Teacher asks child to repeat kindergarten, Please help

Hi,

My child is going to kindergarten in Cobb county , Georgia USA.

I have a feeling that the teacher is going to ask or recommend us to
get the kindergraten repeated.
Can anyone tell me whether its upto the teacher only or Parents have a
say whether your kids go to 1st grade or not.

My observation is that teacher is not very friendly with the kids and
that is pritty much what my child thinks but has never complained for
the teacher.


She turned 5 yrs, 2 weeks before cut off date which is September here
in Georgia.
Teacher informed us that she is having lots of problems moving from
one task to another but she is young.
I dont see any benefit of repeating the kindergarten for social skills
which i think she will pick up anyway as she grows.

At this late stage of kindergarten i dont see any point requesting
change of class. Even otherwise, the teacher is expecting lot of work
done in the class compared to other kindergarten clases which is a
good thing.

We switched school and in the previous school we were told that she is
ready for 1st grade just after few months in the school.
She is always excited to go to school and i think she is pritty well
mixed up with the kids.
And she seems quite upset when i told her that you might have to stay
in kindergarten, I have a feeling it will have only negative impact if
she repeats kindergarten and all the kids in her class move to 1st
grade.

I have seen she is doing quite well in the reading,math etc and i have
stopped teaching more advance things thinking it will put too much
pressure on her when its not really needed for KG or even 1st grade
curriculum.

Please give your opinion...

Thanks
galbo

"Galbo" wrote in message
om...
I have a feeling that the teacher is going to ask or recommend us to
get the kindergraten repeated.
Can anyone tell me whether its upto the teacher only or Parents have a
say whether your kids go to 1st grade or not.

My observation is that teacher is not very friendly with the kids and
that is pritty much what my child thinks but has never complained for
the teacher.

It's been a long time, so this may not apply. My teacher recommended I
repeat kindergarten. I would have to say, of the many teachers I've had
over the years, she is the only one I would qualify as racist. I never told
my parents what she would do to me in class, but maybe they sensed it. My
dad did not take her recommendation and I did just fine in elementary
school, often the top of my class. Ask her the reasons she thinks your
daughter should repeat and judge for yourself.

"Galbo" wrote in message
om...

I have a feeling that the teacher is going to ask or recommend us to
get the kindergraten repeated.
Can anyone tell me whether its upto the teacher only or Parents have a
say whether your kids go to 1st grade or not.

snip

Please give your opinion...

Retention is usually not considered if the child is working up to grade. I
think before you waste another single minute worrying about this, you should
ask the teacher if s/he is actually considering retention. If your child is
doing well with reading, spelling, etc., then why would s/he?

Best,
Ann

"Galbo" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

My child is going to kindergarten in Cobb county , Georgia USA.

I have a feeling that the teacher is going to ask or recommend us to
get the kindergraten repeated.
Can anyone tell me whether its upto the teacher only or Parents have a
say whether your kids go to 1st grade or not.

.....
In my district, until 3rd grade it is totally the parent's decision. The
school can recommend, but the parent has the choice.


Thanks
galbo

Here in Toronto, the cutoff for age is as of Dec 31, so my middle
child, born on December 25th, was the youngest in his class when he
started in kindergarten (a 2 year program here, for 4 and 5 year olds,
which mean he was 3 and 4 years old respectively starting off the
school year in September). He has always been extremely young for his
age and poorly coordinated and on top of that, had a learning
disability that resulted in some behavioural challenges (he has a
non-verbal learning disability, and has all kinds of over the top
reactions to sensory stuff).

He finished two years of kindergarten and was not ready for grade 1,
but the school thought it would be better for him to be in a more
structured all day program rather than another year in kindergarten.
He started getting a lot of extra help, but it was clear by Christmas
that he was in trouble (i.e. here the grade 2 curriculum is a quantum
leap from grade 1, and there was no way he could have coped). So, we
had him stay in Grade 1 for another year, and he continued to get
intensive help with reading etc.

The school was somewhat stunned that we wanted him held back, but
quite honestly, it was absolutely the right thing to do for this
particular child. It was invisible to his peers because our small
school has many split grades, and he was so young, so there was no
stigma. It was the only time it could have been done so invisibly. He
got another year to mature, and arrived in Grade 2 really ready. He
still gets some limited extra help, but he's in Grade 4 now, and
holding his own very well - and I heart and soul think he would have
been in big, big trouble without the gift of that extra year to catch
up developmentally.

I'm not saying this is your son's situation, but sometimes kids really
AREN'T ready and personally I think being pushed ahead when they are
still so young without the skill base and the maturity there can
result in a lot of emotional issues, and the kid getting the idea he's
a failure or stupid (i.e. the kid gets stressed, depressed, starts
acting out, hates school, doesn't want to try etc.).

I think you should have an open minded talk with the teacher about
your son's situation, and involve other educational professionals as
appropriate (i.e. have him assessed by someone else, if you don't
trust this particular teacher).

Mary G.

Galbo wrote:


She turned 5 yrs, 2 weeks before cut off date which is September here
in Georgia.
Teacher informed us that she is having lots of problems moving from
one task to another but she is young.
I dont see any benefit of repeating the kindergarten for social skills
which i think she will pick up anyway as she grows.




Depends on what you mean by social. I tend to think that
the whole "maturity" thing can be a bit overblown, and yes,
children will grow, but 1st grade is very different from
kindergarten, in my experience. Much more academic, higher
expectations of self control, etc. Could it be that her
problems with transitions are such that she would have
trouble in the more structured environment that she is
likely to find in 1st grade?

