I dont understand how everythings good then him needing little help then last month hes way behind !?? Being one of the youngest in the class can play a role. The work done at home, or not done at home, will place all children behind where they would have been socially and academically. Every child is different. He has some learning challenges (I think a learning disability), and has been in speech since he was 2. . 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. Because there won't be any more school, in her opinion Julia should repeat kindergarten again. We found we had good results at home. 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. I know it would hurt, but could it also help? Your child only turned 5 in August. Lets follow Finlands example. My sons school sends graded test and work hes done through out the year and hes been doing great! This decision should not be based off of how you feel or how you think others will look at you. Use of this website is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The reason? Hes great at math though. Q: Even though he had an early August birthday, we started our son in kindergarten at a private Christian school. We showed up to a parent teacher conference yesterday and were told they needed the decision right then. Repeating Kindergarten. School will respect our decision at the end of the day, but I honestly did not realize we would feel this much lack of support. 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. Change.org. Suddenly, scores on those tests were the only thing that mattered. For all anyone knows, your child could end up perfectly on track by the fall. I have never had such a tough time with something. According to his teacher they wont hold them back until 3d grade! As far as hes concerned he didnt finish kindergarten and he believes this is a short break due to Covid. There is a whole checklist of things your child should be able to do before going to kindergarten. You can find out the exact first grade requirements in your state by writing to your local Department of Education. Our class has also been given 80 sight words and take spelling tests. "Repeating Kindergarten." Even the screening laws are failing these kids. Does he play well with other children? She scored green on 2/4, yellow on 1, and red on reading. Heres what I think: were pushing these young children too hard. 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. And while its bad, no point crying over spilled milk. As a result, the repeating-kindergarten phenomenon has become relatively commonplace. Would retaining him be beneficial? Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning. In one study, researchers associated this poor academic performance with repeating kindergarten. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company. You can point out how their words or actions made you feel and ask them to be more sensitive in the future . It does look as though you can argue against a decision to hold your child back. Is your child curious and always wanting to learn new things? I am afraid we will have a huge bubble of high school drop outs when those children reach the age of sixteen. Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Blend Images/Ariel Skelley/the Agency Collection/. I emailed his teacher and she responded that he would be advanced to the 1st grade. For more information on grade school, child development and related topics, check out the links on the next page. Repeating Kindergarten. You just couldnt see or analyze yourself ! Should you hold your child back from first grade and let her repeat kindergarten? "When is it a good idea to repeat kindergarten?" Overall cognitive development and social skills are typically a larger consideration in the recommendation to repeat. He will catch on that he was held back as he watches his friends move on. When I returned to a regular classroom, teachers were supposed to teach to the test, and the whole year was focused on preparing children for standardized tests. Why is it still being suggested then? Get that out of your head immediately. All in all we just think its not right move for him to move up, but we are struggling mostly with how he will react when he sees that all his buddies are in a different class and hes not able to interact with them the same way he used to. Read David Elkinds Miseducation and look up the High Scope program. In any event, why not have him evaluated? 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 know it will be difficult for her to see all her friends move on without her but on the other hand 1st grade is ridiculously hard and I feel like Im throwing her to lions because I know shes not academically ready. It could just as well be learning disabilities that make it hard for these children to get good grades. It should be criminal to do that to these kids. ended up repeating first grade. This is not about how smart or good or "normal" your child is. This is by far the hardest decision Ive ever made. Second do you have any suggestions on how to teach him to blend sounds into words? Varda Meyers Epstein serves as editor in chief of Kars4Kids Parenting. The decision to hold a child backoften called " red-shirting . Social interactment, discipline, only basic skills as for letters and numbers, and becoming more mature are the only skills needed for first grade. In my case, I benefited from grade retention, but after doing some research, I honestly believe it does more harm than good for most people. The average minutes a day your child gets direct attention from her teacher is 7 minutes. There is typically little-to-no social stigma with repeating kindergarten; kids are often all too happy to get to do so. Praying my daughter will make the right decision. Is this fact likely to upset him a great deal? 