Re: two years of Kindergarten?()

[Guest guest]

,

I totally agree an additional year of preschool is preferable over

repeating kindergarten. However, once you have a child in kdn it is

better to hold them back at the kdn level then have them struggle

every year and learn to hate school. And maybe even then be held

back at a later date.

That being said, I put into kdn knowing he may need to repeat.

He was in the " at risk " preschool program and they wouldn't take him

again because he was 5. Private preschool for 5 days a week is

$4000 around here. To keep him at home didn't make sense because he

doesn't just need to grow up a little. Not addressing his LDs

weren't going to help him.

My children's school has three classes per grade level and odds are

he will not be with his closes friends anyways.

The nice thing about repeating kdn is the children entering do not

know the child is repeating. Sure he will and his old classmates may

figure it out, but it is something they can recover from.

Ideally for your child to " save face " with his peers, it would be

nice to have him switch schools. I know a mother that had to take

her twins out of public to private and then back to public to give

them that extra year they needed. Home schooling is another option.

I was in remedial reading for years. I was pulled out of class in

front of all my friends. It was horrible. Holding me back wasn't so

much an option because I was in advanced math and science classes.

(Go figure) Yet I still felt and was label " stupid " .

I think it is a loose/loose situation. My thought on repeating is

hopefully the stigmatize of being " left behind " may be forgot, but

when you are always getting services, " resources " as some school call

it, then your friends have that constant reminder you need extra

help. And I don't care that they don't call it " Special Ed " every

child knows what it means. They can change the name but it doesn't

change the label you are given by friends.

I do find the study you reference interesting but also looking at the

reason are the first two listed

· The underlying developmental problems of the two groups may

differ.

· The two groups may have different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Economically I couldn't pay for private preschool. I am a SAHM but

if I was a single mother I wouldn't have the same time to research

different options.

Fortunately for my children I know I have no real talent to offer

them. (No real art skill, no musical skills, I'm not eloquent with

speak, oh I could go on & on- ha ha) But what I do have is a pit-bull

endurance to fight for what they need. I may say something stupid

and ask the wrong question, but hey I have been embarrassed my whole

life So I will not let that hold me back at helping my children.

Plus has a true LD and not just immature so he still may

struggle next year even if he repeats.

I don't know what I am going to do with next year. I do know

that for us starting kdn was the right thing to do. I prayed on it

and I do think this is the path God intended for him. I will

continue to pray on if he should repeat or go on. I don't know

yet. God has told me to wait. I know all prayers are answered

either " yes, no or wait " So I am waiting for the Yes or No part.

Oh and I have to tell you that even though we are not in total

agreement on this one. I LOVE your knowledge and totally respect

your opinion. Plus I have to tell you I often have learned more from

people I have disagreed with then from people I do agree with.

God Bless,

Heidi

> Hi Heidi,

>

> You are right -I don't remember anyone I went to preschool. On the

other hand

> two of my friends from kindergarten (and I wasn't there much since

I

> was in the hospital so much) are still best friends of mine that

> when I see -nothing is changed. I love them -they are my link from

> being a little girl -to a teen -to getting married -to being a

mom.

> We grew up together.

>

> Unlike preschool -which not one of those children ended up in the

> same school -all of the kids Dakota and Tanner went to kindergarten

> with -as a group went on to first grade together -etc. Perhaps we

were

> different in that we were very involved with the school -and the

> other families -and Dakota and Tanner became really good friends

> with some others. Since we've moved -Dakota and some of his

friends

> from NJ are still " best friends " that now only see each other once

> in a while and mostly just talk on the phone -but still close.

>

> From what I read however -once you start a child -holding them back

> is not a good thing. Of course those you know may be different

than

> what research (and I) have found. Some people like I say -need to

> learn the hard way. And I can tell you for a fact that whether a

> child is able to say it or not -staying back when all your friends

> move on is not good. Children who have parents that delay entry

> I've just read do better than those who have to stay back and

> repeat. Why? Funny I didn't read this till now but look at just

these two

> possible reasons:

>

> Parents who choose to delay their children's school entry may have

a

> higher level of awareness and involvement.

