Kindergarten Question about learning issues

Discussion in 'Childhood and Beyond (4+)' started by Misty Seefeld Geiger, Dec 20, 2011.

    Iam having some anxiety about my twin son Alex who takes a little longer learning things. At the beginning of Nov he still didnt know all his letters and only a couple numbers. Now a month later he knows most letters and more #.. not so much on sight words yet though. Teacher mentioned possible holding back a year and I freaked out.. and am pretty much against it. His twin is great in school and I dont want them growing up with Ashton being able to do sports, middle school, high school first just because Alex didnt know his letters in kindergarten. Who knows maybe down the road Ill hold both back and thatll give him a little catch up. So iam having a meeting in a month to see if he should be in a LD class for the extra help.. Which Iam all for Ld I just dont want him held back because he's in it.. He is also getting extra help in a reading program at school also..
    I think between that and me working at home with him hes improving alot.. unfortunlety I dont think the teachers notices because she has 24 kids in her class and just sees the big picture which kinda upsets me.. Iam documenting how hes improving so I can show them that in the meeting..
    Am I freaking out over nothing.. whats your thoughts
    thanks
     
  1. KCMichigan

    KCMichigan Well-Known Member


    I would consult with the school. It is very hard for a K student to qualify for LDs based on standardized testing--- the range of normal is so broad. If you have a 'young' K kiddo it is even harder. Highly academic districts tend to refer kiddos in K more than play based districts, though the same # of kiddos qualify for LD services usually. Developmentally--most kids without LDs learn to read between 5-7 (some earlier, some later).

    Often a kid has to be 1.5 or so years behind to 'qualify' for LD services and/or have not responded to several tiered interventions (RTI). It does sound like he is improving.


    I would request they do a Lights Retention Scale and see if he is a candidate for repeating. It is a good scale that really does use statistical data to determine likely positive effects of repeating a grade.

    How about a potential split K/1 next year? Summer school? After school tutoring? A pre-1st grade ( a nearby school has a between K and 1st classroom)?

    Have you checked his vision, hearing? Often those can 'mask' an LD and are a reason a few K kiddos struggle. Does he seems to struggle with other concerns- attention, activity level, fine motor, gross motor, speech? These can also impact learning letter sounds and make it difficult to learn to read (especially speech kiddos!)


    If the school is willing, I would do the LD screening/assessment. It will give you a lot of information , whether he qualifies for LD support or not.

    As for waiting....the best grade to repeat is K. The later the grades the more the social dynamic plays into it. I would NOT hold back the other twin or push a twin forward if it is not best for both.

    I have heard of twins that one repeats a grade then skips ahead ( redid K and then went to 2nd). It just was a matter of maturity and time.

    I know a few twins that attended different schools in different grades in the same district for that exact reason you stated- one did not have an LD, but did need more 'time' than his twin. They both were honors students in MS and HS. They were very much fraternal so it was not as apparent they were twins.


    It is good the school is moving forward with seeing what they can do for him, but also keep in mind it is a LONG time until June. A lot can change!


    Keep us updated and I hope it works out best for your son- whatever that may be.
     
  2. TwinxesMom

    TwinxesMom Well-Known Member

    I would look into tutoring. I was at the girls Christmas party today and some of them are painfully social inept for this age group. There are after school activities that could fill the age gap. I'd rather do what's best for both than to hold one back needlessly or pushed ahead
     
  3. Utopia122

    Utopia122 Well-Known Member

    You really need to look at the curriculum standards for your state concerning kindergarten so you know exactly what he should know by the end of kindergarten. You should be able to find the standards by visiting your state's dept of education website and searching for "kindergarten curriculum standards". By looking at the standards you can see for yourself were he should be by the end of the year and get a feel for why they are suggesting to you that he his behind.

    Also, as previously stated, holding back now is much better than later. We held our son back in 3rd grade and socially it was terribly hard on him. He was very much aware that his cousins and friends, who were at that tiime in the same grade as him, were moving ahead while he was staying behind. He would tell people that he should be in the next grade for a good two years before he finally accepted it. He was really angry with us, and like you, we were told in Kindergarten that maybe we should consider holding him back, but did not.
     
  4. DeLana

    DeLana Well-Known Member

    I haven't read anything there that tells me your son is at risk for failing K! Doesn't know his sight words? My daughter didn't know many of hers the summer after K; no one mentioned repeating. Remember, the year is only half over; lots can be learned between now and end of K. Some extra help/practice at home may make all the difference.

    Our first grade teacher was concerned because dd read very poorly at the beginning of the year (I have to admit we read very little over the summer, I had made the wrong assumption that the beginning of 1st would be a review of K - not so.) The teacher even mentioned bringing in the ESE (LD) teacher, which freaked me out because I just didn't think it applies to her; dd's main problem is a lack of motivation. So I took it as a challenge and we did a lot of reading at home! Currently, there's no more talk about ESE and dd's making all A's with some 100's.

