Would you let your average/above average child repeat Kindergarten?

[cats mom]

I think ticktock made a really good point.

DD had a middle school teacher who did a knowledge bowl type competition in his classes every year.
He always grouped the kids by birthdate. While there was always a bit of fluctuation in groups, he swore that in the 15+ years he had been doing it, the oldest group always finished well (though not always 1st) and never finished last and he never had the youngest group finish 1st.
He said the groups generally placed in a pretty predictable pattern.

This was a group experiment and of course individual kids will be a whole other story and it's not scientific by any means - but I thought it was pretty interesting.

So don't just think kindergarten. Look at the big picture.

I know I'm much more comfortable sending my DD off to college at age 18 than I would have been at age 17. She was a borderline birthday and I kept her home that extra year for selfish reasons - but I'm sure glad I did.

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

Good luck with whatever you decide

 

[golfgal]

I am right there with TickTock. My 8th grader is young for his class, summer birthday and while he was fine K-3 by 4th grade it was obvious he was young for his class. It is very common in our town to hold summer, spring and even some Dec birthday's back (with a Sept 1st cutoff). There are kids in DS's class that are about 2 years older then him, which is another issue. Anyway, you will probably be thanking the administrators at that school for having you keep your boys back. I would do it in a heartbeat if I had to do it over again.

When are their birthdays anyway?


My aunt was a teacher in the St. Paul schools for 40 years. Her concept of when kids learn to read, etc. is greatly different then what we see here. It wasn't unusual for her to have 1st graders that still couldn't read at this time of the year. Her experience was that kids weren't ready to read until 2nd grade, but that is also because, as you know, most or at least a LOT of those kids come to school having NO preparation for school. In our school well over 1/2 the kindergartners are reading WELL by the end of the school year and the rest of the kids by Oct or so of 1st grade.

 

[JoyG]

My twins were born in August and the cut-off for our school district is Dec. 1.

This thread has made me feel a lot better. I am leaning in the direction of keeping them back... I really want them to do well and if another year in kindergarten will give them the step up that they need to succeed then so be it.

Even if they don't stay in that school for long, holding them back will make them ahead of the average bear in whatever school they're at.

It is important for me to have them in private school because the district we live in is just not cutting it. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until now how far behind we were!

 

[Disney_1derland]

Well, it depends. Do you intend to ALWAYS keep them in private school or do you intend it as a short term solution to the inner city school issue? For me as a child I went to private school up until 6th grade and then switched halfway through 6th. It was a VERY hard transition and I was so far beyond what the public school kids were doing that everyone hated me.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you're going to always keep them in private school then yes, I would have them repeat. If you're not always going to keep them in private school then no, I wouldn't even start down that road.

As a child the transition back and forth is drastic and hard. When I went to public school I truly did have to 'dumb it down' to survive and instead of it helping me to excel, it condemned me to feel like I had to lower my standards to the point that I just didn't care anymore, nor did I even put effort into anything.

I know not every child will go through what I did, but I've seen it happen to a LOT of the private to public kids.

 

[challada]

Wow! Aug b-days and twins!!! Here in our district the cut off is Aug 31 so all must be 5 at the start (and many folks hold out summer bday kids to six).

As a fellow educator, I can say that kindergarten really is nothing like it used to be. Even in the ten years I've worked in education I have seen a dramatic paradigm shift in what kindergarten should teach and when. That said, it sounds like you are dealing w/transitional difference between "old school" kinder and "new school" kinder.

As a parent, I can understand your concern and would also be hesitant on holding back. However, as others have said, if that's the school you want and that is what the school is asking, the only choice is that school or other school.

Good luck! Whatever your decision may be in this, it will be the right one!

 

[daisyduck123]

Haven't read all of the posts...but here's my opinion...

This school sounds just like a Catholic school in my area.
The kids have to pass a test to get in.
Each grade K-8 has regular classes..but, also has one advanced class per grade.

Back when my DD was in Kindergarten, two of my girlfriends did have their daughters go to this school & enter the Kindergarten program...after having an extra year of preschool, because they knew the school would not accept them for Kindergarten "on time". It worked out fine for these two girls...it also helps that they are quite "small" for their ages.

If the school is that great, & you plan on keeping your kids there...I would probably have them repeat Kindergarten.

 

[golfgal]

My twins were born in August and the cut-off for our school district is Dec. 1.

This thread has made me feel a lot better. I am leaning in the direction of keeping them back... I really want them to do well and if another year in kindergarten will give them the step up that they need to succeed then so be it.

Even if they don't stay in that school for long, holding them back will make them ahead of the average bear in whatever school they're at.

It is important for me to have them in private school because the district we live in is just not cutting it. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until now how far behind we were!

If it helps some, your twins wouldn't have even started kindergarten this year in our town. VERY few people send August birthdays, boys or girls, when they are just 5 with our Sept 1st cutoff. I would think of this year as a 5 year old preschool class for them and send them to the Christian school for kindergarten next year. I wouldn't think twice about sending them to K again in this situation.

 

[RitaZ.]

I think it's not uncommon for private schools to be ahead of public schools. When my oldest was in 2nd grade, we decided to give a local private school a "try". The school definitely had a snooty attitude about it, which I didn't care for. However, we decided to proceed and paid their registration fee, which was non-refundable. DS did take entrance exams to determine where he was academically. His reading levels were above average, but his math skills were lower than what their 2nd graders were learning. The principal suggested getting a tutor for DS to help him catch up. We weren't against the idea of a tutor until the principal said that the tutoring had to be done by one of THEIR teachers. We gave up on that school and lost the $500. Live and learn. We should have listened to our initial instincts.

