4th and 7th grade = the hardest years

Since many tournaments are K-3 or K-6 or K12, we often times see that kids get discouraged in the 4th grade (their first year of K6 competition), or 7th grade (the year they can no longer play in K6 division and have to face high schoolers).  Also, the 7th grade is the year many kids, sadly, give up chess.
It's these years that we have to help kids understand they are LEARNING and REBUILDING years.  Humps they have to get over.  Challenges, to rebuild their skill level so they can compete with kids who may be older.  2nd Grade is often the best year to start for a kid, because they get two years in, before the dreaded 4th grade dropoff, haha.
The STATE tournament is K-5 and a few tournaments are K-4 or K-5, but this is rare.
Age is really irrelevant where chess is concerned, it's really about the increase in the skill level of the pool of kids I'm talking about.
Kids who are USCF rated often play in "all ages" tournaments against people 40-90 years old!  My 3rd grade son played against a 50 year old drunken Russian guy in a tournament once.  He smelled of Vodka and "trash talked" the whole game.   My son won.  He was taught to "play the board, not the player."  Good advice!