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. My husband and I knew she wasnt doing well with reading so we recently enrolled her into the Sylvan Learning center. There is not anything you can do about that in time to help your current five year old. Thirty years ago, I was pleased to hear my daughters middle school math teacher talk about hands on learning in math. However, because kids often make sudden leaps in development later in the year, it can be hard to predict their performance in first grade. We both went on to finish college. No wonder they seemed so little! Joined Jan 19, 2002. I am in the same boat and just wondering based on what you had come to a decision. Students who are retained are more likely to drop out of school compared . Hes also on an IEP since the beginning of the year. Once I got to middle school I started to notice that all the other kids looked really little. I am a retired teacher, having taught 43 years, at the primary level and the middle school level. He or she probably could have used a bit more time before going to kindergarten, but you took a chance. These policies typically focus on a student's chronological age when entering kindergarten. Some kids act younger than their peers because they are younger than most kids in the grade. Kids develop skills at different rates. Does he try to tell the story by looking at the pictures? We asked our children several of the same questions, because my friend thinks my son is smarter than her daughter. Babies' immune systems begin to mature soon after birth. The Age of the Child. Can he grip a pencil and cut paper with a scissors? 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. They seem to retain NOTHING from the entire day at school! 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. He is doing pretty well academically, but he's on the young side and is rather immature: difficulty focusing/paying attention in class and acting silly in class or on the playground. ??? If the speech therapist agrees with the teacher, youll know what to do. 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. I never went to Kindergarten, but only knew the alphabet and numbers but not any math and could not read sentences at age 6. In spite of how often this happens, it can come to a shock when the kindergarten teacher asks to speak with you suggesting your child repeat kindergarten. While this justification has some merit, retention could actually be detrimental. Information on our advertising guidelines can be found. Q Even though he had an early August birthday, we started our son in kindergarten at a private Christian school. Because of COVID, there will be many children who are betwixt and between. 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. Instead, we got him the occupational therapy that was recommended, and he went on to have a great year in first grade. So we entered him into kindergarten in August 2014. C books are recommended, but not required. So i dont believe in repeating kindergarten. Now, we have been pushing to retain him in Kindergarten, and little did we realize this was going to be such a difficult call for us to make. From old progress reports, it appears the emotional immaturity stemmed from not consistently staying on task and randomly talking out of turn. Will your child benefit from being held back? 2022 Sandbox Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Kindergarteners acquire countless skills in the course of the year, and many of them are very important for success in first grade, which tends to be a more formal academic experience than your child has encountered so far. I knew my son was young entering kindergarten. But for kids like Sam, schools and parents may make a more difficult call: to repeat kindergarten. Specific pieces of knowledge are really only part of the picture, though. Kids who are already the oldest in their grade will be almost two years older than the rest of the class. I may just decide to revisit the topic and include the study in my piece. There is no denying that the decision is taken for the betterment of the child and there are many benefits of repeating kindergarten. School!. There might be an illness or divorce in the family. 7y. . What's more, kindergartners can range in age from 4 to 6 because about 5 percent of kids repeat the year and another 7 percent wait a year before starting, according to the latest figures from the National Center for Educational Statistics. A resource class 1 - 2 hours a day might be helpful and better than retention. Second time around, one of the oldest (at a different pre-k, for what it's worth). His academics are really good. Thread starter katie111; Start date May 30, 2013; K. katie111 DIS Veteran. Ask yourself these questions: Lets imagine that you have a child you werent really sure was ready for kindergarten. He ended up repeating Kindergarten and is doing great, having just finished 7th grade. The recommendation to repeat the year is not a comment on your child's intelligence; it's a comment on your child's maturity. Advice given here is not intended to provide a basis for action in particular circumstances without consideration by a competent professional. I was keep back in school and I hate it to this day. He may even be ahead of his new classmates. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Learning Site, The eLearning Site, and Internet4Classrooms. And the social stigma of being held back can have a major impact on a child's attitude. Posted on 1/25/23 at 9:54 pm to WhoDatKrewe. Rose. Here's what my takeaways were: - Being the youngest in the class is universally hard. She only just turned 5 this month while the other students are all turning 6. Experts also point out that holding a child back due to developmental delays is, literally speaking, further delaying development. It can feel like an insult: like your child isnt smart. This may or may not be related to your child's actual age. I know that my oldest was not required to read at this level until she was in 1st grade. The number of infections begins to go down with time. Hi, So finally did you decide on this? The kids are expected to write sentences and use inventive spelling (spell phonetically) for words that they havent learned yet. At the end of the year, most of the children go to first grade. He has a summer birthday (so he is youngest in his kinder class). You turn to your computer and good old Google, and end up more confused than ever. Not anymore. Few of them will be deeply affected by (or even remember later on) repeating kindergarten. There can be an age difference of a year (or more) in class. Im ver sure I could have helped him read the schools books that they test him with that would have helped him with retention of sight words ( we continue to read ours), I am continuing to go over the sight words and he can put them into sentences and makes up stories as well. - My son will graduate high school and only be 17 years old. I believe with a one on one tutor for the summer it will help him perform better in the first grade. His teacher is very, very strongly recommending we hold him back. You can go higher up to members of the local school board and explain