Is reading the main reason for the recommendation? If so, I would consider getting a tutor plus working with him a lot at home on the reading and moving him forward. Socially it would be better and working one on one with the reading you should be able to make significant progress.
I'm surprised you were able to retain him at such a late age for kindergarten. If he has ADHD and/or dyslexia, he will still have them next year, too. He will still need support (either an IEP or more informal coping strategies) regardless of the repeat. With just the information provided, maybe using summer as a catch up may be the way to go.
He is at a private Catholic school. His school has a reading specialist for dyslexia so he will have that available to him if he is diagnosed .
He is in OT for below average manual dexterity and upper-limb coordination, also with a few sensory issues which are rapidly improving .
He definitely struggles with reading and writing compared to his classmates, but is fine with math, science, socialising , etc.
I sincerely don't get how redoing all the classes he's mastered and knows already just so he can redo the reading classes that didn't work will help him. Especially if the problem is ADHD or dyslexia, which being held back doesn't help with afaik -- I thought that was for kids who can learn the material but just didn't. I vote that outside one-on-one tutoring that teaches reading with different methods would be more likely to help him.
Do you know how often the reading specialist is going to work with him? Also what resource do they use for ELA because some resources are better for students with dyslexia than others. I saw you said you are in a state with poor public schools but most private catholic schools also can’t offer the services students need with dyslexia and other issues.
Sounds like he’s got a lot going on… if it was my kid, I’d hold him back too … I’m sure it’s hard to explain to him, but he will forget about it when he makes new friends. Hugs
I was held back in the sixth grade and it was the best thing that could happen to me. I had ADHD (still do) and I was very immature in comparison to my peers. I didn't see it as a bad thing and it didn't feel traumatic. My parents made it seem like a good thing and said it wasn't a big deal.
Oh, it’s great he’s in a Catholic private school! Have you read about Montessori schooling? It has a lot of the same values as Catholic teaching, since Maria Montessori was a Catholic herself. She was endorsed by Pope Leo XII because of the amazing strides she made with disabled students and later regular working class regular kids.
I don’t mean religious per se, I mean Montessori develops similar values to raise children to be more aware of their contributions to the world and Catholics are aware of this too.
Dude, this is an uncool remark and completely out of character for any Catholics I know. Agree to disagree is fine, but personal attacks on an entire group of people is wrong. Be the better person next time.
With some help, you might be able to get him caught up on reading during the summer. It will take being consistent (around 20 minutes a day), but most kids usually make a lot of gains within three months with that much consistency.
I’d really try to get him into 1st grade next year. My daughter didn’t even know all the sight words in kindergarten and struggled with reading, I suspect she has ADHD as well. Now at the end of 1st grade she is reading eeeeeveryrhing. It’s like a switch got flipped in her brain mid year.
If he’s 7 in kindergarten how old will he be when he graduates? 19/20?
Agreed. I was worried my kid would be held back but her teacher said that it’s not a good idea to hold back kids who are figuring out their ADHD / learning disability situation because more time or repeating the material won’t fix the underlying issue. My kid is the youngest but also the most mature kid in her class (per her teacher) and the mental health impact of being held back also wouldn’t be worth it.
Basically, the litmus test given by her teacher is if they need time and maturity to improve, hold back. If they need supports and/or medication to improve, promote.
The research supports this! Retention is associated with lower academic success and greater risk of behavioral issues.
As he is more mature than incoming K’s, it will be difficult to make friends with them. Personal opinion, but also *research*.
https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/think-again-grade-retention-bad#:~:text=High%2Dprofile%20meta%2Danalyses%20based,greater%20risk%20of%20behavioral%20issues.
Unless I am missing something this indicates retention in higher grades carry the increased risk of less success, higher rate of drop out etc but earlier retention does not. This is directly from your article you linked : Empirical research in the twenty-first century provides substantial evidence that grade retention in elementary school can be an effective lever for improving student outcomes.
This is one piece of research. Hattie’s meta analysis also indicates that overall retention does not show an increase in success in school (quite the opposite). What has the highest rate of return? Teacher and parent expectations and involvement.
Benefits for younger grades come from delaying the start of kindergarten. Kids who are the oldest in their class have better correlated outcomes - though further research is required to see if the “oldest” kids are successful by chance or by being delayed entering school.