If you really like the school and feel that this will be a really positive learning environment for your boys, then I'd go for it. Is there another private school that you'd consider?

 

[linfin]

had I let my daughter repeat kindergarten she would not have had to repeat first grade in public school. This september she will be starting 9th grade at a catholic hight school, its funny because public schools are almost always ahead of public schools. They will have a new group of friends and no peers to make fun of them like kids do.

 

[Dznypal]

our kids used to go to Milwaukee Public which has a reputation of being a failing school system (DH is studying to be a teacher and in one of his textbooks it mentioned MPS as an example of a failing school system)

thats where I got that information from and they live up to that reputation

anyway DS was in 4th when we decidied we couldnt take it anymore and put both kids in private (best decision we ever made)

they were both on theA honor rolll at MPS without much effort

in private they still made the Honor roll but really had to work at it

but it was worth every bit of the money and effort-
I would say let them repeat K it wont hurt them and will give them a jump start in their new school

best of luck

 

[NoodlesTheRabbit]

I am a KG teacher in PA. In our public school, my students are reading short vowels, blends, and some long vowel words. They have an extensive sight word vocabulary as well. Our district too has a cutoff date of Sept. 1st. I would have no qualms about them repeating KG.

 

[sammy66]

I just had to come out of lurking to post on this one. I say definitely keep them back a year. Your sons were born in a month where in most cities, they wouldn't have even made the cut off. The extra year will give them the ability to focus and pay attention so much better. I think that the older ones do not get bored, sure the work may come easier to them, but is that so bad?

I am talking from experience, I have done both, and believe me, I could go on and on about the pro's and con's of doing both. And none of them are about intelligence. I just honestly believe that the extra year of kindergarden gives them such an advantage.

 

[MinnieM3]

Really? Long vowels and blends? What kind of school does your son go to? Private? Suburban? City?

That's not in our curriculum. I've looked! That's a shame, b/c if other school districts are doing it, we should be too!

Yes, it's a tough Catholic school. I went there myself and I teach there now. The kindergarten is especially rigorous. First grade is "normal" I'd say; then 2nd is tough and my 3rd is "normal." That changes as teachers change, too.

 

[froglady]

If that's the school you want, you have to abide by their rules.

I'm always interested in seeing the different expectations of students, especially K & 1st grade.

Neither of my children could read until the middle of 1st grade. DD scored a perfect score in reading comprehension on both her SAT & ACT. DS took the ACT for the TIP program this year (7th), and scored in the 99% for reading comprehension. (compared to juniors in HS).

I guess their late start didn't hold them back.

 

[liamandcaili]

In our town, my DS is the youngest child in his 1st grade class. He has a March birthday.

I think that as long as the curriculum is more advanced than what your children are experiencing now, then it is worth repeating. If it is the same stuff they are already doing, they could easily get bored and think of school as a chore rather than a fun place to go, learn and meet new people.

 

[scraptoons]

Just curious, what do you mean by knowing the long and short vowels?

My daughter's public school had the kindergarten reading books by the end of the year. The principle told the parents that they expected our students to be reading at the end of the year. We were expected to help that happen with our reading logs at home.

By the time DD started 1st grade, they were counting words per minute while the student read outloud. DD was reading third grade level mid way thru 1st grade.
We have a very strict state law of Sept 1st cut off. My other DD's birthday is on Sept 7th, they made no exception to the rule. She had to be 5, or no go. So I put her in a private pre-K. she is excited to be the first kid in class to have her 6th birthday when kindergarten starts this fall.

Around here, the private schools are all about status, or whether it's a religious, Christian value thing (which I would choose private for). I haven't heard anyone around here say they choose private school because the curriculm and advancement is better. Maybe that would be the case in the larger cities.

I guess if you wanted them to be in that school bad enough, then you would do whatever it takes for them to go. My husband grew up in Indiana. When he went from a private church school to a public school, he had to repeat a grade. He said it didn't matter to him since it was a new school and non of the other kids knew what grade he was in at the other school.

 

[CEDmom]

Before we decided to move to a top school district we looked into private schools. Our DD is an August baby and they automatically would have held her back since their cutoff is June.

In your situation I wouldn't hesitate. While your kids are doing fine in their current school it doesn't sound like the curiculum is as challenging as it could be. Having them repeat will really help them in the end and no one is going to bat an eye about it. At their young age kids repeat for a multitide of reasons many more emotional/behavioral than academic.

 

[da-winnie-pooh]

Think about high school. Would your kids be better off in the Christian high school, or the inner-city high school?

Since holding kids back a year is such a trend, I don't think repeating kindergarten would be a problem.

A friend has a dd with a July birthday, and she's quite poised and mature for her age (12). She has always done very well in school, but my friend wishes she'd held her out a year, since her friends will be dating a driving a year or close to a year before friend's dd.

I think they'll be fine if they repeat.

 

[JoyG]

Just curious, what do you mean by knowing the long and short vowels?

My boys can read all 3 letter short vowel words like: pup, cat, man, bed, sit, pop, etc...

They can sound out some longer short vowel words like jump, past, etc...

They also know all 25 of their kindergarten sight words which include words like "said, they, you, the"...words that can't be sounded out but you recognize in print.

They don't know long vowel sounds very well so probably wouldn't be able to sound out words like "lake, dude, bite..."

The private school expects them to be able to read words like "scream, scrap, dream" words that have two vowels together, and consonant blends in them.


I said this before, but I wanted to repeat that you all are really making me feel better about this decision. Thanks so much.