Anyone that can offer advise Id appreciate it. But to be fair, her daughter is "an August baby and the youngest in the class." He struggles with staying still. The teachers have not been taught what dyslexia is and IS NOT. Helped build confidence. It's hard to hear but if you trust the school, trust the teachers. Andrew, thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience, as well as sharing this important study. The teacher say I am setting him up for failure if I dont. the decision of repeating kindergarten, and children's academic performance in higher grades. The final decision about retention at the kindergarten level is usually up to the parents, but check the policy of your school district. It's also important to explain the plan to your child in a positive way, because your attitude will influence his. Then, for a few years, I taught in a school for behaviorally disordered children. I literally did not care at all as a kid. Perhaps students with learning disabilities who repeat kindergarten do better in school than they would have had they not repeated kindergarten. He puts together over 50 pieces puzzles by himself. If the teacher is concerned about the child's maturity or behavior, parents can ask for specific examples of behavior that cause concern. The data also suggests that in spite of having all these resources and manpower, kids who repeat kindergarten dont do as well as their first or second grade classmates once they make it into those grades. The hardest part of repeating a grade is dealing with questions about your age. And while its bad, no point crying over spilled milk. Q: Even though he had an early August birthday, we started our son in kindergarten at a private Christian school. Some children would benefit from repeating kindergarten. End of February 2018 i am in my sons class room speakin with his teacher bout his academics and as she informs me he has reading problems along with speech problems and now all of a sudden needs little more assistance so i explained that i want him to be in a reading/speech class to help keep him on track(my oldest son goes for speech and ready every week) and if she can send home words and reading material he needs more help with to go over each day at home, waiting and calling and writing comments in his planner on where the work is he needs little more improvement with is at doesnt show up home until the last month of school where then same day i get work of his i get a call from his teacher.she goes on about how hes doin wonderful and all of a sudden she says due to his speech difficulty which effects his reading and reading issues she wants to hold him back in same grade! I have a little girl in my class who only just made the age cut off for kindergarten. Spelling tests in kindergarten? Im being pressured to follow the schools recommendations by family and the school, but I know my son. I just received a letter about a possible retention for my son, i do have a meeting scheduled with the school. Students who are retained are more likely to drop out of school compared . He cries often, and doesnt follow directions very well, but loves to look at picture books and make up funny rhymes. I found out that a bunch of kids in my grade were like 21 months younger than me. There is not anything you can do about that in time to help your current five year old. It's about how developmentally ready he or she is for first grade at this moment in time -- and children will reach their milestones when they're ready. Im actually not liking it a bit! The Australian Curriculum is fairly static, which means that by repeating a year, a child will have an opportunity to revise past learnings, fill in the gaps and retain the information. We sent him to Kindergarten, which was against what his preschool teacher recommended. Suddenly, scores on those tests were the only thing that mattered. Like many parents, I hadn't realized that success in kindergarten depends on many factors, not just intellectual ability. Check on the child's life situation. An estimated 5 percent of kindergarteners spend a second year in the class [source: Mlyniec]. As she teaches she "shoots" for the middle and hopes to draw in as many low and as many high students as she can. My mom refused to have me held back, as there was nothing wrong with my intellect; in fact, I surpassed my peers in reading skills, as I began reading simple words at age 2 1/2- 3 years old and read story books aloud to my Kindergarten class. But the truth is that today children begin learning to read before they enter the first grade. Is your child ready for kindergarten? Julia Layton ??? Any advice is greatly appreciated esp now. The recommendation to repeat the year is not a comment on your child's intelligence; it's a comment on your child's maturity. I know that my oldest was not required to read at this level until she was in 1st grade. Im not a parent or teacher, just happened to stumble across this page while doing personal research and I would like to share my story. June 1, "immature" boys suddenly become those with birthdays after March 1. She scored green on 2/4, yellow on 1, and red on reading. It should be criminal to do that to these kids. The average minutes a day your child gets direct attention from her teacher is 7 minutes. Acting immature can be a sign that kids are struggling and need more support. Can he work with others as a group? We asked our children several of the same questions, because my friend thinks my son is smarter than her daughter. She has fine motor and minor speech issues and is receiving OT help. He has tested gifted and