Kindergarten testing, WWYD?

My dd had her K testing this week. (The cutoff is Dec. 1st here and her bday is 8/25, so she qualifies to go.)

She did all the testing and then the lady spoke with me. Her cognitive and social skills are low. She thinks it might be processing issues. She said another year to mature might be good and if I kept her back and put her into a ft prek that was comprehensive, she might benefit.

I am torn as to what to do. She is very quiet around kids her own age, adults she's fine with.
She can write her name, backwards, but she can write it!

She has gotten speech therapy since aged 3 and that would continue if she went onto K or not.

Problem is, she's all set to go. It's all she talks about. Going to the big school with her brothers.
Also, I am a sahm and those prek's are out of our budget. She went to prek this year, 3 days a week for 2.5hrs.

Is there anyway she could catch up by Sept?

I am having nightmares about all this!?

Help!

it is a big decision, one that I have struggled with as well since Jason is so close to the cut off.....

I think if I were in your situation and the teacher said that your child would benefit from another year of pre-k, I'd hold her back another year.

good lcuk in whatever you decide

It is such a tough decision. We sent our son at 4 (10/24 birthday) despite his being immature because his academics were on par, and he repeated K due to his immaturity. Now he is one of the oldest in the class but it was the right decision for him as his academics are now higher than average (he was average at the end of his first K). He still has some trouble sitting still, but then a lot of kids do.

I think if they are going to be "held back" then it is best to do it as early as possible. They can always be pushed ahead if that is appropriate without any social issues, KWIM? But that is just my opinion and I am not an educator. We are going to face this same issue with my daughter (11/12 birthdate).

As a side note, the kids don't seem to notice who is older and younger, they just put themselves at the same grade level. Even the kids who were in Jake's first K have never given him any issues about repeating. He now has friends in both grades.

Does your school district have any programs for them? Ours started what they call Developmental K (for the kids like Jake) but it started the year he went to K for the second time. There is no charge for the program here.

I wish you peace in your decision.

We have no programs, wish we did. It's just K.

I wonder though, if she's a shy kid, holding her back a year won't make a difference imho. I was a Jan. baby and was so shy and quiet thru school. Holding me back was never considered and I was the oldest in my class. It's just who I was and dd is alot like me. So I was the oldest and still struggled with shyness.

Some are telling me to just put her in and the school can give her the help she needs and if she needs to be repeat K, then so be it.

But, I've read repeating a grade can be detrimental to a kid's self esteem.

I do have till Sept. to decide so who knows how much she'll change.

Last June, she wouldn't separate from me and by Sept. she was in the prek door and telling me to go home!

My daughter did this, too! Perfect mirrior image, backwards. She just started writing it forwards one day. She was a lefty. I always wondered if it was related to that.

Although K testing isn't the whereall and whatall of cognitive testing, it does provide parents with some framework to make the decision. It sounds as though with the speech, shyness and possible processing stuff she could benefit from an extra year at home. I know in our district "red shirting" is a fairly common practice because of the new demands now placed on Kindergarteners even for kids who meet the age deadline. How do you feel her skills are when compared with others her age? What does her preschool teacher say?

Also I guess you'd have to judge which might be harder for her~not starting now or making friends, settling in and possibly repeating the grade. For O, I think the older she gets, the more she is aware of "failure" and I would have had to give that weight as well in a decision.

Either way, you might ask either you Ped or your speech therapist for a recommendation to a good occupational therapist for the processing stuff. It would be great to get her on her way with that if you are dealing with processing issues.

Good luck in your decision.

My daughter did this, too! Perfect mirrior image, backwards. She just started writing it forwards one day. She was a lefty. I always wondered if it was related to that.

Although K testing isn't the whereall and whatall of cognitive testing, it does provide parents with some framework to make the decision. It sounds as though with the speech, shyness and possible processing stuff she could benefit from an extra year at home. I know in our district "red shirting" is a fairly common practice because of the new demands now placed on Kindergarteners even for kids who meet the age deadline. How do you feel her skills are when compared with others her age? What does her preschool teacher say?

