Re: HELP... Extra Year of Peschool

[Guest guest]

My son Ethan is 4 and this is his second year in the school preschool program.

We have gone from a completely non-verbal child last year to one who is trying

to say new things everyday now. His speech is becoming more and more

intelligible with the help of preschool and extra therapy both there and

privately.

Hope that helps.

Humphreys

Illinois

[Guest guest]

We're in the same boat! My son will be 5 in Aug and I've already

told his teacher that I will not be sending him to kindergarten next

fall. He agrees with my assessment too -- emotionally immature, his

speech tests at about 18 months behind, etc. The problem is that I

don't think the school district preschool classroom would be the

right fit for him next year either. I'm considering a private Pre-K

($$$) but the lack of bus service is more of a deterrent than the

$$. I have the support for holding him out -- but the classroom

within the school district is almost all non-verbal kids -- similar

to this year, and I don't think it will be appropriate. I meet with

them for his IEP in another month -- I plan on really trying to pin

them down on what type of situation would be developmentally

appropriate for him.

>

> My school district wants a study showing that apraxic children who

spend

> an extra year in preschool will do better in the long run. My son

is

> very verbal but 95 - 100 percent unintelligible. We are getting

him a

> communication device (a vantage) by the end of this school year. I

am

> looking for your personal stories or any insight on keeping your

apraxic

> children back in preschool. I think only 2 children have managed to

> stay in preschool an extra year in the past 3 years. The school

system

> really fights to move children along in Massachusetts.

>

> My district has a transitional kindergarten which sounds great in

> theory; although most of the kids are low cognitively or still

learning

> English. There would be no great language models in the class for

my

> son.

>

> My reasoning:

> 1. Socially he is very immature

> 2. People have said it will take him about 1 year to learn the

device

> 3. He has fine motor delays which would make learning to write

> difficult right now

> 4. It would give him an extra year to improve his speech to

improve.

>

> Thanks for your time

>

[Guest guest]

My son Ethan is 4 and this is his second year in the school preschool program.

We have gone from a completely non-verbal child last year to one who is trying

to say new things everyday now. His speech is becoming more and more

intelligible with the help of preschool and extra therapy both there and

privately.

Hope that helps.

Humphreys

Illinois

[Guest guest]

We're in the same boat! My son will be 5 in Aug and I've already

told his teacher that I will not be sending him to kindergarten next

fall. He agrees with my assessment too -- emotionally immature, his

speech tests at about 18 months behind, etc. The problem is that I

don't think the school district preschool classroom would be the

right fit for him next year either. I'm considering a private Pre-K

($$$) but the lack of bus service is more of a deterrent than the

$$. I have the support for holding him out -- but the classroom

within the school district is almost all non-verbal kids -- similar

to this year, and I don't think it will be appropriate. I meet with

them for his IEP in another month -- I plan on really trying to pin

them down on what type of situation would be developmentally

appropriate for him.

>

> My school district wants a study showing that apraxic children who

spend

> an extra year in preschool will do better in the long run. My son

is

> very verbal but 95 - 100 percent unintelligible. We are getting

him a

> communication device (a vantage) by the end of this school year. I

am

> looking for your personal stories or any insight on keeping your

apraxic

> children back in preschool. I think only 2 children have managed to

> stay in preschool an extra year in the past 3 years. The school

system

> really fights to move children along in Massachusetts.

>

> My district has a transitional kindergarten which sounds great in

> theory; although most of the kids are low cognitively or still

learning

> English. There would be no great language models in the class for

my

> son.

>

> My reasoning:

> 1. Socially he is very immature

> 2. People have said it will take him about 1 year to learn the

device

> 3. He has fine motor delays which would make learning to write

> difficult right now

> 4. It would give him an extra year to improve his speech to

improve.

>

> Thanks for your time

>

[Guest guest]

I see your reasons for delaying kindergarten, what is the schools

reasons for accepting your child in kindergarten? Are they only

looking at his birthday and finding an appropriate classroom for

him? If so, have you evaluated that classroom with the teacher and

students? My suggestion is to go with your gut. You know your

child the best and the school has only spent a fraction of time with

your child, so who knows the appropriate placement?