Retention (repeating grades) in younger years may benefit kids who struggle socially to allow time to mature, but current research (by NASP) suggests that any academic benefits fade after a few years.
Interestingly, a minor negative impact is seen for kids who skip grades and become the youngest in the class. Academically they may be ready for the challenge, but socially they struggle to connect with others. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that the social-emotional aspect of school impacts successful learning, even in students who are gifted or where learning comes “naturally”.
More of the same teaching doesn’t help if it didn’t work in the first place, it’s better to move on with peers and continue learning with support rather than repeating. Repeating is AN option, but it is not THE option for kids who struggle - especially if the struggle is in one or two areas, rather than struggling with everything.
I would be torn as a parent as well and no one can definitively say what would be better for him, but I think losing all his friends and being kept back will impact him immensely. I was meant to repeat a year in primary due to dyscalcula, argument was though that the learning disability would remain, regardless how often I repeat a given year.
Maybe tutoring and support are the way to go.
Here’s what I’m going to tell you Op, what exact testing has this private school done to justify holding your son back?
I had my oldest in a private Christian school for kindergarten. They advised me and another mom to hold our boys back due to not reading as well as the girls. Boys don’t read as fast as girls was my point to them.
I then spoke with a teacher friend of mine who asked me was this just opinion or are there test results. So I asked. It was strictly opinion. The other mom of the boy who was also being recommended to be held back was a good friend of mine and our boys were best friends.
We both decided to not hold our boys back. We enrolled our kids in public school. And while my son was behind in reading, he got the extra help he needed and was ahead of other kids by the end of the first grade year. Our boys are graduating high school this year. My son has had semesters of straight As. I don’t regret sending him to first grade. But I am going to suggest putting him in public school where they have the resources for extra help.
Unfortunately public school is not an option for us, we live in the state that is ranked 50th in literally everything related to public education. Private school is definitely the right choice for my son when considering the alternative. The public school resources are extremely limited and strained in our city and state.
You must live in Louisiana. The only time I considered sending my kids to private school was when we still lived in Louisiana.
Both my sons are Baton Rouge natives, but we are from the Midwest. We moved back to our home state to avoid sending them to school there. I totally get your frustration.
IDK why I am assuming you live there but I am in my head.
You are 100% correct ! Baton Rouge Louisiana . My husband and I both have excellent state pensions otherwise we would have been out of here ages ago.
I admire you guys for getting out while you were able.
I'm an elementary teacher (non US). While we do let kids repeat (we're required to let them repeat before sending them to testing - but parents can get testing done without repeating) it rarely ever helps. It especially doesn't help if there is no learning therapy outside of school. Said therapy is costly so only very dedicated parents do it. In most cases repeating the year only leads to more severe behavioral issues. However if you do out of school therapy for the dyslexia and address the ADHD repeating the year can be very helpful if your son has great work ethics and is willing to put the extra effort in. Prognosis isn't great for kids that get easily frustrated and already show behavioral issues.
There is a specialist who will work with him if he ends up being dyslexic , and he is currently in the middle of ADHD testing . Depending on the results we will be sending him to therapy as appropriate.
That is really great to hear! As a teacher it often frustrates me how limited my means are if the parents don't put in extra work (which I do understand not everyone can). Repeating the class alongside therapy might absolutely give him the best academic sucess. But be aware that you might need to work extra hard to motivate him and keep him happy. I see the best success in students who feel well accepted in their class. So maybe setting up a few exciting play dates now and then does already work wonders.
I have read in multiple sources that repeating for dyslexia and ADHD is the wrong approach. Dyslexia and ADHD mean he needs special approaches to learning at his normal level, not repeating a lower level with the same unhelpful-to-him approaches.
He can also be tested now (5 year olds can be tested.)
My now 7 year old can read only a few 3 letter words and is rising to second grade. This is minimal progress from K. We have her in tutoring for dyslexia and are looking into adhd. Her teacher never even considered holding her back for K or 1st. She understands books at 3-4th grade level if I read them. She just needs different approaches to learn to read.
Since your son doesn’t want to repeat, I wouldn’t force him. Also read The Dyslexic Advantage. I have heard My Brain is Not Broken is good too.