Also I guess you'd have to judge which might be harder for her~not starting now or making friends, settling in and possibly repeating the grade. For O, I think the older she gets, the more she is aware of "failure" and I would have had to give that weight as well in a decision.

Either way, you might ask either you Ped or your speech therapist for a recommendation to a good occupational therapist for the processing stuff. It would be great to get her on her way with that if you are dealing with processing issues.

Good luck in your decision.

Actually her prek teacher said to hold her back too. She said it was not based on her speech, it was more of a social issue. But, I figured that was because she was the youngest in her class by 6mths. Most of the kids turned 5 in the late fall, and winter. She's still not even 5 yet.

I'll have to look into OT for the processing. Never thought of that, thanks! My 7year old is diagnosed with CAPD, central auditory processing disorder. I mentioned this to the woman I spoke to and she shrugged it off. I don't think she has that though, but it's still along the processing lines.
I knew my son had that before he was 3! My dd doesn't have that. She just has memory problems and problems with word retrieval.

My other option is to put her into parochial school. That's were she did prek and their K program is actually less demanding then public school. They work more on letters and sounds, the basics whereas the public school has them starting to read sight words. Correct spelling and letter sounds come at the end of K in public school. That I don't care for. Parochial school does it the 'old fashioned way'.

As for comparing her to other kids, most moms tell me she is very mature for her age. One of them thought she was going to be 6! Her dd turned 5 in January.
She isn't a whiny 4 year old. She is very well behaved. She is an angel, imho.
And I have 2 boys who were not angels.

This post has been edited by julesmom on Jun 27 2007, 05:09 AM

In the same boat here with a November baby in a Dec. 1 cutoff state. Daniel's been admitted to a school with combined grades, so we're going to take the leap. He has areas where he's totally ready and others where he's clearly got some growing to do to be on a par with the other kids. However, I know quite a few people who are holding their fall babies back and doing "young fives" preschool---a third year in which they focus on Kindy readiness. I'm in the minority in sending Daniel at age 4. Most of the people are doing this for social and maturity issues, not academic issues. In a traditional school, I'd be more worried about our choice. In your shoes, I might choose the parochial school you mentioned.

To be honest, and this is just MY opinion, but I do not understand why some districts have such a late cut off date. Anything after September just seems way too late to me. I can't imagine having a 4 year old in Kindergarten with a Dec. b-day. Anyways...

Personally, you know your child best. It's a tough decision, but in the end whatever you decide, it will all work out. Perhaps she is just shy? Does she need more academic help? I guess I would be more worried if she was needing more academic help because of how the schools have changed and want them to know so much more now a days. In our district the K'ers are full fledge reading by the time they enter 1st. If it's more a shyness issue, that just might be how she is and something that time just wont change. Every kid has a different personallity, and it's not something that should hold a child back, IMO. Good luck, and take your time deciding.

I think you've gotten some good advice already- particularly from Cheryl.
If it was strictly a social issue, I'd be inclined to say go ahead and let her start K. The only way to master social skills in a school environment is to be in that environment. But if she is also struggling cognitively, then I think the combination would really set her up for some self esteem or confidence issues. You want her to enjoy school, not feel overwhelmed by it. I'd also put more stock in what her pre-K teacher says- she's with her on a day to day basis. A kindergarten screening is a very small window into a child's readiness. Corey did very well at hers'- but the teacher concluded that she doesn't know her shapes b/c it was at the beginning of the screening and C was feeling a little intimidated by the situation. She knows her shapes, has for several years, but was unable to "perform" at that moment. But the pre-K teachers have an acute idea about where their students are at.
It's a tough call, but I'd probably hold her out and let her try that parochial school for a year.

Wow, I think the cut off here is Oct 1. But I'm not positive.

My niece was held back in 1st grade. The K. teacher thought she should of been held back then, but the decision was made to let her go to 1st grade. Most of the reason was her social skills, she just wasn't there emotionally. And was struggling w/reading and self-esteem and confidence issues as well. But holding her back has done WONDERS. She is excelling now, loves to read and is at ease w/school.

You know your baby, go w/your gut. I think in the end it'll come out in the wash. As long as you're taking the best care you can and giving her help at home she'll grow up to be a great successful woman.