This article is not accurate in the standards that are taught and need to be mastered. These are only a handful of the academic skills that most graduating kindergartners have acquired, and if your child is lacking in several of them, he or she may be starting first grade with a deficit that can affect the entire year -- and the ones that follow. We also dont want him to hurt his self esteem. He is constantly talking about being in the first grade next. Is this fact likely to upset him a great deal? Communicate. 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! Advice given here is not intended to provide a basis for action in particular circumstances without consideration by a competent professional. The kids are expected to write sentences and use inventive spelling (spell phonetically) for words that they havent learned yet. 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. New research suggests repeating elementary school grades even kindergarten is harmful. Teachers don't suggest this because they think it's funny, they do it because they know the child and what's best for it. While lots of schools still have a primarily play-based curriculum and relaxed standards, more and more have implemented a more academic approach to kindergarten, not only to get young children better prepared for first grade, when reading and math really take off, but also in an effort to meet increasingly objective and consequential government standards. Perhaps students with learning disabilities who repeat kindergarten do better in school than they would have had they not repeated kindergarten. Is this a public or private school? So, if a child's birthday falls into dates . Rates of development are simply too varied to hang on chronology. At first he loved reading our books and felt very important that he could read, but since January that has become a fight to get him to read. He is on an IEP for behavior and we have seen great improvement. Many kids have moments when they dont act their age. There can be an age difference of a year (or more) in class. But there is very little out there about holding a child back in kindergarten to wait another year before starting first grade. There is a whole checklist of things your child should be able to do before going to kindergarten. Family Education is part of the Sandbox Learning family of educational reference sites for parents, teachers, and students. Fast forward to high school and they STILL seemed little. Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning. The skills learned in kindergarten laid a vital foundation for later learning. 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. Sensory issues: Some kids react strongly to sensory information and may get overwhelmed by things like bright lights. Media inquiries:media@understood.org(preferred) or646-757-3100. He lives with adults and communicates like a little adult. In most areas, children must turn 5 by September 1st, in order to start kindergarten. Do you often have to repeat the instructions for even a simple one-step task? Heres what I think: were pushing these young children too hard. No matter what you decide to do, keep in mind your child is looking to you to set the tone. Hi, So finally did you decide on this? Can he grip a pencil and cut paper with a scissors? I'm looking for advice/experience in having a child repeat a grade. It's about whether he or she is ready to make the jump to first grade. No wonder you feel insecure about doing what is obviously the right thing for your son. The number of infections begins to go down with time. Question: Even though he had an early August birthday, we started our son in kindergarten at a private Christian school. Copyright 2014-2023 Understood For All Inc. developmental milestones at different ages, Annoying other kids by talking too much or barging in on their games, Overreacting to what seem like minor things and taking a long time to calm down, Clinging and not wanting to be apart from you, Having to be told the same rule over and over again, like Its not OK to climb on that furniture, Struggling with bathroom issues, like bedwettingor being afraid to poop, Being overly sensitive to things like loud noises or the way clothes feel, Using baby talk or speaking in ways that are hard to understand, Having trouble with things like putting on a coat or gripping a pencil. I would like to know what specific research you have found that states that retaining is not beneficial. For some children, a bridge class between kindergarten and first grade offers time to grow. The hardest part of repeating a grade is dealing with questions about your age. These questions concerned me, but I knew that repeating kindergarten was the right thing for my son. The recommendation to repeat the year is not a comment on your child's intelligence; it's a comment on your child's maturity. Kindergarten students spend a great deal of time on their pre-reading and reading skills. Rose, my heart breaks for you and your grandson, as it does my grandson. 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. Sleep: Many kids consistently sleep less than six hours a night. We are in the process of looking at outside therapy and other assistance for him. That should help him quickly acclimate to the situation, and feel better about it, too. Red, yellow, green, blue with red being the worst. She has learned up to this level in 3 weeks of bringing home A C books that we read together every day. He may grow physically and may feel comfortable amongst his peers. Every week! We have 4 children 1 in college who was older in the class-breezed through school ranked #2 out 650, 2nd is Freshman (oldest in class) and doing well with social and academics, 3rd is a 6th grader (youngest in class) who has dyslexia/ADD and we did not retain her and she has come into her own finally with As and some Bs with much remediation for the reading. He even went to half days because they said he cant handle a full day. In our case, we're considering whether to have our son repeat first grade. My daughter is behind and her teacher wants to retain her. And a child's levels of physical, social, and intellectual development may be wildly uneven. Hes great with a scissors, but doesnt really get along well with other children. Your grandson sounds like mine : very smart, maybe just a bit slower in maturity, but just waiting to really take off a bit later but not lagging because of IQ or skill performance probability in a very short while. Ask your doctor to recommend someone or ask your school guidance counselor or psychologist for a consultation. Reassure him that you think he'll have a happy and successful year, and work with the teacher to help make that happen. we are so lost. 