talented, is reading at the 95% and the teacher and special ed coor wants to push him ahead to 1st, there are no blocks/legos in first. He has an attention issue. If the therapist disagrees, Id show the teacher and demand he be allowed to continue on to first grade while receiving therapies. Repeating kindergarten is not apocalyptic. Moms know their children better than anyone. You dont really have a fallback plan. Think about your child's emotional readiness. Sammy, for instance, could discuss ancient Troy but couldn't draw a stick figure. My 5 year old has math, reading, and spelling homework now. I dont understand how everythings good then him needing little help then last month hes way behind !?? (June 7, 2012) http://www.change.org/petitions/help-children-succeed-make-kindergarten-mandatory-in-all-50-states, Mlyniec, Vicky. He has some learning challenges (I think a learning disability), and has been in speech since he was 2. . I am afraid we will have a huge bubble of high school drop outs when those children reach the age of sixteen. etc. Not sure what to do, you speak to a few experts, do your research, and decide to chance it and send your child on to kindergarten. I'm looking for advice/experience in having a child repeat a grade. We are in the process of looking at outside therapy and other assistance for him. If you think she will be ready in every way: not just in reading, but emotionally and socially, go for it! Where are they? Holding your child back a year in the beginning of their school . During first year, was one of the youngest in the class. All these things combined he has had a pretty tough Kindergarten. As a speech language pathologist, I . My best friend has a child who is 6 months old, a girl, and said to be 100% ready for 1st grade by her teacher. Fast forward to high school and they STILL seemed little. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Varda is the mother of 12 children and is also a grandmother of 12. In one study, researchers associated this poor academic performance with repeating kindergarten. You may want to seek help from the school in having your child assessed for school readiness. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company. They needed less remediation, and they earned higher grades while enrolled. I believe struggling kids should be promoted, but receive other intervention methods, such as intensified learning, supplementing classroom instruction, and providing one-on-one tutoring with a teacher or cross-age tutoring with an older student . Emily you are 100% percent correct! Kindergarten retention totally ignores what we know about child development.Early childhood is a period of very rapid intellectual growth. Information on our advertising guidelines can be found. Hes on the low end of the spectrum. Communicate. I would love to get your opinion concerning my 5 year old grandson. The truth is you knew that it might come to this. Hes very good with numbers, has a very extensive vocabulary, can spell a lot of his 144 sight words that I taught him because the teachers were not able to help him through them for some reason. Being retained had no effect on students' chances of graduating. We were also told that having him repeat kindergarten would be devastating for him. Some kids act younger than their peers because they are younger than most kids in the grade. I got held back in preschool for crying too much. These teachers, trying to put all kids in a peg as either Got it or Did not get it, are unconscionable ! There are no easy answers when it comes to grade retention, and experts are divided on whether repeating kindergarten is more likely to lead to long-term benefit or deficit. I did not know these words at 6, nor could I build and create what he does without my help. I may just decide to revisit the topic and include the study in my piece. Question: Even though he had an early August birthday, we started our son in kindergarten at a private Christian school. "Should Your Child Repeat Kindergarten?" I will do what I need to do. He loves school and I would hate to give him the stigma of repeating when it's something he doesn't have control over. Repeating kindergarten, preschool or even the first or second grade is often not a big deal and life goes on. You may be right that the primary problem is an inexperienced teacher. Rather than be upset, it pays to remember that the only thing to think about here is the well-being of your child. First should we allow him to repeat kindergarten ? He is very smart he just had separation anxiety at first. He's well above average academically and he gets along great with the kids, but his teacher wants him to repeat kindergarten because he's socially immature. There can be an age difference of a year (or more) in class. Sensory issues: Some kids react strongly to sensory information and may get overwhelmed by things like bright lights. I totally feel you. She also maintains a private practice in the evaluation and teaching of children with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. This is a misconception, and one that can be detrimental to the decision-making process. . Does he play well with other children? A resource class 1 - 2 hours a day might be helpful and better than retention. Few of them will be deeply affected by (or even remember later on) repeating kindergarten. Make an effort to understand why the teacher is suggesting retention. Family.com. Was it the finger painting that did her in, or was it story time? My best friend, by the way, is an Occupational Therapist so she is used to working with these school aged kids a