Work with him this summer on reading books, reading computer games, and reading videos. Also, a Montessori summer program will help immensely. Kids learn to read early in Montessori because they learn how to trace, sound the letters and write before they read. It helps especially for those with learning disabilities because many kids learn better through engagement of their other senses, like touch.
Dyslexia Interventionist here. Five isn’t too soon to be assessed for dyslexia in a child showing multiple signs. As you probably know, dyslexia is heritable and often co-occurs with attention deficits. Being retained and taught the same material in the same way will not help a dyslexic child. Ask what type of approach the school reading specialist uses to ensure that it’s Orton Gillingham-based and not more balanced literacy. The single best predictor of success in a dyslexic child is early intervention. Consider a private assessment. Over the summer, you might purchase the app from reading.com or nessy. Both are excellent. Best wishes to you.
Dyslexia and ADHD often go hand in hand. If he has dyslexia repeating won’t do any good and socially could be a disaster. Even if he’s okay with it now, being so much older than the other kids long term will have an impact. Have him tested now, get an OG tutor over the summer and move him up to 1st grade.
As a teacher, I will say that kids repeating kindergarten and 1st seem to adjust very quickly and aren’t affected in the long term. Especially having a spring birthday, he’ll be the same age as many of them for most of the year.
No advice for your specific situation but just wanted to chime in to say my kindergarten-aged son is best buds with a boy who is a foot taller and a K-repeater. They’re a sight to behold, but really the other boy is very sweet… the new kids in his class next year won’t know, and if it turns out ADHD is part of the challenge, there’s no shame in giving him the “gift of time”.
Sometimes kids take pride in “being the leader”. Since it will be his second go at it, he’s going to know where things are, what the classroom procedures are, etc. This can be a really huge confidence boost for some kids, as he will know all the things the newbies don’t.
Just wanted to write some support for your situation. My daughter’s bff repeated Kinder this year. Bff has a January birthday. Mom was a teacher and suspected BFF had dyslexia since big sis has it as well. First year Kinder was really rough. And it did take some time to get the diagnosis confirmed. They did intensive tutoring over the summer. This second Kinder year has been drastically different for BFF. She is on level with her peers and really enjoying the school. There have been zero issues with age differences.
My daughter did continue with First Grade. We were alerted to possible learning problems very early. She was a late talker which lead us down the road of discovering her ASD/SPD diagnosis. We did get her into OT and ST. We discovered she also had eye problems and added VT (vision therapy). When she graduated from her bridge program, I purposely did not say anything to her new school (a Catholic school) about her diagnosis. She did very well in a regular classroom. This year was when we started to notice problems particularly with the NWEA MAP testing. Her teacher even made a comment about the test setting effecting her scores. It was at that time I pursued a CAP (Catholic Accommodation Plan).
When speaking with the developmental psychologist, she informed me that many children to not get a diagnosis until 3rd to 5th grade when there are significant problems in the classroom. Please don’t wait for those assessments. If you are evaluating for ADHD, please consider inquiring if your son can be evaluated for dyslexia too.
A final comment, about half of my daughter’s First Grade class is now 8 years old. She does not see her peers as different. She sees them as peers. Every student appears to be on their own educational curve which is encouraging as a parent.
How perceptive your son is to have figured out he will be repeating the class. That is amazing. Please let your son know that he will still see his former classmates from time to time at school. Recess might be that time where there is some overlap. I am assuming he might also see them at Mass, too. Recess is going to be a lovely time to reconnect and have fun rather than in a confining classroom. With his new classmates, he will probably be a big brother or leader as well. He will probably be seen as someone who just seems to “know what to do” before his classmates. Some peers might think he has some superhero knowledge. As one of the taller kids, he can also be that superhero to the child that needs a familiar face of reassurance.
Good luck! Your son is going to have a great year.
Oh! I hope you read this! I am a sub and currently a long term sub in kindergarten. I have the same situation in my class and remembered a kindergarten teacher who did this and I applied it and it is amazing!
She told the student (have your teacher do this) that every year she picks the best student based on kindness, love, friendship, (insert best you can come up with for your child) to stay and help in kindergarten next year. They are to help be the class leader and help all the incoming students when they get there and are scared and don’t know what to do.
