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    Should my child repeat a grade?

    “Sir we recommend that Pathik repeats his kindergarten, Promoting him to a higher grade will not help.”
    Have you heard or witnessed such statements and have they sent a chill down your spine?
    In school, we come across students and parents of all kinds. Students who can cope with grade level, who should actually be studying at a higher grade level and also those who should be studying at a lower level. Now, this is where the problem lies. Most parents do not want to believe that their child simply needs more time.
    As soon as the word repeat is set out, it seems to cast a shadow of dismay over the parent’s existence. They believe it is a statement on their parenting and a question of their own intelligence. There are students who upon their initial assessment were found to be suitable for a grade lower than the one they have applied for. But the parents would just not accept it. Is it out of social pressure or a stigma, I do not understand but we face this very often with new parents?
    However, repeating a grade is not uncommon In 2015–2016, 7% of U.S. kids between the ages of 6 and 17 — 3.4 million children total — had repeated one or more grades since starting kindergarten.
    On the contrary, and thankfully, lately we have also come across parents, especially GGIS parents who have approached us out of their volition or supported our request to keep the child in the same class for one more year. They see their child struggling and they know that this is only going to compound the problems as they grow up. And hence they choose to go with the child’s pace rather than the society’s.
    While at an intrinsic level all of us know that all children are different and they take different time to learn, we all hope and pray that our child is on the faster end of the difference. So few of us gracefully accept that my child is not great at something. We make superheroes out of our little cherubs and then wonder why he/she can’t take a failure!
    Repeating a grade is not a solution to all problems and especially not if it is taken as a taboo. It can, on the contrary, create a deep dent in the confidence levels. However, if taken positively as many of our parents do, it can do wonders. The child not only has more time to navigate through the coursework but also comes out with a greater sense of accomplishment. And if repetition is required, I guess it is better to do it a younger age when the social environment and peer pressure is forgiving. And it also means more years of childhood.
    Are you really happy being an adult? Why are you so eager to take away childhood when the child is clearly not ready!
    So, think about it and let me know what do you have to say about it. Have you repeated a grade or know someone who has and how has it panned out for them?
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