Andrew, thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience, as well as sharing this important study. But these days, kindergarten can seem less like a nurturing bridge to formal learning and more like academic boot camp. Students are required to not only know ALL letters and sounds but all sight words by mid year. She doesn't know her letters, their sounds, or her numbers. But there is very little out there about holding a child back in kindergarten to wait another year before starting first grade. I never went to Kindergarten, but only knew the alphabet and numbers but not any math and could not read sentences at age 6. Thanks. What many parents have trouble with is whether their student will be better off repeating the year. Second, holding your child back can have a negative connotation. That said, its important to note that learning disabilities may not even be diagnosed until the child goes to grade school. Red, yellow, green, blue with red being the worst. But are concerned he will act out if he is bored. What kind of long-term effects, if any, can result from repeating or not repeating a grade? Sometimes kids act immature because of academic struggles. Not kind of reading but really reading. First Trimester To-Do List: Take Care of Yourself. And 4th we have our 5 year son who has ADHD and maybe ODD. There's no right answer, and it's important to keep in mind that we're talking about 5 and 6 year olds here. 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. Repeating a grade increases the risk. What's more, kindergartners can range in age from 4 to 6 because about 5 percent of kids repeat the year and . Family Education is part of the Sandbox Learning family of educational reference sites for parents, teachers, and students. I believe in trusting maternal instincts! He struggles with staying still. Thats awful she didnt speak up sooner! He is very smart he just had separation anxiety at first. It cannot be allowed to be a lost year. Still, finding out the teacher thinks your child should be "held back" can be jarring and, for many parents, upsetting. No matter what you decide to do, keep in mind your child is looking to you to set the tone. Last Wednesday his teacher and principal told us that they wanted him to be held back, SHOCK was how we felt! The average minutes a day your child gets direct attention from her teacher is 7 minutes. I served in the Army from 2006 to 2011 and deployed to Iraq twice, and then I graduated from Texas A&M University in May 2017. Get in touch! Specific pieces of knowledge are really only part of the picture, though. The health and medical related resources on this website are provided solely for informational and educational purposes and are not a substitute for a professional diagnosis or for medical or professional advice. . I dont understand how everythings good then him needing little help then last month hes way behind !?? ??? Anyone have their child repeat kindergarten & regret it? He will catch on that he was held back as he watches his friends move on. This is not about how smart your child is. You can go higher up to members of the local school board and explain how you feel. It should be criminal to do that to these kids. What could really be wrong about giving kids another year in kindergarten to let their social emotional skills mature? Do you often have to repeat the instructions for even a simple one-step task? What could be wrong with taking more time to grow up? . In her defense they JUST started really reading. As far as hes concerned he didnt finish kindergarten and he believes this is a short break due to Covid. Rose, my heart breaks for you and your grandson, as it does my grandson. immature or have difficulty acquiring basic academic skills (Mantzicopoulos and Morrison 1992), while upper grade retention is based solely or largely on academic . I emailed his teacher and she responded that he would be advanced to the 1st grade. While your child's teacher may make the suggestion that your child repeat kindergarten, it's up to you, the parent, to make the final decision. There is not anything you can do about that in time to help your current five year old. . My son turned 5 a week before the deadline. "Should Your Child Repeat Kindergarten?" They seem to retain NOTHING from the entire day at school! My son has completely lost his memory of everything he studied or learned. This is a misconception, and one that can be detrimental to the decision-making process. He will be turning 6 in a week here. Published August 17, 2017. Then, for a few years, I taught in a school for behaviorally disordered children. 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. Here is what a teacher does in most classrooms. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. My daughter is able to read, not fluently, C books and am meeting with her teacher to discuss the gift of another year of kindergarten. Kindergarten students spend a great deal of time on their pre-reading and reading skills. Beyond that, though, things can get a bit confusing: Which skills is your child behind on? Holding back where . You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Teachers often have good instincts, but not every teacher is great. Your child only turned 5 in August. Im having the opposite problem. But then again I just cant understand why 1st grade cant help him write his letters perfectly? 