9yo first grader

[FireKat]

We have a new cub who is 9 but in the first grade. Not sure what to do, leadership asked the boy where he wished to be; by age or grade. He chose grade. Should we encourage him to move up of stay in tigers and advance with them? Maybe try to catch him up to the age group over time?

If anyone has dealt with this, any advice would be welcome.

Thanx,  Kat

[Pack378]

We had a similar situation and I think it has a a lot to do with his maturity level and his friends. Talk to his parents and see what they want to do. The only problem you are going to have is when he crosses over to boy scouts with the recharter in Nationals computer

[infoscouter]

The age issue (when he's old enough to be in Boy Scouts, but is still in the pack) can be overcome with a waiver.

 

I assume he has a disability that has caused him to be "out of synch" with his age-mates. If he, and mom and dad, have said that Tigers is the best place for him, respect that - they know him best.

 

What's the physical size difference? Is he markedly larger than the other boys? This may become an issue during game play, if he doesn't know his own strength.

 

Otherwise, get to know him, find out if he needs any accomodations and treat like one of the den!

[Lisabob]

At one point I had a 12 year old 4th grader in our webelos I den. He had significant cognitive impairments, combined with moving around from school to school, which resulted in him being out of synch in terms of age/grade. We only had him for a year before he moved again, but it is possible that he could have been a 9 year old 1st grader. In our situation, it would have been inappropriate for this boy to be in boy scouts with his age-peers, because he did not have the emotional or intellectual maturity to go with his age. He also lacked self-confidence and age-appropriate social skills so putting him with age-mates in a boy scout patrol would probably have been disastrous. In contrast, he fit in reasonably well with other 4th graders even though he was physically larger. He was a sweet kid and one of the ones I think benefited most from his short time in scouting.

 

Make sure to talk with the parents of your scout and see what you can learn about this boy. If he has special needs, they'll be able to give you better advice than anybody else about what is appropriate for their child.

[insanescouter]

I agree with others and add in ... work with the parents, other leaders in the pack (so they know whats up and don't think your pulling a fast one), the district as well as council ...

 

Hope my wacky 2 cents is helpful...

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org

Helping leaders one resource at a time....

[John-in-KC]

Just a note:

 

Perfectly normal and healthy kids can be a year behind their chronolgical peers.

 

EagleSon went through kindergarten twice, malice aforethought. His mom and I decided way back when the physical growth and improvements in emotional maturity would be a blessing downstream, so he went from private K to public K rather than private K to public 1.

 

We weren't the only ones in our neck of the woods doing it.

 

As a result, he was 14 years + but only a 7th grade complete student when he went on his Philmont trek... yes, Philmont knew, and they signed off.