how you feel. The lead author of this study, Dr. Mu-Hong Chen said, "Our findings . What can cause kids to seem immature. I know I am extremely late to this article, but both my twin brother and I repeated Kindergarten during the 1993-1994 school year. We still have him read for 15-20 minutes per night and do his short kindergarten homework, but he is not doing much more than that at home anymore because there just isnt time and we have him to bed by 7:30 nightly. How can ANY teacher of those first 3 years determine ability for success in the future for a child that young ??? If she has time she works with those having trouble. It has been a nightmare to get help for them. Things we knew he concretely understood never translated in class. . The truth is, development among kindergarten-age children varies tremendously. Social and emotional immaturity is often cited as a reason for retaining students in kindergarten. The recommendation to repeat the year is not a comment on your child's intelligence; it's a comment on your child's maturity. Repeating kindergarten, preschool or even the first or second grade is often not a big deal and life goes on. We sent him to Kindergarten, which was against what his preschool teacher recommended. Im so upset! "Should Your Child Repeat Kindergarten?" For a child who is behind his or her peers, these potential positives are real and significant. To reading. Because children develop at such different rates and the kindergarten age span can run from 4 to 6, there is a tremendous range in social, physical and cognitive development. Ideally, a kindergarten program will be flexible enough to meet the diverse needs of all its students. But there is very little out there about holding a child back in kindergarten to wait another year before starting first grade. There is absolutely no way your best friend with a 6 month old girl has been told her 6 month old is ready for the first grade most babies dont even start walking until 9 months let alone every other thing a child needs to be able to do in 1st grade! Red, yellow, green, blue with red being the worst. My research states that you do not retain if there is a learning disability (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia sp?). Do you often have to repeat the instructions for even a simple one-step task? And a child's levels of physical, social, and intellectual development may be wildly uneven. Some school districts also offer a "young fives" program. June 1, "immature" boys suddenly become those with birthdays after March 1. Find out what they notice, and work on ways to help kids develop skills like self-control. Our son barely showed up on it. She's been a teacher for over 20 years, and says she . . That can be frustrating and cause kids to act out. What's more, kindergartners can range in age from 4 to 6 because about 5 percent of kids repeat the year and . May 30, 2013 #1 . Grade Learn how to spot itand how to protect children of all ages from bullies at school. He has an attention issue. Speak to other parents and see what they think about the teachers judgment. My son is in what they call the foundation year, kindergarten. However, I believe talking with a school councilor, which we are going to do with ours, and also, having him tested by a very knowledgable but retired elementary teacher friend, is what we are going to do next and then keep researching for stat on this and what the experts say. Other signs your child may benefit from another go-around include: If you're considering having your child repeat the year, he or she is most likely behind in more than one of these areas -- and there's little question that a student is better off starting first grade in step with the rest of the class. I wish he were only going 1/2 a day but that wasnt an option where we live. Anxietyor shyness: Does it take a long time for the child to warm up to other kids? His pediatrician suggested that I keep him in daycare and wait until the following year to send him to kindergarten, but she did not mention that until his 5 year well visit which was a week before school started. What there is suggests that schools with retention policies have a lot of resources and manpower to deal with kids who need a bit more help getting ready for school. Youd think given all the evaluations and so forth, that the school would back you. After a month and realizing school was done for the academic year, I grew concerned with our sons placement next year. It remains true that the process of learning to readshould be complete by the end of third grade. The most important thing, in the end, is how you react to the situation. His teacher has to repeat everything to him. As others have written these standards are not whats currently expected of Kindergarteners anymore. My son's teachers are suggesting he repeat kindergarten. As far as seeing friends go on, he had very few and I know my son has forgotten about school. This is not about how smart your child is. I am a teacher, and I HAVE reevaluated after many years of thinking what is not analytically true. 4. The most productive way to approach the topic . An estimated 5 percent of kindergarteners spend a second year in the class [source: Mlyniec]. Please note: This "Expert Advice" area of FamilyEducation.com should be used for general information purposes only. In June 1993, my kindergarten teacher recommended both of us to repeat Kindergarten, and our parents agreed to do that. The students in this study, however, had a far higher rate of learning disabilities than their peers. Given average per pupil spending of roughly $10,700 (the most recent national estimate), the direct cost to society of retaining 2.3 percent of the 50 million students enrolled in American schools . This makes it difficult to get a sample group of very young students with diagnosed learning disabilities we can study. At the end, is how you feel or how you think others will look you...: this `` Expert advice '' area of FamilyEducation.com should be used for information! Performance with repeating kindergarten this day but both my twin brother and i knew repeating kindergarten for immaturity wasnt well. Idea to repeat kindergarten kids looked really little youngest in the recommendation to repeat that mattered ; immature quot! Though you can find out the exact first grade requirements in your state writing... He grip a pencil and cut paper with a scissors make a more difficult call: to repeat kindergarten.... 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