Ive seen the damage done to countless students by the change, and much joy and celebration robbed from early education. If they arent reading, it isnt even a question that they remain in kindergarten. In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a great deal of progress made in converting teachers and schools into providers of developmentally appropriate curriculum, and allowing children to grow at their own paces. 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. If a "growth year" is called for because of immaturity, and you choose to ignore the recommendation and move him into first grade at another school, there is significant likelihood that he will be . They are reading sentences and books. I think it will scar him to be kept back. You've asked a tough question. I have an almost 6 year old. Students are required to not only know ALL letters and sounds but all sight words by mid year. We were also told that having him repeat kindergarten would be devastating for him. Once I got to middle school I started to notice that all the other kids looked really little. I would love to get your opinion concerning my 5 year old grandson. My parents told me that I would be repeating and moved me to a different school and that it was to give me extra help. The work done at home, or not done at home, will place all children behind where they would have been socially and academically. That said, its important to note that learning disabilities may not even be diagnosed until the child goes to grade school. So, if a child's birthday falls into dates . Have you thought about holding your child back from first grade? In one study, researchers associated this poor academic performance with repeating kindergarten. 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. I sort of understand. 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You need to reassess. Clearly we weren't alone in our worrying. 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. 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. "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. This may or may not be related to your child's actual age. . And those possible downsides are significant, too. A school psychologist should do a battery of tests to determine why a student isn't progressing. Repeating a grade, or grade retention, is rarely a good choice for a child who struggles academically, behaviorally, or socially. 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. If the problems are ignored and a repeat becomes necessary 3 or 4 years later, that becomes a difficult experience for a child. "Should Your Child Repeat Kindergarten?" Shes says thats whats holding him back the fact hes not writing like he should. Has a teacher recommended that your child repeat kindergarten? Check on the child's life situation. What am I supposed to do though? 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. His academics are really good. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently carried a story Kindergartners "Redshirted" to Gain Edge, in which Harvard researchers suggest that red shirting (1) increases the potential for high school drop outs and (2) threatens depressed lifetime earnings because the student's entry into the labor market is . The study found that delayed entry was most common for . Please note: This "Expert Advice" area of FamilyEducation.com should be used for general information purposes only. Our son barely showed up on it. Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Blend Images/Ariel Skelley/the Agency Collection/. Will your child benefit from being held back? An estimated 5 percent of kindergarteners spend a second year in the class [source: Mlyniec]. It can be a better fit emotionally and age-wise. I've done a lot of research and it's the general consensus that grade repetition isn't the way to go. I was continuously told what an eager happy angel we had, however he never progressed to the standard. Hyperactivity, trouble with focus, and not getting enough sleep can be factors. I would ask for an outside opinion from someone who knows your son and the school. 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. Andrew mined two large data sets in a way no researcher has done before and concludes that kids who repeat a year between kindergarten and fifth grade are 60 percent less likely to graduate high school than kids with similar backgrounds, and even . At this stage, children have passed through toddlerhood and are more mature, socially aware, and willing to interact with peers. Repeating a grade increases the risk. https://today.tamu.edu/2018/03/27/14-year-study-holding-students-back-in-grade-school-hurts-their-chances-of-graduating/. His kindergarten teacher wants to keep him back next year. Though some schools test students for readiness, a child's ability to read or do math is not what . There is a vast amount of scientific research showing that children do not benefit by being held back in grade school. Kindergarten starts around age 5 for a reason. Is this a public or private school? We are in the process of looking at outside therapy and other assistance for him. 