Rules only apply when they are insignificant.

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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One of the things that makes life sometimes more likable in DR is that there are not so many rules to adhere to or else you can bend them a bit to your liking. Unless it's a completely insignificant rule, that should be open to interpretation of the situation, at once that rule is unbreakable and of highest priority.

I'm experiencing a situation like that right now. Our three year old son started 'preprimaria' when he was two years old. He would turn three in February, 50 days after the deadline to enter, but we entered him anyway, since his mom teaches there. We knew he would join as 'listener' only but through the whole year he has shown to be the best 'student' of his group. (Like father like son...). Now the year is over, we picked up all his carried out tasks, but next year all the children go to the next year and he will have to repeat the year. The school director requested at the 'district office' of the education ministry for an exception, but recently there are new rules and there is no way they can make an exception.

I don't mind him to start later, it's even more, I think education starts too early here. But I know he won't understand why he has to be with the new kids, that know nothing yet, do all his tasks again and see his little friends go to the next level.

It seems rules are only to be bend when they are important and not complying with them could have a serious, negative impact.

<end of venting>
 

Criss Colon

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My son will graduate from high school here this month.
He is just 15 years old.
My wife started him in school at 4 years old.
It was a mistake!
He was never "Kept Back" for being too young.
16 is too young for university.
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Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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I agree...I made a mistake sending him there when he was only 2. It was convenient at the moment. I should have send him to a daycare, but I wonder if this experience might do him more harm than good. He's probably too young to realize, but that's what everybody said about our (then) 3 year old son (now 8) when we moved from Holland to DR. He still says literally everyday he wants to live in Holland and asks why did we bring him here. Children are flexible they say, but I think sometimes also more sensitive or perceptive than we think.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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i agree with ccc. in poland you start the uni at 18/19. good age to make decisions. 16 is laughable. i was 16 once. and a complete idiot. it is worthy to start the education early only if a child is very talented and the consistency is applied. but consistency and DR don't go hand in hand.
 

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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I think it depends on the child - I started Kindergarten at 4, and was 16 going into my senior year. No problems.

We're having the exact same problem as Mauricio with our youngest grandchild, who is 3. Cut-Off here is October 1, and he was born a couple of weeks later. He's was in preschool with the kids who he'll be in school with, and some of them are 10-11 months younger than he is. They moved him up with the older kids, but daughter is unsure what to do because he will ultimately have to repeat a year of preschool somewhere along the line, exactly like Mauricio's child. Not easy decision. There should be some flexibility based on ability, but then there is the maturity level to consider.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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I have seen good and bad, and then there is that 10 year old in the news as he graduated High School and will finishe community college in 6 months and go on to a full university. By 20 he should be past his first doctorate...He wants to cure cancer.
My daughter was to graduate from HS at 15 to 16 but she was not mature enough, so we kept her back a year in high school. It worked and she finished with a Cum Laude degree....

One of my favorite memories was a young lady named Eulalia (a name from my past) who was 15 in her first year of engineering, but I did not know it at the time. The following August she cam running down a hallway and gave me a big hug and with that smile only a young girl can make said "Look Profe!!" and showed me her new c?dula!!! She was now 16!! he graduated Summa cum at 19, became the head of the workshop at Cecompsa and later married another genius and now live in IOWA and works at the university....so it does work...

HB
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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One of the things that makes life sometimes more likable in DR is that there are not so many rules to adhere to or else you can bend them a bit to your liking. Unless it's a completely insignificant rule, that should be open to interpretation of the situation, at once that rule is unbreakable and of highest priority.

I'm experiencing a situation like that right now. Our three year old son started 'preprimaria' when he was two years old. He would turn three in February, 50 days after the deadline to enter, but we entered him anyway, since his mom teaches there. We knew he would join as 'listener' only but through the whole year he has shown to be the best 'student' of his group. (Like father like son...). Now the year is over, we picked up all his carried out tasks, but next year all the children go to the next year and he will have to repeat the year. The school director requested at the 'district office' of the education ministry for an exception, but recently there are new rules and there is no way they can make an exception.