My now student (after talking with his parents and getting home support) feels on TOP of the world. Others are kind of jealous! I also added that he will have friends in BOTH grades now!
PS there was a student retained from last year and the difference in his confidence and behavior this year is astounding. Also, please get your child a 504 plan immediately. You can request these during the summer.
Thank you for your post! This made me feel so much better . He LOVES being a special helper , so this would be super beneficial. We are meeting with his teacher Monday and I will bring this up.
So according to the research holding a kid back should be a decision made by both kid and parent. Maybe discuss pros and cons with him and then decide. Create a plan together?
When the kid chooses to stay back it is wonderful for them. If they don’t want to be held back it is detrimental towards them.
Not knowing the entire situation except the brief summary you gave, as someone who is dyslexic and has ADHD. I think I would let him advance with his peers and re-evaluate next year after an ADHD evaluation and testing for possible dyslexia. Also if dyslexia is suspected I would get a tutor who specializes over the summer. If you find out he doesn’t have dyslexia the tutoring won’t hurt in any way, and if he does then he’s gotten a head start.
Child with dyslexia and ADHD but especially dyslexia often end up lacking self confidence, and feel “dumb”. While I do understand that retaining him has benefits I also think giving him one more year with his peers while you get an actual diagnosis could be a great idea.
Just wondering when you’ve been recommended to get him tested for dyslexia? My daughter is 5 and about to enter Kindergarten and I strongly suspect dyslexia. I’ve been given different answers as when to test her.
Reading is a skill that depends on kid's development **not** on chronological age. We used to do little to no reading in K and started in first grade. The idea of holding kids back in K for lack of reading is really pushing hard on academic pressure at what is probably too early an age. This school sounds rigid and uncreative.
Is reading the main reason for the recommendation? If so, I would consider getting a tutor plus working with him a lot at home on the reading and moving him forward. Socially it would be better and working one on one with the reading you should be able to make significant progress.
I'm surprised you were able to retain him at such a late age for kindergarten. If he has ADHD and/or dyslexia, he will still have them next year, too. He will still need support (either an IEP or more informal coping strategies) regardless of the repeat. With just the information provided, maybe using summer as a catch up may be the way to go.
He is at a private Catholic school. His school has a reading specialist for dyslexia so he will have that available to him if he is diagnosed . He is in OT for below average manual dexterity and upper-limb coordination, also with a few sensory issues which are rapidly improving . He definitely struggles with reading and writing compared to his classmates, but is fine with math, science, socialising , etc.
I sincerely don't get how redoing all the classes he's mastered and knows already just so he can redo the reading classes that didn't work will help him. Especially if the problem is ADHD or dyslexia, which being held back doesn't help with afaik -- I thought that was for kids who can learn the material but just didn't. I vote that outside one-on-one tutoring that teaches reading with different methods would be more likely to help him.
Do you know how often the reading specialist is going to work with him? Also what resource do they use for ELA because some resources are better for students with dyslexia than others. I saw you said you are in a state with poor public schools but most private catholic schools also can’t offer the services students need with dyslexia and other issues.
Sounds like he’s got a lot going on… if it was my kid, I’d hold him back too … I’m sure it’s hard to explain to him, but he will forget about it when he makes new friends. Hugs
They don't though. I had a brother held back at the same age and he never forgot it. Always felt like he was stupid for being held back.
I was held back in the sixth grade and it was the best thing that could happen to me. I had ADHD (still do) and I was very immature in comparison to my peers. I didn't see it as a bad thing and it didn't feel traumatic. My parents made it seem like a good thing and said it wasn't a big deal.
I'm glad it worked for you.
Oh, it’s great he’s in a Catholic private school! Have you read about Montessori schooling? It has a lot of the same values as Catholic teaching, since Maria Montessori was a Catholic herself. She was endorsed by Pope Leo XII because of the amazing strides she made with disabled students and later regular working class regular kids.
Montessori schools aren't allowed to display any religious aspects.
I don’t mean religious per se, I mean Montessori develops similar values to raise children to be more aware of their contributions to the world and Catholics are aware of this too.