    My advice would be to work with your son at home: practice, practice, practice. Early reading (according to the twins' K teacher) involves a lot of repetition - it takes about 30 times of reading the same word before they learn it.

    Best of luck to you,

    DeLana
     
  5. Babies4Susan

    Babies4Susan Well-Known Member

    Our school offers a Y2K program where a child who is not academically or socially ready for kindergarten, but is old enough for kindergarten, can do one year in the Y2K kindergarten class then their next year in the "regular" kindergarten class. Is that available for you? I do the Rocket (sight) words in both of my daughters' classes, and there is one child in one of their classes who still has not made it through all his letters. But a lot of the children are really slow with the sight words. Like the first word they were shown they did not know, so we started from square one.

    I have one twin who has made it completely through the 250~ish sight words, and now we're working on spelling all of them. She reads fluently. The other twin is slow on the sight words, but pretty much average with the rest of the class. I am already feeling like I am going to be faced with the dilemma of separate schools in that they test in second grade to send children to a magnet (accelerated) school and my good reader is already working through the first grade material. So by second grade, I am venturing a guess she's going to test well. Although it is hard to separate them to different schools, I will do what's best academically for both of them. So I guess that's my advice, in the end do what is best for them academically, individually.
     
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  6. Dielle

    Dielle Well-Known Member

    From a totally non-school point of view (we homeschool), I think he doesn't sound behind at all. Of my older 3, one read at 4, one at 9 (he's dyslexic) and one at 6. Now my oldest (who read at 4) is quite advanced in all things language arts. But my boys read works that are quite difficult and definitely above their grade level. Even Trey, who's dyslexic, reads at at least a 9th grade level if given the time to do it slowly. But he'd have surely been held back if school. Adam is super bright and pretty much everything comes easy to him. I didn't push him on reading at all, because I don't think it's imperative to do it in kindergarten, and I didn't want him to blow past Trey. He probably will in the next year or two, but Trey's a lot more solid on academics and self-esteem than he was 3 years ago.

    Sydney and Sabrina are kindergarten age. Neither one is reading, really. They do know letters and numbers and can do basic addition and that kind of thing. But we're really low-key on school at that age.

    I think that there's such a broad range of normal for that age that it wouldn't worry me at all. And I've heard numerous times that most kids who read at 4-5 aren't generally ahead of their peers by 3rd grade... it all tends to even out pretty much.
     
  7. KCMichigan

    KCMichigan Well-Known Member


    This is dependent on why the kiddo reads early to be honest. I dislike this phrase.

    1. A kiddo that teaches themselves for the most part and/or picks up reading very very quickly, has a high interest in words/language at 4/5 often is ahead and language arts remain a strength always.

    2. A kiddo that is in an academic preschool and is explicitly taught to read as a whole group before K can be ahead, but then 'even' out as peers get the same exposure.

    3. A kiddo that learns to read at 4/5 may go 'wide instead of deep' so in K they seem ahead, but by 3rd they seem to not be ahead--but that can be deceptive since they may have broader knowledge than the typical 3rd grader.

    4. A kiddo that is not reading at 4/5 may shoot ahead once it clicks and be reading a grade level or more ahead by 3rd grade.

    5. A kiddo learns to read on their own at 4/5 and goes on to be ahead or simply hovers at grade level after about 3/4th grade for their school career-- they may be gifted or advanced. Some of these kids get 'disengaged' in school and do not do as well simply due to outside factors (motivation, boredom, lack of challenge, learn differently etc)

    6. A kiddo do not learn to read at 4/5 and still struggles in 3rd grade due to various reasons (LDs, vision, hearing, speech, environment, etc).

    I have been in 3rd grade classrooms....it is not as obvious, but the wide difference in academic skills is there. THere are kiddos often reading at 1st grade level and then there are kiddos reading at 6th grade+, most are in the middle-- but there usually is a few at either end. It is just not as glaringly obvious as a kid in K reading a chapter book while peers learn letters.


    Also the levels from K reading to 3rd grade have huge leaps (simple words with picture, to more complex words, to paragraphs, to easy chapters....). In 3rd grade, it is harder to instantly 'see' a difference in text and it may seem all the kiddos are reading chapter books-- but those books can vary in reading level from 2nd to 5th or 6th grade.

    Lastly, sometimes the teacher teach to a certain level and dont/wont teach/test past that ( say level M for a first grader, M is late 2nd/early 3rd). If a child is above grade level a bit, they dont offer books at a higher level-- but offer a wider variety- they simply wont go past that level. So sometime those kiddos seem to slow down since they would be on paper a level M both at the beginning and the end of the year.


    Though I agree--- a child in K still learning letters is OK and totally developmentally normal! Though if he is still struggling further in the year, I would explore other avenues (vision, hearing, LDs, etc). Some kiddos dont learn to read until age 7 and then go one to be great readers, they just were not developmentally there yet.
     