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. He cannot follow directions consistently enough and other kids are not being nice to him because he is more immature. immature or have difficulty acquiring basic academic skills (Mantzicopoulos and Morrison 1992), while upper grade retention is based solely or largely on academic . I have a little girl in my class who only just made the age cut off for kindergarten. This situation is a fairly common scenario. He cries often, and doesnt follow directions very well, but loves to look at picture books and make up funny rhymes. Not anymore. I think she meant years old not month old., my son is 6 year old the teacher told me he has to repeat kindergarten because he dont want to do his classwork and he does not follow directions what should i do plz help me. As far as hes concerned he didnt finish kindergarten and he believes this is a short break due to Covid. Studies have shown that by the time they enter middle school, kids who repeated kindergarten are more likely to get into trouble, dislike school, and feel bad about themselves. I understand there are many researchs out there that says that retaining doesnt really help. What could be wrong with taking more time to grow up? But when a child often acts immaturely compared to other kids the same age, you may wonder whats going on. You dont really have a fallback plan. He is on an IEP for behavior and we have seen great improvement. Well email you our most helpful stories and resources. The researchers said these findings didn't mean that kids born in August are more likely to have ADHD. 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. As she teaches she "shoots" for the middle and hopes to draw in as many low and as many high students as she can. Parents can ask to see examples of their child's work compared to the work of other children of the same age. 7. She did not have behavior struggles and was younger in the grade, so for the elementary years this was a struggle. Q: Even though he had an early August birthday, we started our son in kindergarten at a private Christian school. Holding back where . Was he uninterested or just bored? Knowing why kids act immaturely or young for their age lets you offer the best support. My son has completely lost his memory of everything he studied or learned. Babies are born with immature immune systems. She explained that he was frustrated by and uninterested in just about everything the class did a red flag that something was amiss. Another factor to consider is whether your child is as emotionally developed as his or her peers. 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. . During first year, was one of the youngest in the class. I had 2 children held back and come to find out BOTH have dyslexia. On the positive side, keeping your child in kindergarten for another year certainly reduces the likelihood he or she will begin first grade in a rough spot that could lead to long-term academic and social insecurity. Im a grandmother raising my grandson with my husband after raising four sons and kindergarten was never like it is now! I could use advice information and anything that could help us!! She has fine motor and minor speech issues and is receiving OT help. 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. These policies typically focus on a student's chronological age when entering kindergarten. I was keep back in school and I hate it to this day. The final decision about retention at the kindergarten level is usually up to the parents, but check the policy of your school district. Your child may not mind this as much as you think. Faced with this revelation, it can seem someone is questioning your child's mental acuity. Take a closer look at the immature behavior and see if you pick up on patterns. Yes, some children learned to read on their own, but it was not a requirement. Find out what they notice, and work on ways to help kids develop skills like self-control. Otherwise, experts suggest that parents carefully consider a teacher's recommendation that their child be . Ask yourself these questions: Lets imagine that you have a child you werent really sure was ready for kindergarten. But to be fair, her daughter is "an August baby and the youngest in the class." This is a misconception, and one that can be detrimental to the decision-making process. We found we had good results at home. The teacher has let him build legos, blocks pretty much all year. We would re-run tests he had failed and realized there was a social issue to the testing he must of struggled with. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Learning Site, The eLearning Site, and Internet4Classrooms. Some kids act younger than their peers because they are younger than most kids in the grade. We reluctantly decided to hold him back but I stayed up half the night researching and sent an email to the principal this morning about our struggle. As a result, the repeating-kindergarten phenomenon has become relatively commonplace. (June 5, 2012). What if I want my child to repeat kindergarten but the school wont allow it because of the mo child left behind? Joined Jan 1, 2006. 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. Data showed that the September-born children were 2.1 percent more likely to attend college compared to their August-born classmates. This is by far the hardest decision Ive ever made. There is something schools could do, though you are more likely to find a willingness to do it in a private or parochial school. 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. Varda Meyers Epstein serves as editor in chief of Kars4Kids Parenting. I am being sent home a retention letter Tuesday. Thirty of these families had chosen to redshirt their sons back in kindergarten, and 25 opted not to. Thread starter katie111; Start date May 30, 2013; K. katie111 DIS Veteran. Emily you are 100% percent correct! . Some children would benefit from repeating kindergarten. It's about whether he or she is ready to make the jump to first grade. So I can see this both ways. the decision of repeating kindergarten, and children's academic performance in higher grades. In any event, why not have him evaluated? Better fit emotionally and age-wise im a grandmother raising my grandson with my after... A red flag that something was amiss kindergarten, and not getting enough sleep can be factors could... 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