DS was kicked out of his age group and into an older group. Both the trainers approached me today (cornered me is more like it) and said he is showing such good self control (except his jaw bone and voice box, said one) and maturity that he will do fine in the older group. He is also so strong and doing so well, working out with his age group will actually hold him back. They are sparing and doing real contact wrestling and no one can fairly partner with him except a coach.
They had approached me once before, but I was concerned because he gets along much better with his own age or younger. Older kids are a bit more judgemental and can be jerks. It was one of the big perks holding him back a year in K. In school, he is now in a class with kids nearly a full year younger and his social life has improved 100%. They assured me Scotty could handle himself with the big boys. I spend so much time letting him act younger than his age because… well…he is. I’m hoping this is a success story.
Re: self-defense class
After talking it over with the “guys” at work, I think it might be better. While it isn’t actually “competative” in the “I win you lose” sense, there is a need to get better and stronger and faster. Being with the older kids will raise the bar, something we can’t stop doing with our kids just because of a neurological glitch. Plus, who knows, he might look up to some of the older kids and learn some more “mature” behaviors. Its just something he is doing so well in (gotta grab those when they pop up) and I’d hate to bring on a bad experience.
Re: Kicked out of self defence class level.
Kyle, 8, has been taking TaeKwon Do for 18mos and has always been in the “grown up” class. He was either going to be the oldest in the 5-7 class, which met at a really bad time for us, plus I was worried about him playing instead of working. I spoke with the instructor about it and we decided to put him in the class with the big people. He was the youngest in the class for a while, now there are a few others around his age. The greatest benefit has been the role models the teenage boys have become. He sometimes has a hard time sparring because there are only 3 boys his size in class, but is doing well and will get his High Green belt tomorrow night. Trust the instructors, if they think he’ll do fine, he probably will.
Your post shares a concern but not a question. I’d only say there might be benefits to your son in this older group. Clearly these are structured classes with instructors who keep a good eye on things. It’s not the same as the social situations where your son has had trouble. He’s in this class to learn and work, not socialize.
As you have him in a school class where he is old for his class, he might well be able to handle this much shorter self defense class with older children. And it might give him an opportunity to learn from them and to gain the skills and confidence he needs to be around older kids. His good self-defense skills have earned him this honor and he could enter the class with a bit of ‘rep’ and some respect from the older boys based on his excellent skills that merited him entry into the class.
Good luck.