>

> The stigmatizing effect of being required to repeat a grade may

harm

> children's academic progress.

>

> May want to read this and argue with the research -I'm only stating

> what I found -and I stick to it. I'll even go as far as saying now

> in almost all cases -don't start a child with apraxia, motor

> planning delays, DSI, and any other delays in kindergarten at 5 -

> start them at 6. (especially without a doubt for those of you with

> children like mine with summer birthdays!!!)

>

> " Research Link / When Children Aren't Ready for Kindergarten

>

> H. Holloway

>

> How can schools promote the achievement of children who are old

> enough to enroll in kindergarten but who are not developmentally

> ready to succeed? Two approaches that parents and schools commonly

> use are delaying the child's entry into kindergarten and retaining

> the child in kindergarten for an extra year.

>

> Giving children an extra year, whether through delayed entry or

> kindergarten retention, makes sense in view of the ample research

> suggesting that the youngest children tend to lag behind their

> classmates. West, Denton, and Reaney (2000) found that in the

spring

> of their kindergarten year, younger children had lower reading and

> mathematics knowledge and skills on average than did their older

> counterparts. These researchers also found that older

kindergartners

> were more likely to persist at tasks, more eager to learn, and

> better able to pay attention.

>

> Delayed Entry Versus Kindergarten Retention

> To avoid the disadvantage suffered by younger students, some

parents

> choose to delay the entry of their children into kindergarten.

Zill,

> Loomis, and West (1997) found that children whose kindergarten

entry

> was delayed so that they started kindergarten when they were older

> performed better than their younger classmates in grades 1 and 2.

> These researchers concluded that the extra year before starting

> kindergarten does not harm the children who are held out and may

> help most of them.

>

> In contrast, the researchers discovered that children who repeated

> kindergarten were doing worse than their younger classmates on most

> school performance indicators by 1st or 2nd grade. For instance,

two-

> thirds of the retained students had received some negative feedback

> from teachers compared with less than half of the nonretained

> students. The retained students were also much more likely to have

> problems concentrating, to perform below their capabilities, and to

> act up and disrupt the class. Zill, Loomis, and West concluded that

> repeating kindergarten had not helped those children and may have

> actually made matters worse.

>

> Reasons for the Differences

> What explains the difference between the school performance of

> delayed-entry children and those who repeat kindergarten? Both

> groups of students are older than most of their classmates, so why

> don't the beneficial effects of being older apply to both groups?

> Some possible answers are that

>

> The underlying developmental problems of the two groups may differ.

>

> The two groups may have different socioeconomic backgrounds.

>

> Parents who choose to delay their children's school entry may have

a

> higher level of awareness and involvement.

>

> The stigmatizing effect of being required to repeat a grade may

harm

> children's academic progress.

>

> (read full article)

> http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_lead/200304/holloway.html

>

> (go with your gut ....after you research all the research)

> (and print out the above link to bring to the IEP)

>

> =====

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Heidi!

I agree that it's best to talk about these things. It does appear

we are all in agreement in that if a child is ready in all areas at

five -start then. If a child is not, or you are not sure -another

year of appropriate multisensory preschool would be better than

having them repeat kindergarten.

We also have to do a big time job of raising awareness about the

child's rights to out of district placement, therapies -etc. When

your school told you they " wouldn't pay " for another year of preschool -

that's the type of thing to ask for in writing. And don't hold your

breath waiting to see it. Simply put -they twisted the truth by leaving out the

end of the sentence. " We wouldn't pay for another year of preschool " (...unless

you back us up against the wall and force us to)

Also Heidi... you don't have to be an artist or a chef or a singer etc. to

be the most awesome teacher your child will 'ever' have -your his

one and only mom -and just being with you he will learn things from

you that he will share with others in the future for the rest of his

life. You can sign your child up for karate, singing, dance, art,

math, etc with experts -and yes all of that takes money. But as

American Express says -your love and belief in him as 'the' most

special and unique little person in the whole wide world...priceless.

=====