Getting the right grades

I have many parents who want to study with their children at home but don’t always know where to start, or what to look for.

Often they look online and find thousands of teaching sites and they are not exactly sure if they are in the right place, or if the work they are doing with their children is at the right level. Schools don’t always help either.

For example, do you know the difference between Grade 2 and Year 2 or whether your child should be in Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Elementary School or Pre School?  Most people don’t.

So in a bid to help as we head toward the end of the academic year here is some valuable information which at the very least will help you take your child to the right classroom when you return them to school after the summer.

Grades versus Years

Grades are a very American concept whereas Years are more British. The British system is very cyclical, for example, the British school year starts on or around September 1 and ends on August 31 of the following year. So in the UK, a child who starts the educational year aged six should be in Year 2 because in that educational year he or she will turn seven.

Year 2 in UK terms is not the same as Grade 2, in fact there is a whole year of difference meaning that in the Grade system, Year 2, (six and seven-year-olds) is actually equivalent to Grade 1 in American Curriculum schools and also most Bahrain national schools as well.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, you need to consider the age group that your child is in before you start looking into the level of work that is expected of them. 

The bottom line here is that work level and understanding is related to the age of your child, so if your child is in Year 2 or Grade 1, they will be of a similar age and, therefore, will have the capacity to understand levels of work for that age group. 

This is where the benchmark is set and this is what your child’s school will be working towards.

Since there is such a variety of private schools on the island it can be difficult for parents to get their heads around the different names for the same age group, but the golden rule is always: if in doubt, ask, and if your school can’t answer, send your questions to me (through editor@gulfweekly.com) and I’ll see if I can’t answer your questions for you.

Next week, as we look forward to the summer holidays, I’ll be looking at the various educational websites available for parents who don’t want their children to forget everything they’ve learned in the previous year at school.