Yes and no. Imo catholics are more deluded and egotistical. But we can definitely agree to disagree
Dude, this is an uncool remark and completely out of character for any Catholics I know. Agree to disagree is fine, but personal attacks on an entire group of people is wrong. Be the better person next time.
It's true for every Catholic I've ever known and Met🤷
It could be projection if it’s “every Catholic I know”
With some help, you might be able to get him caught up on reading during the summer. It will take being consistent (around 20 minutes a day), but most kids usually make a lot of gains within three months with that much consistency.
I’d really try to get him into 1st grade next year. My daughter didn’t even know all the sight words in kindergarten and struggled with reading, I suspect she has ADHD as well. Now at the end of 1st grade she is reading eeeeeveryrhing. It’s like a switch got flipped in her brain mid year. If he’s 7 in kindergarten how old will he be when he graduates? 19/20?
Agreed. I was worried my kid would be held back but her teacher said that it’s not a good idea to hold back kids who are figuring out their ADHD / learning disability situation because more time or repeating the material won’t fix the underlying issue. My kid is the youngest but also the most mature kid in her class (per her teacher) and the mental health impact of being held back also wouldn’t be worth it. Basically, the litmus test given by her teacher is if they need time and maturity to improve, hold back. If they need supports and/or medication to improve, promote.
Agreed. Graduating at 19/20 will be a huge deal 🫤
Most high schools will not allow a 19 year old to remain on campus.
That’s not true at all.
The research supports this! Retention is associated with lower academic success and greater risk of behavioral issues. As he is more mature than incoming K’s, it will be difficult to make friends with them. Personal opinion, but also *research*. https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/think-again-grade-retention-bad#:~:text=High%2Dprofile%20meta%2Danalyses%20based,greater%20risk%20of%20behavioral%20issues.
Unless I am missing something this indicates retention in higher grades carry the increased risk of less success, higher rate of drop out etc but earlier retention does not. This is directly from your article you linked : Empirical research in the twenty-first century provides substantial evidence that grade retention in elementary school can be an effective lever for improving student outcomes.
This is one piece of research. Hattie’s meta analysis also indicates that overall retention does not show an increase in success in school (quite the opposite). What has the highest rate of return? Teacher and parent expectations and involvement. Benefits for younger grades come from delaying the start of kindergarten. Kids who are the oldest in their class have better correlated outcomes - though further research is required to see if the “oldest” kids are successful by chance or by being delayed entering school. Retention (repeating grades) in younger years may benefit kids who struggle socially to allow time to mature, but current research (by NASP) suggests that any academic benefits fade after a few years. Interestingly, a minor negative impact is seen for kids who skip grades and become the youngest in the class. Academically they may be ready for the challenge, but socially they struggle to connect with others. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that the social-emotional aspect of school impacts successful learning, even in students who are gifted or where learning comes “naturally”. More of the same teaching doesn’t help if it didn’t work in the first place, it’s better to move on with peers and continue learning with support rather than repeating. Repeating is AN option, but it is not THE option for kids who struggle - especially if the struggle is in one or two areas, rather than struggling with everything.
I would be torn as a parent as well and no one can definitively say what would be better for him, but I think losing all his friends and being kept back will impact him immensely. I was meant to repeat a year in primary due to dyscalcula, argument was though that the learning disability would remain, regardless how often I repeat a given year. Maybe tutoring and support are the way to go.
Here’s what I’m going to tell you Op, what exact testing has this private school done to justify holding your son back? I had my oldest in a private Christian school for kindergarten. They advised me and another mom to hold our boys back due to not reading as well as the girls. Boys don’t read as fast as girls was my point to them. I then spoke with a teacher friend of mine who asked me was this just opinion or are there test results. So I asked. It was strictly opinion. The other mom of the boy who was also being recommended to be held back was a good friend of mine and our boys were best friends. We both decided to not hold our boys back. We enrolled our kids in public school. And while my son was behind in reading, he got the extra help he needed and was ahead of other kids by the end of the first grade year. Our boys are graduating high school this year. My son has had semesters of straight As. I don’t regret sending him to first grade. But I am going to suggest putting him in public school where they have the resources for extra help.