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. We work with an OT for sensory issues and a psychologist to assist with ADHD/ODD, parent management training. His teacher is very, very strongly recommending we hold him back. First should we allow him to repeat kindergarten ? Age range. Perhaps students with learning disabilities who repeat kindergarten do better in school than they would have had they not repeated kindergarten. So here in 2020, I find this article. Using a tool called the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale, Jones measured each child's general satisfaction with life as adolescents. - The youngest kids may be slower to develop physically, shorter, and less advanced with sports and other interests. Does he like to look at books? After administering the scale, Jones interviewed 20 of the families to collect more in . . But to be fair, her daughter is "an August baby and the youngest in the class." Rates of development are simply too varied to hang on chronology. I cannot emphasize enough for little the child will care. Where are they? Every answer seems wrong! His school has been lacking in what a student needs to know and work on before end of year. My parents had me repeat 1st grade. It's also important to explain the plan to your child in a positive way, because your attitude will influence his. When a teacher or other education expert recommends repeating kindergarten, it's seldom (if ever) about a single skill your child is behind on. The child is not repeating kindergarten. The real question of course is: should you do it? So now what should you do? Clearly we weren't alone in our worrying. Kindergarten retention totally ignores what we know about child development.Early childhood is a period of very rapid intellectual growth. I would ask for an outside opinion from someone who knows your son and the 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 has an attention issue. She will undoubtedly feel she did something wrong since she cant be with her friends and do what they are doing. 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. Scholastic.com. This will be much easier if you're honest, telling your parents you love to spend time with them but unfortunately doing so at their house is a not negotiable. So we entered him into kindergarten in August 2014. 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. Second do you have any suggestions on how to teach him to blend sounds into words? He has been diagnosed with ASD, is developmentally delayed and has ADHD. If the therapist disagrees, Id show the teacher and demand he be allowed to continue on to first grade while receiving therapies. These test results were always provided in graph format. Read David Elkinds Miseducation and look up the High Scope program. New research suggests repeating elementary school grades even kindergarten is harmful. Can he work with others as a group? I'm glad he isn't going to high school next year. According to 1st grade standards. I did not know these words at 6, nor could I build and create what he does without my help. If the problems are ignored and a repeat becomes necessary 3 or 4 years later, that becomes a difficult experience for a child. in his conversations with me, and he is 5 years old ! We are solely to blame for not having our son attend pre-k as I was uneducated on its value. Does he know how to compromise and adapt? Instead, we got him the occupational therapy that was recommended, and he went on to have a great year in first grade. This, in my opinion could greatly help my son with almost zero downside. These policies typically focus on a student's chronological age when entering kindergarten. In the United States, this also refers to creating laws that set cutoff dates slightly before New Year's in order to "redshirt" children born in the later part of the calendar year (often September to December) for the . Can he run and jump, play catch, bounce a ball, dance? He will just be turning six when school starts and he will have support (TSS worker) and I feel confident that he will excel this year. ended up repeating 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. Trouble with focus: Does the child seem like a space cadet? Following that advice, my parents moved us to a private school that went through 8th grade. 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. But according to organizations such as NAEYC, the National Education Association, and the National Association of School Psychologists, the best option in most cases is to provide specific support to help the student catch up during the remainder of kindergarten, over the summer, and in first grade. Well email you our most helpful stories and resources. Kids develop at different rates, and some need more time than others to gain skills. Why had his teacher not told us earlier that he was having issues so we could have worked more with him on blending or got him more help? Posted on 1/25/23 at 9:54 pm to WhoDatKrewe. I may just decide to revisit the topic and include the study in my piece. She only just turned 5 this month while the other students are all turning 6. I was Also told as a child that i had My 6 year old daughter is in Kindergarten at a private school in NYC. My daughter started Kindergarten this year, and the principal told us in the orientation, that children are expected to read at the the end of K. We are facing the same thing with my grandson the teachers recommended to keep him back but I think he should move to the first grade . Kids who are much younger than grade-level peers and who have a history of struggling academically can benefit from repeating a grade. She will be older when she starts college. It was almost like getting held back twice. Because of COVID, there will be many children who are betwixt and between. This article is not accurate in the standards that are taught and need to be mastered. Keep in mind he was mostly virtual in pre-K during the pandemic and started face to face in December 2020 for kindergarten. etc. They want him to repeat kindergarten. They might burst into tears when something goes wrong or get clingy when they feel insecure like little kids typically do. He has emotional issues, is not matured, does well with younger kids as is, and just has not yet developed emotionally where he should be for his age. 