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. My husband and I knew she wasnt doing well with reading so we recently enrolled her into the Sylvan Learning center. 4. Our class has also been given 80 sight words and take spelling tests. Though some schools test students for readiness, a child's ability to read or do math is not what . I wish he were only going 1/2 a day but that wasnt an option where we live. I did not know HALF of what my grandson at 5 now knows when I was his age, but I went on to get 3 college degrees and was asked to work with the state educational committees for years on curriculum. Repeating a class may help your kid to be better prepared for his next class. Think about your child's emotional readiness. Specific pieces of knowledge are really only part of the picture, though. If your child is unable to follow simple multi-step instructions, follow a task through to completion without getting overly frustrated or distracted, work as part of a group, listen to a story without interrupting, or sit still for the duration of a short lesson, he or she may not be quite ready for the relative rigors of first grade. What if I want my child to repeat kindergarten but the school wont allow it because of the mo child left behind? You dont really have a fallback plan. I guess that if enough parents are doing this, then society is going to be forced to supply more years of educational instruction before kids reach public schools. But sometimes immature behavior is a sign that kids are struggling and need more support. He has been staying after school to work on blending. We asked our children several of the same questions, because my friend thinks my son is smarter than her daughter. Sometimes, a repeat with interventions is still the better option. You can go higher up to members of the local school board and explain how you feel. Clearly we weren't alone in our worrying. "Should Your Child Repeat Kindergarten?" I might as well homeschool. Rather than be upset, it pays to remember that the only thing to think about here is the well-being of your child. If it doesnt work out, youll worry about it when the time comes. 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 Energizer Bunny? As a speech language pathologist, I . And those possible downsides are significant, too. If the problems are ignored and a repeat becomes necessary 3 or 4 years later, that becomes a difficult experience for a child. It's hard to hear but if you trust the school, trust the teachers. My grandson is very bright, but I have found that his report cards have everything on it as emerging. Does he play well with other children? Hes also on an IEP since the beginning of the year. I am a retired teacher, having taught 43 years, at the primary level and the middle school level. You just couldnt see or analyze yourself ! Although these initial benefits faded over time, students who had been held back entered high school performing at a higher level relative to their grade level than similar students who'd been promoted. It has been a nightmare to get help for them. Holding back where . I believe with a one on one tutor for the summer it will help him perform better in the first grade. Is he flexible? 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! Backing up . If starting school is postponed for boys with birthdays after, say, June 1, "immature" boys suddenly become those with birthdays after March 1. Even the screening laws are failing these kids. First grade is where kids must apply themselves to the act of learning to read and do simple math. Understood is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organization (tax identification number 83-2365235). So I told her teacher today that we will work hard with her and that if she isnt eligible to pass that I will be pulling her out of the school system because something isnt right when 3/5 of my children are at risk of failing right now. She explained that he was frustrated by and uninterested in just about everything the class did a red flag that something was amiss. After multiple evaluations and what not the school has basically been recommending to promote. Data showed that the September-born children were 2.1 percent more likely to attend college compared to their August-born classmates. 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. I think it will scar him to be kept back. My 5 year old has math, reading, and spelling homework now. They are reading sentences and books. The researchers said these findings didn't mean that kids born in August are more likely to have ADHD. My frustration is with the teacher and her seeming intent in holding my little guy back for whatever reason by not supplying the tools necessary to help him be successful in kindergarten. Thanks. Trouble with focus: Does the child seem like a space cadet? 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. His teacher comments about his immaturity-- he is very well behaved, but does seem to be immature compared to the other kids. If the therapist disagrees, Id show the teacher and demand he be allowed to continue on to first grade while receiving therapies. Was a stronger speaker, reader, simple math, etc. Shes says thats whats holding him back the fact hes not writing like he should. This doesn't mean you won't . But for kids like Sam, schools and parents may make a more difficult call: to repeat kindergarten. Children with personal problems can't focus on school. We were reassured that they would work with his math and build on what he knows with reading, but not once did we hear anything about resources that can help him with reading if we chose to put him in first gradethat was made out to be just another burden for someone to do. Me and his dad are leaning towards repeating. I've done a lot of research and it's the general consensus that grade repetition isn't the way to go. I have never had such a tough time with something. According to his teacher they wont hold them back until 3d grade! Not a teacher, but have researched standards. If they arent reading, it isnt even a question that they remain in kindergarten. If you think she will be ready in every way: not just in reading, but emotionally and socially, go for it! Was it the finger painting that did her in, or was it story time? Thats awful she didnt speak up sooner! Sometimes kids act immature because of academic struggles. First graders typically start the year knowing how to count at least to 10 (and usually beyond), reciting the entire alphabet and knowing the sounds of most of the letters, reading and writing simple words, and using "creative spelling" to put their own thoughts on paper. https://today.tamu.edu/2018/03/27/14-year-study-holding-students-back-in-grade-school-hurts-their-chances-of-graduating/. 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