Hi sisters (who's 9 now) has always been overly mature and sometimes I think he's going the other route to be different.  hehehehe

He often thinks he can't do things on his own.

Thanks,

Jeanne

I also have(had He's 24 now) a child who was kept back in 1st grade because of maturity issues!! we moved during the summer to another school district he was in the school 2 weeks when the teacher called and asked if they could test him for Learning disabilities, he was(is) Dylexic with hand eye issues He was put onto special education classes and even though it was a rough  road and was left back 2 more times he graduated.
Please ask the school to test him they don't want to do this because it costs money but insist, My son was not inmature he was having problems and was acting out.

I noticed what you have going on my daughter is a summer baby she is in second grade now but is one of the younger ones she has struggled since grade k this year i made them test her they say she is fine no learning dis or anything she reads on first grade 6 months level and her math is just now getting to a second grade level i have struggled with the hard choice but have decided we have had enough she will be in second next year again with the same teacher you see children have diff step stones and a brain only dev at a cert pace her doc says that she is not behind much for her age but for her grade she is she even knows it she told me the work is to hard and that she was not wanting to go into 3rd if he is having probs in reading he will start having it in math as well i know she does great with the adding and subtraction but it is the reading what to do in math and the problems that have the words i really believe a child gets more behind if they have not had time to catch up most schools frown at holding them back until 3rd because they say EOG will catch them i kept after them and got my way she will get the chance to be caught up and maybe be a kid because all the time in past out of school we have been doing more to catch up she has had no time to be her 

This is a tough call. However, you may need to take him to the doctor's to get evaluated for ADD. A teacher is not qualified to diagnoise a student of any kind... Just because he doesn't have the 'spacey' look doesn't mean he doesn't have ADD.   My eldest (15 1/2) has ADHD and was diagnoised by a neurologist - that's the best route.  I have had the same thoughts - my youngest is 9 and her b-day is August as well and my gut was telling me to hold her back and not start kindergarten until she was 6 - I really wish I would have done that.. Now she is struggling in 4th grade and homework is a battle.  I taught 5th grade for a few years and I know next year is going to be (*&(*&*.  Now, I'm in a situation that would be devasting if I held her back; I'm still thinking about it.  I know statically children that are held back have some issues later on in their school career; (However, with positive reinforcement at home indicating that it would be better for him to learn the material again) Maybe by telling him that sometimes adults have to do over's and that it's ok - however, holding him back may be the answer - perhaps the teacher/school can recommend that he does 1/2  his day in 1st grade and the other 1/2 in 2nd.  If you are gonig to hold him back, I would definitely do it now...  I would also take him to the eye doctor - one that specializes in reading.  There could be a problem there - I took my 9 year old and she has convergence insufficiency - her eyes are not focusing together which in turn causes her to read below grade level.  Don't delay - go with you gut. With postive reimforcement - all will work out. Good Luck

Hi Jeanne,

I am so glad that I helped.  Maybe not the decision, because I feel that the decision was yours to make.  But just to let you know that there are other people out there that know what you may be going through.  I know it helps me to know that my son is not the only one who has problems.  And a parent to parent support is always good.  Just a little update...it is amazing how resilent (hope that is spelled right?) children are...he has accepted repeating 1st grade and when someone asks him what grade he is in he says first grade one more time just for kicks.  So....as traumatic as I thought this would be for him it has turned out not so traumatic.  His acceptance has made the decision that much easier.  I have started a summer homeschool with him...which is not his most favorite thing..but he does one hour of school work Monday-Friday.  I found some little workbooks at Wal-Mart that are just right for his age and grade.  Some of it is repeating what he has already learned but we try to make it fun for him.  This way he can remember what he has learned...at least a little.

Callie