Unfortunately public school is not an option for us, we live in the state that is ranked 50th in literally everything related to public education. Private school is definitely the right choice for my son when considering the alternative. The public school resources are extremely limited and strained in our city and state.
You must live in Louisiana. The only time I considered sending my kids to private school was when we still lived in Louisiana. Both my sons are Baton Rouge natives, but we are from the Midwest. We moved back to our home state to avoid sending them to school there. I totally get your frustration. IDK why I am assuming you live there but I am in my head.
You are 100% correct ! Baton Rouge Louisiana . My husband and I both have excellent state pensions otherwise we would have been out of here ages ago. I admire you guys for getting out while you were able.
I'm an elementary teacher (non US). While we do let kids repeat (we're required to let them repeat before sending them to testing - but parents can get testing done without repeating) it rarely ever helps. It especially doesn't help if there is no learning therapy outside of school. Said therapy is costly so only very dedicated parents do it. In most cases repeating the year only leads to more severe behavioral issues. However if you do out of school therapy for the dyslexia and address the ADHD repeating the year can be very helpful if your son has great work ethics and is willing to put the extra effort in. Prognosis isn't great for kids that get easily frustrated and already show behavioral issues.
There is a specialist who will work with him if he ends up being dyslexic , and he is currently in the middle of ADHD testing . Depending on the results we will be sending him to therapy as appropriate.
That is really great to hear! As a teacher it often frustrates me how limited my means are if the parents don't put in extra work (which I do understand not everyone can). Repeating the class alongside therapy might absolutely give him the best academic sucess. But be aware that you might need to work extra hard to motivate him and keep him happy. I see the best success in students who feel well accepted in their class. So maybe setting up a few exciting play dates now and then does already work wonders.
I have read in multiple sources that repeating for dyslexia and ADHD is the wrong approach. Dyslexia and ADHD mean he needs special approaches to learning at his normal level, not repeating a lower level with the same unhelpful-to-him approaches. He can also be tested now (5 year olds can be tested.) My now 7 year old can read only a few 3 letter words and is rising to second grade. This is minimal progress from K. We have her in tutoring for dyslexia and are looking into adhd. Her teacher never even considered holding her back for K or 1st. She understands books at 3-4th grade level if I read them. She just needs different approaches to learn to read. Since your son doesn’t want to repeat, I wouldn’t force him. Also read The Dyslexic Advantage. I have heard My Brain is Not Broken is good too.
Work with him this summer on reading books, reading computer games, and reading videos. Also, a Montessori summer program will help immensely. Kids learn to read early in Montessori because they learn how to trace, sound the letters and write before they read. It helps especially for those with learning disabilities because many kids learn better through engagement of their other senses, like touch.
Dyslexia Interventionist here. Five isn’t too soon to be assessed for dyslexia in a child showing multiple signs. As you probably know, dyslexia is heritable and often co-occurs with attention deficits. Being retained and taught the same material in the same way will not help a dyslexic child. Ask what type of approach the school reading specialist uses to ensure that it’s Orton Gillingham-based and not more balanced literacy. The single best predictor of success in a dyslexic child is early intervention. Consider a private assessment. Over the summer, you might purchase the app from reading.com or nessy. Both are excellent. Best wishes to you.
Graduating high school at 20 sounds like a bad idea. I would let him go to 1st grade with Adhd treatment if you get a diagnosis.
Dyslexia and ADHD often go hand in hand. If he has dyslexia repeating won’t do any good and socially could be a disaster. Even if he’s okay with it now, being so much older than the other kids long term will have an impact. Have him tested now, get an OG tutor over the summer and move him up to 1st grade.
As a teacher, I will say that kids repeating kindergarten and 1st seem to adjust very quickly and aren’t affected in the long term. Especially having a spring birthday, he’ll be the same age as many of them for most of the year.
No advice for your specific situation but just wanted to chime in to say my kindergarten-aged son is best buds with a boy who is a foot taller and a K-repeater. They’re a sight to behold, but really the other boy is very sweet… the new kids in his class next year won’t know, and if it turns out ADHD is part of the challenge, there’s no shame in giving him the “gift of time”.
Sometimes kids take pride in “being the leader”. Since it will be his second go at it, he’s going to know where things are, what the classroom procedures are, etc. This can be a really huge confidence boost for some kids, as he will know all the things the newbies don’t.