lot. The study found that delayed entry was most common for . Besides the pandemic delays he does good in my opinion and has And the question of benefit vs. detriment can be a more difficult one to answer. You feel confused. I do know a few who "red shirted" due to perceived immaturity who regretted it once the kids hit jr high & high school., jodifla WDW lover since 1972. Every answer seems wrong! immature or have difficulty acquiring basic academic skills (Mantzicopoulos and Morrison 1992), while upper grade retention is based solely or largely on academic . Is he good at sharing? He developed stomach aches all the time, even on weekends, which threw us off. And the social stigma of being held back can have a major impact on a child's attitude. And if the issue is counting and numbers, or poor early reading skills, perhaps giving a child more time to learn numbers and letters; to hear stories read; and play with making rhymes, is indicated. Children who are behind in these areas late into kindergarten may: In deciding whether your child should repeat kindergarten, it is important to consider whether he has all the skills he needs to go on to first grade. Staying in kindergarten means not only repeat exposure to the curriculum and so a greater chance of picking it up, but it also means being the oldest -- and most knowledgeable, mature and capable -- student in class, which can increase confidence dramatically, setting the tone for long-term positive self-concept and continued school success. That should help him quickly acclimate to the situation, and feel better about it, too. Age range. Kindergarten is not mandatory in California although most children in the state usually enroll. Language: Does the child have trouble pronouncing words or expressing ideas? The most productive way to approach the topic, then, is from a neutral place. But know that teachers dont make the recommendation to repeat kindergarten without a lot of thought. He will catch on that he was held back as he watches his friends move on. Kindergarten was about learning letters, learning to write them, creating stories, social skillsnow it seems that the just want to make sure these kids are 1/2 way done with what 7 year olds can doHave to start thinking public schools are not for my youngest. So now what should you do? They can . Change.org. We missed the registration for pre-k by a week. This is not about how smart or good or "normal" your child is. Has a teacher recommended that your child repeat kindergarten? . I would like to know what specific research you have found that states that retaining is not beneficial. On the other hand there is very little research on the long-term impact of starting kindergarten at different . My son has completely lost his memory of everything he studied or learned. I feel bad for her emotional wellbeing. You need to reassess. Start . Teachers often have good instincts, but not every teacher is great. He can build master structures with a huge number of plastic blocks of all sizes and do things with triangular and square magnets that are amazing. Was a stronger speaker, reader, simple math, etc. The Age of the Child. He didnt even register on the standard test they gave to that assesses each student. Social interactment, discipline, only basic skills as for letters and numbers, and becoming more mature are the only skills needed for first grade. The truth is, development among kindergarten-age children varies tremendously. Kristin J. Carothers, PhD is a clinical child psychologist devoted to the destigmatization of mental health problems. As the kindergarten year draws to a close, many parents are left worried their child isn't fully prepared to take on 1st grade. Repeating a grade at this age can sometimes be beneficial. Hes great with a scissors, but doesnt really get along well with other children. Babies' immune systems begin to mature soon after birth. Requirements for first grade readiness vary from state to state. Assuming that a child who is deemed ready to enter Kindergarten at age four is somehow a super-child - perfect in behavior, attendance, performance, attitude, aptitude, diligence, handwriting, and . When a teacher or other education expert recommends repeating kindergarten, it's seldom (if ever) about a single skill your child is behind on. If starting school is postponed for boys with birthdays after, say, June 1, "immature" boys suddenly become those with birthdays after March 1. A child who is ready for first grade can: While your childs teacher may make the suggestion that your child repeat kindergarten, its up to you, the parent, to make the final decision. A positive and open talk about the plan can do a lot to help alleviate the stress of being "held back." These policies typically focus on a student's chronological age when entering kindergarten. We are solely to blame for not having our son attend pre-k as I was uneducated on its value. Posted on 1/25/23 at 9:54 pm to WhoDatKrewe. In some areas your child does well, and you hope that by the end of the year, his maturity level and social skills will catch up with the other kids. I have a hard time believing that, as I am sure all parents do. Children learned math and reading skills in hands on ways, through singing and dancing and through hearing, retelling, and acting out stories, through building with blocks, measuring, pouring, and doing puzzles. Our son barely showed up on it. Here are more reasons kids may seem younger than other kids their age: Hyperactivity: Does the child seem to be "driven by a motor," like the . 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