And whether it's entirely teacher decision or parent input
will depend on your state or county.

Lesley

In article NN74c.10144$i76.153861@attbi_s03,
toypup wrote:

"Galbo" wrote in message
. com...
I have a feeling that the teacher is going to ask or recommend us to
get the kindergraten repeated.
Can anyone tell me whether its upto the teacher only or Parents have a
say whether your kids go to 1st grade or not.

My observation is that teacher is not very friendly with the kids and
that is pritty much what my child thinks but has never complained for
the teacher.

It's been a long time, so this may not apply. My teacher recommended I
repeat kindergarten. I would have to say, of the many teachers I've had
over the years, she is the only one I would qualify as racist. I never told
my parents what she would do to me in class, but maybe they sensed it. My
dad did not take her recommendation and I did just fine in elementary
school, often the top of my class. Ask her the reasons she thinks your
daughter should repeat and judge for yourself.

Unless the reason is lack of mental ability, there is NO
reason not to go on. School should be for learning, not
for socializing.

--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558

x-no-archive:yes

(Herman Rubin) wrote:

In article NN74c.10144$i76.153861@attbi_s03,
toypup wrote:

"Galbo" wrote in message
.com...
I have a feeling that the teacher is going to ask or recommend us to
get the kindergraten repeated.
Can anyone tell me whether its upto the teacher only or Parents have a
say whether your kids go to 1st grade or not.

My observation is that teacher is not very friendly with the kids and
that is pritty much what my child thinks but has never complained for
the teacher.

It's been a long time, so this may not apply. My teacher recommended I
repeat kindergarten. I would have to say, of the many teachers I've had
over the years, she is the only one I would qualify as racist. I never told
my parents what she would do to me in class, but maybe they sensed it. My
dad did not take her recommendation and I did just fine in elementary
school, often the top of my class. Ask her the reasons she thinks your
daughter should repeat and judge for yourself.

Unless the reason is lack of mental ability, there is NO
reason not to go on. School should be for learning, not
for socializing.

Wrong answer. There are often perfectly good reasons not to go on and
some of them are social.

My dd#1's third child was born just a few days before the cut-off for
kindergarten. (Cutoff was 1 Sept and he was born 26 August.) She was
going to keep him in private school kindergarten another year. Not
because he wasn't smart enough, but because he was quite drifty and
neither she nor his teachers thought he was ready to sit down and do
first grade work.

However, she moved to England, and there he was in the position of
having by law to be in 2nd grade at his age. Since he hadn't had 1st
grade yet, the private parochial school that they sent him to allowed
him to take that first - as it would have been silly to require him to
go into 2nd grade without having been to 1st grade yet. He proceeded
through the first three grades but his scores were exempted from the
testing that they did as he was a year older.

At the end of third grade, he moved bck to the states, and his mom has
had him repeat 3rd grade. Mostly this is to allow him to get some
more maturity - he's still quite young for his age. But it is also to
allow him to catch up to the things that are taught in the first three
years as a matter of course in US schools that are not taught in GB.
(Like they learn about the kings of England and Guy Fawkes instead of
about the Pilgrims and Abe Lincoln).



grandma Rosalie

(Herman Rubin) wrote:
In article NN74c.10144$i76.153861@attbi_s03,
toypup wrote:
"Galbo" wrote in message
.com...
I have a feeling that the teacher is going to ask or recommend us to
get the kindergraten repeated.
Can anyone tell me whether its upto the teacher only or Parents have a
say whether your kids go to 1st grade or not.

My observation is that teacher is not very friendly with the kids and
that is pritty much what my child thinks but has never complained for
the teacher.

It's been a long time, so this may not apply. My teacher recommended I
repeat kindergarten. I would have to say, of the many teachers I've had
over the years, she is the only one I would qualify as racist. I never told
my parents what she would do to me in class, but maybe they sensed it. My
dad did not take her recommendation and I did just fine in elementary
school, often the top of my class. Ask her the reasons she thinks your
daughter should repeat and judge for yourself.

Unless the reason is lack of mental ability, there is NO
reason not to go on. School should be for learning, not
for socializing.

Usually the kindergarten to first grade transition keys much more on
such things as a certain level of fine motor control, so that they can
handle 1st grade writing, the ability to stick to a task for a minimum
amount of time with the high level of distractions that exist in the
classroom, and the maturity to be away from mommy for a full day
without breaking down emotionally. Socialization may enter into it,
if it is reflected in disruptive behavior.

lojbab
--
lojbab
Bob LeChevalier, Founder, The Logical Language Group
(Opinions are my own; I do not speak for the organization.)
Artificial language Loglan/Lojban: http://www.lojban.org

Thanks for all the quick response.

Teacher mentioned that our kid is having difficulty in moving from
task to task without teacher assistance.

Based on following rules in our county , it seems to me that parents
will not have a big say in deciding whether to hold the child or not.
Teachers in the previous two schools (Pre-K and school before
transfer) rated her the best in the class. Based on that plus her
reading,writing,math skills i dont see any need of holding her in KG.

According to the county school district rules -

[Social-emotional or physical development should not be used as the
sole criteria for retention or placement.

Placement decisions will be made on an individual basis. If a student
is retained in Kindergarten, written documentation of evidence
supporting the decision will be on file in the student's permanent
record.

Every effort should be made to consult with the child's parent(s) or
guardian(s) about the placement; however, the school principal will
have the final authority for placement decisions. The student's
parent(s) or guardian(s) will be notified of the final placement
decision.]

Thanks again