DownSyn Forum

hopesmom · Posted: February 13 2009, 9:26 PM Post subject: Kindergarten

Hope turns five in March and I was wondering how many have put their child in Kindergarten instead of opting for 3 years of pre K and if you did, did you have your child repeat Kindergarten? How many of you who have done this regret it and how many were happy with it What would you do differently if you were happy with it or not?

Sorry but making a decision and wanted to know.

Debra

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Debra wife to Rob and mom to Shawn, Joel, Isaac, Jeremy, Amy, Kaylyn, Becca, Carmen, Jason, Leah, Jarod and Hope sporting those designer genes

burnsun · Posted: February 14 2009, 12:42 AM Post subject:

We did not get the option to stay in Pre K....... but we have done the KGTN repeat. It has worked well with Colin & Melea. It is the plan I have for Eliza unles she suddenly takes off after her first year. Her Transition IEP is soon!

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ecki · Posted: February 14 2009, 9:34 AM Post subject:

We don't have the option of keeping Kayla in PreK either (unless we pay for it ourselves AND pay for therapies) because the county funds 3 - 5, and the school district funds 5 up, so of course the county wants to hand the kids over to the school district as soon as possible!

Kayla will be in a special ed school, so we probably won't repeat Kindy. You only have 3 years of "do-overs" since our kids can stay in school until 21. I think we'd rather use those years later, when we know what we need to work on for her to be as independent as possible.

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hopesmom · Posted: February 14 2009, 10:06 PM Post subject:

Friday, I got a note that said they would go with whatever I want to do. That was so weird. In Iowa Kindergarten is not manditory so I was told either she could be retained if we so chose. I am begining to wonder if they found out she could not repeat pre-k?

Not sure but wanted to see what others say. Thanks so far for the responses.

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Debra wife to Rob and mom to Shawn, Joel, Isaac, Jeremy, Amy, Kaylyn, Becca, Carmen, Jason, Leah, Jarod and Hope sporting those designer genes

marlene · Posted: February 14 2009, 11:45 PM Post subject:

We DO have that option in PA. My daughter turned 5 two weeks ago and she will be going to kindergarten in the Fall. However, I have 2 "ifs". IF Aleena's birthday was later in the year, say April/Mayish, I would probably wait and IF Aleena wasn't so big, physically, I would wait. As it stands, if we waited, Aleena would be turning SEVEN in the middle of her kindergarten year. Aleena's height is at the 50% and her weight is above the 50% on the typical chart. She is taller than most of the kids in her preschool class. That is another reason I've decided not to wait. That may be a silly reason, but hey . . .

So, we're in the same boat. I know you are looking to children who have "been there, done that", but I thought I'd share anyway. Let us know what you decide to do.

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hopesmom

I am glad to know I am not the only one going through this and will take all the advice and thoughts I can get. Thanks so much. Hope is physically ready for kdg. She writes her name, knows 16 of her phonetical sounds that is up from three in Oct. Knows her alphabet and can rote count to 6 and match numbers to how many also. To me she will be bored in pre k for a third year. I just don't know what everyone else is thinking, doing or done. Thanks for the answers. I treasure them all.

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Debra wife to Rob and mom to Shawn, Joel, Isaac, Jeremy, Amy, Kaylyn, Becca, Carmen, Jason, Leah, Jarod and Hope sporting those designer genes

JanAndFamily · Posted: February 18 2009, 8:54 AM Post subject:

You said in your last post that you think she'd be bored in Pre-K for another year, and it does sound like she knows a reasonable amount of what children entering K need to know (not sure what all exactly the list includes, but I'm impressed that she can write her name!).

Research all shows that children with DS who are mainstreamed will rise to higher academic levels (not to mention social etc.) than those who are segregated into special ed classes. I would guess this is because they rise to the challenge of what their peers are doing. Therefore I can only assume that the same principle would apply here - leave her in pre-K and she may remain at a pre-K level, but let her go into K and she will likely advance in many ways.

That said, you're her mom and may know of other factors that would influence your decision the other way, but my advice would be to go for it!

Jan

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hopesmom · Posted: February 18 2009, 8:35 PM Post subject:

Thanks so much for your reply. I appreciate everyone that has replied. I just get so suspecious about everything and wonder why the turn around. I would love to have any research that you have found about the advantages of sending the student on.

Thanks again
Debra

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Debra wife to Rob and mom to Shawn, Joel, Isaac, Jeremy, Amy, Kaylyn, Becca, Carmen, Jason, Leah, Jarod and Hope sporting those designer genes

mackenziesmom · Posted: February 24 2009, 11:38 AM Post subject:

Mackenzie started kindergarten at 5 and repeated it again this year at 6. I wanted to keep her preschool an extra year. They had said she doesn't have to start until 6 but then they might try to stick her right into grade 1. So i wanted her to get 2 years of K rather than 1 year of preK than kindergarten or straight to grade 1. Good luck it is such a hard a decision.

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Proud Parent · Posted: March 06 2009, 1:45 PM Post subject: Reply

In Georgia there is not the option to repeat pre-k. I would say to save it for Kindergarten! Good luck. You have a hard decision to make.

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