He may be age appropriate based on his birthday, but where is he

based on his emotional and social scale? My son started regular

preschool at the age of 4, but was enrolled in the 3 year old

program. He continued the disabled preschool program (4 year olds)

in the school district so that he could get services. It worked out

very well for him, but the school district did not like the fact

that he did not come 5 days a week. I could only get him there 3x a

week, because the other 2 days he was in his regular preschool with

peers who matched his emotional and social IQ.

I would also look into the local universities who offer a preschool

program for the speech and auditory labs that the college students

utilize. I found the more therapy I could give my son, the more

prepared he would be to attend school in kindergarten or first grade.

What are your goals for your child? Keep it simple and work one day

at a time to reach them. It can be done without the school district

pressuring you to enroll him when he is not quite ready for

kindergarten. When my son turned 5, I had them right up his PLAN,

but I told them that he would not be going to their district and I

would be homeschooling him, but that I still needed the services.

Could we work something out where I would bring him just for his

therapy sessions? They agreed, but I also needed to rearrange my

work schedule so that I could be available to transport him. I

figured my sacrifices would benefit him in the long run, becasue my

speech therapist said early intervention is the key, and the more

you do at a younger age the better the prognosis. Just don't

overwhelm your child with so much therapy that he is agitated. Too

much of a good thing is not good either.

All the best,

Joanne

[Guest guest]

I am about to have the same fight with my school district for my daughter I am

researching all I can and getting ready for a big fight b/c it won't be easy you

basically need to learn everything you can about your school district and act

like you are a lawyer going into a courtroom. There is this organization called

parent to parent

P2PUSA.ORG find your local office and ask for their educational advocates plead

your case and get them to help. I am fighting NY schoolboard and I plan to win.

Remember It will be hard but you can do it.

Pronovost <cscz@...> wrote: My school district wants

a study showing that apraxic children who spend

an extra year in preschool will do better in the long run. My son is

very verbal but 95 - 100 percent unintelligible. We are getting him a

communication device (a vantage) by the end of this school year. I am

looking for your personal stories or any insight on keeping your apraxic

children back in preschool. I think only 2 children have managed to

stay in preschool an extra year in the past 3 years. The school system

really fights to move children along in Massachusetts.

My district has a transitional kindergarten which sounds great in

theory; although most of the kids are low cognitively or still learning

English. There would be no great language models in the class for my

son.

My reasoning:

1. Socially he is very immature

2. People have said it will take him about 1 year to learn the device

3. He has fine motor delays which would make learning to write

difficult right now

4. It would give him an extra year to improve his speech to improve.

Thanks for your time

---------------------------------

Sponsored Link

Talk more and pay less. Vonage can save you up to $300 a year on your phone

bill. Sign up now.

[Guest guest]

I see your reasons for delaying kindergarten, what is the schools

reasons for accepting your child in kindergarten? Are they only

looking at his birthday and finding an appropriate classroom for

him? If so, have you evaluated that classroom with the teacher and

students? My suggestion is to go with your gut. You know your

child the best and the school has only spent a fraction of time with

your child, so who knows the appropriate placement?

He may be age appropriate based on his birthday, but where is he

based on his emotional and social scale? My son started regular

preschool at the age of 4, but was enrolled in the 3 year old

program. He continued the disabled preschool program (4 year olds)

in the school district so that he could get services. It worked out

very well for him, but the school district did not like the fact

that he did not come 5 days a week. I could only get him there 3x a

week, because the other 2 days he was in his regular preschool with

peers who matched his emotional and social IQ.

I would also look into the local universities who offer a preschool

program for the speech and auditory labs that the college students

utilize. I found the more therapy I could give my son, the more

prepared he would be to attend school in kindergarten or first grade.

What are your goals for your child? Keep it simple and work one day

at a time to reach them. It can be done without the school district

pressuring you to enroll him when he is not quite ready for

kindergarten. When my son turned 5, I had them right up his PLAN,

but I told them that he would not be going to their district and I

would be homeschooling him, but that I still needed the services.

Could we work something out where I would bring him just for his

therapy sessions? They agreed, but I also needed to rearrange my

work schedule so that I could be available to transport him. I

figured my sacrifices would benefit him in the long run, becasue my

speech therapist said early intervention is the key, and the more

you do at a younger age the better the prognosis. Just don't

overwhelm your child with so much therapy that he is agitated. Too

much of a good thing is not good either.