  8. MarchI

    MarchI Well-Known Member

    Give him until March before you make any decisions. In my son's K, the kids progressed from learning letters to words over the course of the year. They had some sight words but it wasn't until the end of the year before they became routinely memorized. By March, however, you could see the huge progress they had made from Sept. I agree with the PP that state it doesn't sound like he is behind. My son is in first and they spent the first two months going back over the numbers/letters and reminding the kids what they learned in K. Also, there is a variety of kids in the class. Some can read, some cannot.

    I think just giving him some extra practice (through fun games--maybe even computer games) will strengthen his skills.

    Good luck!
     
  9. TwinxesMom

    TwinxesMom Well-Known Member

    I just checked the girls file and all they really doing in k is rhyming and very bacis sight words which is disappointing because the girls seem bored
     
  10. Sofiesmom

    Sofiesmom Well-Known Member

    I cannot really comment on what they need to be doing as my children are doing the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program at what used to be British-system school. Plus mine have entered Year 1 as very young students (with a late Nov birthday) as the cut off is 1 January. They're technically ahead of what most of their US and European peers are doing, just because they start Y1 a year earlier than what we are used to.

    But, apart from all that, I would never decide not to hold my child back because of the other twin. You need to do what's in best interest of this particular child, regardless of the other twin. Holding the "more advanced" one back because of the other, is also wrong in my opinion. Children learn differently, at different speed, including twins. If the end up in a different year level at some point, then so be it. But that's just me.

    I've thought about holding my twin boy back as I thought he was going to struggle entering Y1 at 4 years 8 months (in Year 1 they basically start full on writing, reading, etc. and very little playing, it's big school), plus he's speech delayed. In the end, school said there was no point to hold him back already and he's actually performing above his age-appropriate level, and doing very well with a little bit of expressive language support.
     
  11. mbcrox

    mbcrox Well-Known Member

     
  12. mbcrox

    mbcrox Well-Known Member

    Hi, I just read your post and feel your frustrations! It is so hard to know what to do sometimes! I taught preschool for many, many years! I also had my own preschool for 5 years and quit when the twins were born. Teaching young children alphabet, math and reading was part of my curriculum. Did you children have any of this type of preschool before entering kindergarten? (I am not a mother who feels like every child should have preschool because my 1st goal in preschool was for my child to have fun!) The reason I ask this question is because if he is with other children who have already had a base on learning these things he may automatically feel behind. Children can learn quickly. Kids in kindergarten are often at many different levels to begin with. A teacher who takes this into consideration when preparing her curriculum will serve her class so much better.

    When teaching children new concepts, for instance alphabet letters and sounds, it is more important to slice out some time if possible each day for a short time than to spend a longer time a few times a week.

    Remember this, you can teach a child almost anything if you make a game out of it. I am currently teaching my little 3 year old daughter the alphabet. I make silly, funny connections with all the letters. Does that make sense? For instance, "a" is called "baby a". Draw a face on it and tell your child that like a baby, baby a says aaaa (short vowel sound) or "o" is the same shape as your mouth when you go to the doctors and he has you open it to say "oooo" (short vowel sound) Does this make sense?

    When I want my kids to memorize things that are difficult (like learning their phone number, pledge of allegiance, etc) then I put it to music! Just make up any tune or use a childs song. Believe me, they will remember so much better.

    Use a timer and make simple flash cards, for numbers, alphabet, words etc. and time your child on how long it takes to go through the flash cards and then see if they can beat their own time!

    I hope some of these ideas can help in some small way. If you need any other suggestions, let me know. I am a mother of children ranging from married daughters to my youngest who is 3 yrs. Boy, I have seen a bunch by this stage in my life now. Slow starters can really amaze you once they "catch the vision" so to speak. Good Luck with your decisions.

    Mary
     
  13. Thanks for everyones advice, the teachers are having a meeting in two weeks to discuss his progress. He is a speech child also so I know that has something to do with his learning. We have been practicing at home too and it has helped ALOT! He knows all his letter (capitol) but still mixes up some of the smaller case ones.. and working on sight words.. His teacher has 24 kids in the class so I cant imagine she spends to much time with him, so for her to mention holding him back so early in the game I was pretyt upset.. I think the reading teacher and speech teacher forsurley know him alot more.and his learning style. I also dont think hes lagging that much either but his teacher seems to think so. Iam hopefull everything will turn out fine! Iam going to look up WI dept of education and see whats really expected of him! Thanks again
     
  14. newmomma

    newmomma Well-Known Member

    A teacher who talks about holding a child back in december seems really inappropriate to me! Maybe a talk about getting them some extra help but to predetermine his future 6 months before the end of year....wow she must not think much of her teaching ability.

    From my experience working in my kid's class last year as the letter/sight word tester he seems totally normal.
     
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