I don't mind him to start later, it's even more, I think education starts too early here. But I know he won't understand why he has to be with the new kids, that know nothing yet, do all his tasks again and see his little friends go to the next level.

It seems rules are only to be bend when they are important and not complying with them could have a serious, negative impact.

<end of venting>

Schools are perfectly willing to bend the rules but the government isn't (anymore) . We have one little guy in our school in the same boat. He was two but physical large and well coordinated and was accidently put in with the three year olds, so after several weeks there his parents decided they didn't want him separated from all his new friends so next year he has to repeat,. He however is not that great a student.
We have several Nidos ( two years olds) that know more than some of the kids in kinder. It is going to be a challenge for the teachers to keep them from being bored.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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yes, i said if a child is very talented it is worth it. but let's be honest, most kids are not. as goethe said: if all children grew up accordingly to their early expectations the world would be full of geniuses. is it?
 

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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Schools are perfectly willing to bend the rules but the government isn't (anymore) . We have one little guy in our school in the same boat. He was two but physical large and well coordinated and was accidently put in with the three year olds, so after several weeks there his parents decided they didn't want him separated from all his new friends so next year he has to repeat,. He however is not that great a student.
We have several Nidos ( two years olds) that know more than some of the kids in kinder. It is going to be a challenge for the teachers to keep them from being bored.
That's one of the things I'm afraid of, that he'll get bored and start disliking to go to school. On the other hand I have seen the problems that can arise later when skipping a year, but he's just two months too young. The school is owned by my in laws, so I expected flexibility, but just as you point out, it's the government that's being strict.
Maybe the best I can do is talk to his teacher and ask her to try to let him do some different things and not just repeat the things he already knows.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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how about home schooling? maybe focusing on some different things than a regular school program?
 

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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This is such a timely thread (I guess end of the school year).

My daughter is skipping 1st grade and will enter 2nd grade next year (she is in K now). I was very reluctant. I take education very seriously but I am not the type of parent to push my kids like crazy and believe kids should be kid (I really don't see the point of finishing high school at 12 :) ).
In any case, it was her teacher request and it was up to me. I eventually accepted because I was afraid she would be bored.
I guess we will see, hopes it goes well (I am stuck with the pictures of the socially awkward kids, smart but borderline weird in my times :ermm:)...
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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That's one of the things I'm afraid of, that he'll get bored and start disliking to go to school. On the other hand I have seen the problems that can arise later when skipping a year, but he's just two months too young. The school is owned by my in laws, so I expected flexibility, but just as you point out, it's the government that's being strict.
Maybe the best I can do is talk to his teacher and ask her to try to let him do some different things and not just repeat the things he already knows.
Yes idle minds create ..............
 

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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how about home schooling? maybe focusing on some different things than a regular school program?

He enjoys going to school a lot, too much to keep him home. I definitely want to have afternoon activities for all three of them though...
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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Let them be children as Loooooooooooooooooong as possible!!!!!!!
Pushing them ahead in school does them a disservice.
That old line that they are so advanced they won't be challenged if they don't skip some grades is WRONG!!!!!
They need to develop socially with their age group.
I worked for a doctor who went to MIT at 15, graduated, and went to med school at 18.
He hated MIT!
He said he was too young, and not socially accepted by the 18 to 22 year old's at MIT.
No girls wanted to go out with, or socialize with him.
He NEVER learned how to be comfortable with women!!!!
And not much better with men.
Children, especially boys, who lag behind girls in mental maturity anyway,need TIME to mature, BEFORE they move on in school.
Parents push them, the kids don't want to go.
Parents are selfish because they love to say, "My kid is only 3 and already can read, add, write", etc.
Leave them alone, they will be just fine, probably better, moving, and growing, with their own age group.
As far as "HomeSchooling" goes, YES, teach your kids "AT HOME", but send them to regular school too.
"Socialization" takes place in school,interacting,BOTH the "Good & the Bad", and can only take place interacting daily with teachers,peers, not with only "Mom & Dad", and/or "Sisters & Brothers"!
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