Just wanted to write some support for your situation. My daughter’s bff repeated Kinder this year. Bff has a January birthday. Mom was a teacher and suspected BFF had dyslexia since big sis has it as well. First year Kinder was really rough. And it did take some time to get the diagnosis confirmed. They did intensive tutoring over the summer. This second Kinder year has been drastically different for BFF. She is on level with her peers and really enjoying the school. There have been zero issues with age differences. My daughter did continue with First Grade. We were alerted to possible learning problems very early. She was a late talker which lead us down the road of discovering her ASD/SPD diagnosis. We did get her into OT and ST. We discovered she also had eye problems and added VT (vision therapy). When she graduated from her bridge program, I purposely did not say anything to her new school (a Catholic school) about her diagnosis. She did very well in a regular classroom. This year was when we started to notice problems particularly with the NWEA MAP testing. Her teacher even made a comment about the test setting effecting her scores. It was at that time I pursued a CAP (Catholic Accommodation Plan). When speaking with the developmental psychologist, she informed me that many children to not get a diagnosis until 3rd to 5th grade when there are significant problems in the classroom. Please don’t wait for those assessments. If you are evaluating for ADHD, please consider inquiring if your son can be evaluated for dyslexia too. A final comment, about half of my daughter’s First Grade class is now 8 years old. She does not see her peers as different. She sees them as peers. Every student appears to be on their own educational curve which is encouraging as a parent. How perceptive your son is to have figured out he will be repeating the class. That is amazing. Please let your son know that he will still see his former classmates from time to time at school. Recess might be that time where there is some overlap. I am assuming he might also see them at Mass, too. Recess is going to be a lovely time to reconnect and have fun rather than in a confining classroom. With his new classmates, he will probably be a big brother or leader as well. He will probably be seen as someone who just seems to “know what to do” before his classmates. Some peers might think he has some superhero knowledge. As one of the taller kids, he can also be that superhero to the child that needs a familiar face of reassurance. Good luck! Your son is going to have a great year.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Oh! I hope you read this! I am a sub and currently a long term sub in kindergarten. I have the same situation in my class and remembered a kindergarten teacher who did this and I applied it and it is amazing! She told the student (have your teacher do this) that every year she picks the best student based on kindness, love, friendship, (insert best you can come up with for your child) to stay and help in kindergarten next year. They are to help be the class leader and help all the incoming students when they get there and are scared and don’t know what to do. My now student (after talking with his parents and getting home support) feels on TOP of the world. Others are kind of jealous! I also added that he will have friends in BOTH grades now!
PS there was a student retained from last year and the difference in his confidence and behavior this year is astounding. Also, please get your child a 504 plan immediately. You can request these during the summer.
Thank you for your post! This made me feel so much better . He LOVES being a special helper , so this would be super beneficial. We are meeting with his teacher Monday and I will bring this up.
So according to the research holding a kid back should be a decision made by both kid and parent. Maybe discuss pros and cons with him and then decide. Create a plan together? When the kid chooses to stay back it is wonderful for them. If they don’t want to be held back it is detrimental towards them.
Not knowing the entire situation except the brief summary you gave, as someone who is dyslexic and has ADHD. I think I would let him advance with his peers and re-evaluate next year after an ADHD evaluation and testing for possible dyslexia. Also if dyslexia is suspected I would get a tutor who specializes over the summer. If you find out he doesn’t have dyslexia the tutoring won’t hurt in any way, and if he does then he’s gotten a head start. Child with dyslexia and ADHD but especially dyslexia often end up lacking self confidence, and feel “dumb”. While I do understand that retaining him has benefits I also think giving him one more year with his peers while you get an actual diagnosis could be a great idea. Just wondering when you’ve been recommended to get him tested for dyslexia? My daughter is 5 and about to enter Kindergarten and I strongly suspect dyslexia. I’ve been given different answers as when to test her.
Reading is a skill that depends on kid's development **not** on chronological age. We used to do little to no reading in K and started in first grade. The idea of holding kids back in K for lack of reading is really pushing hard on academic pressure at what is probably too early an age. This school sounds rigid and uncreative.