Accelerated Because of K-12 Educational System

Last summer, Bea graduated from kindergarten from her school. Last June, she started going to school as a grade two student. Yes, she skipped grade one. Thanks, or no thanks to the K-12 educational system. Apparently, in the new system the child's age is critical. Grade one students should now be six years old unlike before when they should be seven years old. Since Bea celebrated her 7th birthday early this year, technically she should already be in grade two.

This school year, her school implemented a one time acceleration for their students. Bea and her classmates who are already seven or will turn seven within the year were accelerated to grade two, while those who are just six will go on as grade one students.

When we heard this announcement, we weren't quite sure if we like it or not. Sure, we'd be saving one year's worth of tuition fee but we are concerned about whether our daughter's skills are enough to tackle advanced lessons. We weren't alone in this concern, in fact a lot of parents decided to transfer their children to other schools where they will not be forced to skip a grade. Just before enrollment, the school called on the parents to inform us that we are not actually forced to skip a grade, we can choose to enroll our daughter as grade one or grade two. It's entirely up to us.  Obviously its a last ditch effort to prevent even more students from transferring.

We chose to let Bea stay on. She went through assessments set by the government and the school. She passed. She attended summer classes. Her guidance counselor assured us that she will do just fine. We chose to trust her.

It has been almost a month since Bea started 2nd grade. So far so good. =)

Our Little Graduate

Last April 4, our precious Bea graduated from pre-school. Too bad that experience was sullied when my wallet got stolen from my bag but then, we just chose to focus on the good times. =)

Our Bea also got the Most Improved Award. Knowing that Bea did her best to improve her grades, especially in Reading made us so proud of our little princess. Last trime, her teacher talked to us and told us that she needed to practice reading more, that she was a bit behind compared to her other classmates. So we practiced. Bea really did her best, her interest to learn to read better is strong, and her efforts paid off.

It was also announced that in compliance to the K-12 Education System, Bea was going to be accelerated to Grade 2. Yes, she's skipping a year. She turned 7 last January, and according to the new system she's supposed to be in grade 2 already. Her daddy and I are ok with this, however some of her classmates parents were not. A lot of them are transferring their kids to some other school where they will not be forced to attend grade 2. 

Thankfully a window opened for us. The past school year, we have been looking for an academic tutor for Bea. We failed to find one with a schedule that will work. A few days after graduation, I received a text message from her previous teacher, offering to tutor Bea this summer. We grabbed the chance! Teacher L is a very good teacher, someone who is genuinely concerned for Bea. Her rates were a bit steep but I'm sure she's well worth it. =) Hopefully she'd be able to help prepare Bea take the big leap from Kinder to Grade 2.

So far so good...