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. He even went to half days because they said he cant handle a full day. I was just going to write the same, today they expect your kid to be fully reading in Kindergarten. As for seeing his friends going on ahead, I sympathize. Helped build confidence. After that a child is reading to learn. Anxietyor shyness: Does it take a long time for the child to warm up to other kids? Repeating a grade, or grade retention, is rarely a good choice for a child who struggles academically, behaviorally, or socially. When my son Sammy started kindergarten, I looked forward to our first parent-teacher conference, imagining all the wonderful things the teacher would say about his interest in history and his precocious verbal skills. Emily you are 100% percent correct! He ended up repeating Kindergarten and is doing great, having just finished 7th grade. This used to be Kinder requirements, now they are prek requirements. 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. Insecurity concerning her classroom authority will certainly compound any immaturity problems, especially with highly active boys.I would lean toward accepting the school's recommendation. So because he is not doing well with blending sounds and he only knew 55 words of 100 on a site word test. Your gut reaction may be to defend your child. The final decision about retention at the kindergarten level is usually up to the parents, but check the policy of your school district. Please note: This "Expert Advice" area of FamilyEducation.com should be used for general information purposes only. "It is up to each district," said Gennie Gorback, president of the California Kindergarten Association, "but I have not heard of any district that is flexible about age requirements for enrollment. I dont think my daughter will handle being held back well. If they arent doing the homework then they arent learning. They might be teased or left out because of their trouble with speech or language. 7y. And while its bad, no point crying over spilled milk. Constantly. . In one study, researchers associated this poor academic performance with repeating kindergarten. WORLD of difference. I was relating to your comments here as well as from other parents with the same concerns. Can he grip a pencil and cut paper with a scissors? "She said that Julia can't read well enough to manage in first grade and that she's immature compared with her classmates, " the mom wrote. Sensory issues: Some kids react strongly to sensory information and may get overwhelmed by things like bright lights. Hi first time mom with a kindergarten 6 year These teachers, trying to put all kids in a peg as either Got it or Did not get it, are unconscionable ! But sometimes immature behavior is a sign that kids are struggling and need more support. The truth is you knew that it might come to this. I sort of understand. I would love to get your opinion concerning my 5 year old grandson. What could be bad about spending more time on these skills before going to first grade? 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 . The teacher say I am setting him up for failure if I dont. There is typically little-to-no social stigma with repeating kindergarten; kids are often all too happy to get to do so. Schools that favor retention ignore the research, which has shown that most children don't catch up when held back. In most states, a child is not considered ready for first grade until he or she can read simple books. If you decide to repeat the grade, remember to discuss it with the person who'll be most affected. Backing up . But all are given time to find their feet in school, and time to succeed. No ! I literally did not care at all as a kid. Child. The hardest part of repeating a grade is dealing with questions about your age. If the speech therapist agrees with the teacher, youll know what 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. Julia Layton 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. Babies are born with immature immune systems. What looks like a tantrum could actually be sensory overload. He is on an IEP for behavior and we have seen great improvement. They went on to read and read and read, but at 5 and 6, could not write a single sentence or read those books I was reading to them that were the simple childhood stories. Sometimes, foreseeing problems, parents simply delay entry into kindergarten, a process known as "redshirting.". Others may show immature behavior in certain settings or at certain times. There is a vast amount of scientific research showing that children do not benefit by being held back in grade school. The first time around first grade was really stressful for him, although we were slow to pick up the clues. She is such an amazing little person. That is all I want. Find out what they notice, and work on ways to help kids develop skills like self-control. I have read all the comments you made about holding a kindergarten back. Time to catch up academically. I suggest you have him evaluated by a speech therapist and see what the speech therapist thinks. I dont agree with keeping him behind, we do homework and practice every night. About spending more time to grow up grade retention, is developmentally delayed and has ADHD therapist and see the... Beyond that, though, things can get a bit confusing: Which is. To collect more in he watches his friends going on ahead, i.. 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