Repeating Kindergarten..

[Hopeful7899]

My son is in his second week of 1st grade. He has mentioned he is the last to finish things, and hates school because it is so long. I also believe he is not doing well friends wise, but that is another issue. Is it too late to put him back in Kindergarten? His birthday is July, so he already is the youngest in class. In my opinion, last year for his kindergarten was a joke. The majority of it online and he refused to do the work. Not sure if him having speech articulation problems is worth mentioning... but he does. He is already on an IEP but never tested in other areas because of COVID. Any suggestions would be appreciated.. thank you!

[Maryca1974]

I’m a school slp and I need to say: Many of our first graders are acting like kindergartners this year. It’s week 2. Teachers are working in establishing routines and seeing where kids are. Many are finding it hard to sit for instruction all day. Many are struggling with paper pencil tasks. I wouldn’t jump the gun with repeating a grade, but I’m also not a fan of repeating grades, period. It ends up messing with their self-esteem. How bad are his speech issues? If he doesn’t speak clearly, it’s likely going to affect his reading/spelling. Focus on partnering with your slp/special Ed team and see if he progresses better in person. If not, then get on them to do additional testing. In our county, we have a big backlog. If he’s too far down on the list, consider getting it done privately (health insurance sometimes pays for this). Then you can submit the report and they’ll amend the IEP accordingly.

Covid has really made special education difficult but I’m hopeful we’ll get back to the teaching that helps our kids make progress!

[Pipu]

Hi! My son has ADHD, had speech delay since 2 and his bday is also July. So we did Kinder twice so he could be the oldest one forever in classroom and feel better about his progress. We also did it in a Montessori environment so it was easier, as all kids work at their own pace. Always hand by hand with the teacher and his Dr. I do think that repeating Kinder is the time to do it, and in our case it went well. He is now in 3rd and doing good. We recommend it. They’ll be happier to feel they can do things as their friends, or many times even better, not competition wise, but moral wise. We have a DRC established for years, updating goals and prizes, and we can help him stay on track. Good luck!! ❤️

[Kikiii in reply to Pipu]

I think it depends on each individual child as to whether they should repeat a grade. My daughter also has a July birthday and I put her in first grade this year. She came from a Montessori background (from 18 months till this year), and she’s three levels behind in her reading. We didn’t find this out until we were already three weeks into this school year. We started school on August 2 and she has settled in. We have her working with an EIP teacher to improve her reading level and I am working with her on site words every single day as part of our homework. That being said, in every other area she is on or above target. The teacher says that she is one of her best students and is engaged in class and raises her hand to answer questions all the time. I did have a meeting with the teacher and guidance counselor to discuss the best placement for her. I would recommend setting up one of those meetings for your son. Does he maybe need accommodations in the classroom? Does he maybe need an EIP teacher for language and reading? Our school does some thing that is called an RTI. Response to intervention. Because of my daughters reading we have put her on an RTI level two for her reading. There are four RTI levels. These levels can also work with behavior issues. If for some reason the RTI levels don’t work then the next step is the 504 accommodations. I know you said you have some of these in place and IEP for your son but are there different types of accommodations that need to be put in place? The last thing that I will say is that my daughter takes time to adjust to new things. Even more so than the neuro typical child does. And while I would prefer my child not to repeat a grade if she needs to then she will. I myself with ADHD repeated first grade and went through it twice. It wasn’t the end of the world for me. Hope this helps!

[Hopeful7899 in reply to Pipu]

Thank you very much for sharing. This helped me a lot

[katcald]

My son’s birthday is late July. He was in preschool until age 5 when we put him in the public school where he repeated Pre-K. He is now in 8th grade and while the oldest in the class probably one of the most immature (and middle of the road grade wise)

I agree it depends on the individual child, but in our case, it js the best thing we ever did for him.

[Onthemove1971]

I know this is a very hard choice, but there is so much to learning and being behind. We just started on-line tutoring after the school district not offering him anything . Our son and I believe many children with ADHD need time to process things and often have a different person explain things to them. Our son is a Sept. baby and is young for his age, but to be honest I could not imagine him a whole year young in school. He already has a job and play completive sports. I know my husband would have liked him to start 1 year later. He is so much more focused on sports than academic. But he knows to get into a good sports school he has to do good in school.

I know I am not answering your question. But wanted to share our experience.

Good luck.

[Hopeful7899 in reply to Onthemove1971]

I appreciate you sharing !! Thank you.

[JJMom16]

I would have him repeat, especially given a summer birthday. You know your child best!

We are repeating pre-k for our son, and it has made a massive difference in his confidence levels. He interacts better with his peers. He is now a leader in his class. He went from being the second youngest boy to the second oldest.

I was against the idea at first (he is academically very strong and knew all of his letters, some sight words, and addition), but we are already seeing the benefits with his social skills and confidence levels.

There is no perfect solution, but if you think it will help, you should trust your gut.

[Marissabelle]

My son did a bonus year of Kindergarten because he was the youngest in his class. He has ADHD - Combined type. For elementary school, it may be more important to focus on the social and maturity aspects than the academic aspects.