in other ways, mainly socially but also she wasn´t as confident at school.
I would leave the daughter where she is and try to challenge her in other ways, without having her stand out as being very different. The time comes for all children when all they want is not to be different and want to fit in.
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
10/03/2009 13:05 - Ask Mother Hen
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i never said our situations were the same just that i can understand where she is coming from as my son was put in a class a year lower than he should of been and he too also found it frustrating because he already knew what was been taught!
i think he would of more than capable for the higher year just like what was in the original mailing from jay!
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
17/08/2009 22:33 - Ask Mother Hen
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the irish education system does not believe in acceleration as you have to be 12years old to go to secondary school and you have to be at least 17 years old to go to college ... so if you were to accelerate a child they would have to sit around for a year waiting to go to secondary school.. I would suggest you get your child tested in the centre for talented youth in dcu... the courses there are a great way to supliment the education system
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Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
28/02/2009 16:02 - Ask Mother Hen (Locality: Dublin South)
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Hi am Jay,my 9 year old daughter is not happy in her new school.We moved to Ireland afew months ago from England.According to the school her age allowed her to join a class lower than the one she was in.It was hard for her to accept that but i talked her to accepting it.She is now so frastrated because all what shes learning is things shes already knows.Shes a very bright girl and i feel like i have let her down.Her teacher is always telling me how much she helps out the rest in class but my concern is she is not benefiting from going to school.I bought her some fifth class books and shes doing well on them.Is there a school that interviews children to decide what class will suit them best?I have spoken to the teachers in her school but nothing can be done.Bottom line is this "age thing".Honestly i feel like am loosing it.
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
10/03/2009 18:52 - Ask Mother Hen
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Thx for all the replies that have been posted,am forever grateful.My daughter will be 10 in april and is in third class.As suggested,i had already enrolled her in afew after school club(arts and craft,swimming,music,dance and drama) and afew days a week i take her to the local library where she does the various activities on offer.Shes likes the computer and is forever playing mind games and does competition quizes on line.In her class in school they use the computers only for games whereas in England in year 3 they were taught how to use the internet and powerpoint.I dont want her to forget any of the things that she had learnt.All said and done i wont mind moving to another commuter town if i`ll be able to get a better school for her.Being an only child she gets bored easily,making me work harder at getting her new things to do.She reads alot and the internet is her best friend.She uses the google engine more than most of us.Am not calling her a genius but i know my child and am holding her back because she loves researching and advancing her knowledge.
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
17/03/2009 18:17 - Ask Mother Hen
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have a look at www.giftedkids.ie for some suggestions of things she could do, Buying books for an older class may mean she could be bored when she gets to that level. Outside the Box in Naas do great stuff for more able children.
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
09/03/2009 23:36 - Ask Mother Hen
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Once again, it is often a cause of confusion when children arrive from overseas as to the naming of classes here as opposed to America, Britain, Australia, the Far East and so on. There are different names for Grades/Classes which do not correspond with the name of the classes here.
It takes alot of explanation on the part of the school but even then there can still be confusion. There are times when class allocation may need to be reviewed. There can sometimes be a further complication when families arrive during the middle of a school year. Class allocation can be even more tricky then.
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re... : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
06/03/2009 13:24 - Ask Mother Hen
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Just wondering what you think about the suggestions, Jay? Also I noticed from your initial enquiry that you didn´t actually say what class your daughter is in or when she was 9. That would also be very relevant. Hope all goes well for you.
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re : Calling on all parents to my rescue!!
09/03/2009 17:20 - Ask Mother Hen
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i can identifty COMPLETELY with you.
when i moved back here from abroad my 2 kids were also kept back a year. my eldest son was miles ahead of the rest of his class, so much so that the teacher had to supply him with extra work just to keep him busy but he didnt mind and was happy enough.
but my youngest son wasnt very happy with being kept back as he was leaps and bounds academically ahead of the rest of the class. to look at him standing in his class line he looked out of place because he was much older and maturer than the other kids.
also he was bored in class as he wasnt stimulated mentally as the work they were doing was too easy for him and he knew most of it already.
the headmaster said i would do him a "disservice" to move him up a year and that he would benefit more from staying back! i have to disagree whole heartedly on this as i think he was well able for the higher year!
he is now 8+1/2 in first class!
i think you should do what you feel is right for your child. talk with her teacher and see how they feel she is doing.
i know in some schools kids can be put up a year because they are academically ahead of the rest of the class. put this to the teacher and see what they have to say!
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