All the best,

Joanne

[Guest guest]

We are currently doing an extra year of preschool and I feel like it's the BEST

decision we could have made! He was in a special ed preschool for 2 years and

is now in a typical preschool. His teachers have been telling me how well he's

doing. He absolutely loves it. I was looking into schools for him for next

year and he found out and cried. He though I was pulling him out of preschool

this year!

He is closer to the size of his peers. His speech is more on target with the

other kids. He also has a special ed teacher come in for 1/2 hour a week and

gets speech for 1/2 hour a week through the school system. We don't have the

best services but we were still able to get him some services for an extra year

through the public school preschool services even though we didn't send him to

K. It's worth asking around about.

He was definitely too advanced to stay in the special ed preschool for another

year. I really think a year of private preschool will make a huge difference.

Hope this helps!

Amy D

[ ] Re: HELP... Extra Year of Peschool

We're in the same boat! My son will be 5 in Aug and I've already

told his teacher that I will not be sending him to kindergarten next

fall. He agrees with my assessment too -- emotionally immature, his

speech tests at about 18 months behind, etc. The problem is that I

don't think the school district preschool classroom would be the

right fit for him next year either. I'm considering a private Pre-K

($$$) but the lack of bus service is more of a deterrent than the

$$. I have the support for holding him out -- but the classroom

within the school district is almost all non-verbal kids -- similar

to this year, and I don't think it will be appropriate. I meet with

them for his IEP in another month -- I plan on really trying to pin

them down on what type of situation would be developmentally

appropriate for him.

[Guest guest]

I am about to have the same fight with my school district for my daughter I am

researching all I can and getting ready for a big fight b/c it won't be easy you

basically need to learn everything you can about your school district and act

like you are a lawyer going into a courtroom. There is this organization called

parent to parent

P2PUSA.ORG find your local office and ask for their educational advocates plead

your case and get them to help. I am fighting NY schoolboard and I plan to win.

Remember It will be hard but you can do it.

Pronovost <cscz@...> wrote: My school district wants

a study showing that apraxic children who spend

an extra year in preschool will do better in the long run. My son is

very verbal but 95 - 100 percent unintelligible. We are getting him a

communication device (a vantage) by the end of this school year. I am

looking for your personal stories or any insight on keeping your apraxic

children back in preschool. I think only 2 children have managed to

stay in preschool an extra year in the past 3 years. The school system

really fights to move children along in Massachusetts.

My district has a transitional kindergarten which sounds great in

theory; although most of the kids are low cognitively or still learning

English. There would be no great language models in the class for my

son.

My reasoning:

1. Socially he is very immature

2. People have said it will take him about 1 year to learn the device

3. He has fine motor delays which would make learning to write

difficult right now

4. It would give him an extra year to improve his speech to improve.

Thanks for your time

---------------------------------

Sponsored Link

Talk more and pay less. Vonage can save you up to $300 a year on your phone

bill. Sign up now.

[Guest guest]

We are currently doing an extra year of preschool and I feel like it's the BEST

decision we could have made! He was in a special ed preschool for 2 years and

is now in a typical preschool. His teachers have been telling me how well he's

doing. He absolutely loves it. I was looking into schools for him for next

year and he found out and cried. He though I was pulling him out of preschool

this year!

He is closer to the size of his peers. His speech is more on target with the

other kids. He also has a special ed teacher come in for 1/2 hour a week and

gets speech for 1/2 hour a week through the school system. We don't have the

best services but we were still able to get him some services for an extra year

through the public school preschool services even though we didn't send him to

K. It's worth asking around about.

He was definitely too advanced to stay in the special ed preschool for another

year. I really think a year of private preschool will make a huge difference.

Hope this helps!

Amy D

[ ] Re: HELP... Extra Year of Peschool

We're in the same boat! My son will be 5 in Aug and I've already

told his teacher that I will not be sending him to kindergarten next

fall. He agrees with my assessment too -- emotionally immature, his

speech tests at about 18 months behind, etc. The problem is that I

don't think the school district preschool classroom would be the

right fit for him next year either. I'm considering a private Pre-K

($$$) but the lack of bus service is more of a deterrent than the

$$. I have the support for holding him out -- but the classroom

within the school district is almost all non-verbal kids -- similar

to this year, and I don't think it will be appropriate. I meet with

them for his IEP in another month -- I plan on really trying to pin

them down on what type of situation would be developmentally

appropriate for him.