Anyone hold back their child a year before kindergarten due to delay?

[Anonymous]

I'm not talking about redshirting kids with late borthdays especially boys. I am talking about kids who should definitely be in kindergarten based on their age (my daughter's birthday is in February). But due to imaturity and mild speech delay, should I hold her back a year and have an extra year of prek?

[Anonymous]

Who does her PreK teacher say? Is this a delay that will eventually be caught up to peers? If so, consider the effects down the line, when she is a typical 7-, 8-, whatever-year-old, in class with students younger than her.

[Anonymous]

I would talk to her preschool teacher and her pediatrician and get their opinions.

[Anonymous]

Well she is amost 3.5 right now so we have time to think about it and maybe the delay will be elss apparent in a few years. But just curious if anyone does this. I would rather have her start later than repeat a year of kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Is she seeing a speech therapist? Is she in a special ed preschool? What do her current teachers/therapists think?

I have a pre-k DS with a speech delay and some social skill issues and I was just saying I was glad he has a November birthday so he gets a little extra time to get caught up to his peers. So I could certainly see doing this if teachers/therapists also thought it was a good idea. But you mentioned a "mild" speech delay so not sure what exactly that means in your case.

[Anonymous]

Well, our situation was somewhat similar in that our daughter had mild delays but also had a birthday (August 25th) that meant she was a good candidate for red shirting. For some kids, the late birthday is meaningless, but it was a big deal for her because she was socially not as mature as her peers, AND she had the speech and fine motor delays. It only made sense in her case to do the exception year and start her at just-6 instead of just-5. I have no doubts a 5 year old kindergarten year for her would have been a disaster that likely would have ended in her being a retention who repeated K the next year. Starting at 6 meant she had the tools to be as successful as possible, which was our goal. We did not want to start her education off in a place of her feeling constantly discouraged and behind.

[Anonymous]

Why aren't you posting on the SN board? Those are the answers you want. We did and are glad to have done so. Kid spent a year in private SN preschool.

[Anonymous]

Mom with a major speech delay. Depends on the child but we pushed forward. The stronger academics and older kids made a good difference. So glad we did not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is she seeing a speech therapist? Is she in a special ed preschool? What do her current teachers/therapists think?

I have a pre-k DS with a speech delay and some social skill issues and I was just saying I was glad he has a November birthday so he gets a little extra time to get caught up to his peers. So I could certainly see doing this if teachers/therapists also thought it was a good idea. But you mentioned a "mild" speech delay so not sure what exactly that means in your case.

OP- she saw a speech therapist for a few months with infants & toddlers but then tested at borderline for the preschool age when it would be taken over by the public school system and i said i would be fine not continuing speech therapy. In her preschool class, her teacher said she is on the lowest end of the class even though she is not the youngest.

I know we have time to watch and wait to see. I am not in a rush for her to grow up and my son was just in Kindergarten so I know what it entails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't you posting on the SN board? Those are the answers you want. We did and are glad to have done so. Kid spent a year in private SN preschool.

OP- well I didn't think to look. Daughter hasn't been diagnosed with anything other than mild speech delay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't you posting on the SN board? Those are the answers you want. We did and are glad to have done so. Kid spent a year in private SN preschool.

OP- well I didn't think to look. Daughter hasn't been diagnosed with anything other than mild speech delay.

Kids with even a mild speech delay can be at risk for academic problems. Sometimes it resolves on its own, and more often it doesn't.

I'd pursue a more clear diagnosis (she's now old enough). Early Intervention never gives clinical diagnoses, so you can't rely on what they told you. If she qualified for your county's SN preschool program it was more than 'mild.'

-BTDT parent of child with speech issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't you posting on the SN board? Those are the answers you want. We did and are glad to have done so. Kid spent a year in private SN preschool.

OP- well I didn't think to look. Daughter hasn't been diagnosed with anything other than mild speech delay.

Kids with even a mild speech delay can be at risk for academic problems. Sometimes it resolves on its own, and more often it doesn't.

I'd pursue a more clear diagnosis (she's now old enough). Early Intervention never gives clinical diagnoses, so you can't rely on what they told you. If she qualified for your county's SN preschool program it was more than 'mild.'

-BTDT parent of child with speech issues

OP - she did not actually qualify for the SN preshool program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she seeing a speech therapist? Is she in a special ed preschool? What do her current teachers/therapists think?

I have a pre-k DS with a speech delay and some social skill issues and I was just saying I was glad he has a November birthday so he gets a little extra time to get caught up to his peers. So I could certainly see doing this if teachers/therapists also thought it was a good idea. But you mentioned a "mild" speech delay so not sure what exactly that means in your case.

OP- she saw a speech therapist for a few months with infants & toddlers but then tested at borderline for the preschool age when it would be taken over by the public school system and i said i would be fine not continuing speech therapy. In her preschool class, her teacher said she is on the lowest end of the class even though she is not the youngest.

I know we have time to watch and wait to see. I am not in a rush for her to grow up and my son was just in Kindergarten so I know what it entails.

get speech therapy privately. It sucks, but borderline means more is needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't you posting on the SN board? Those are the answers you want. We did and are glad to have done so. Kid spent a year in private SN preschool.

OP- well I didn't think to look. Daughter hasn't been diagnosed with anything other than mild speech delay.

Kids with even a mild speech delay can be at risk for academic problems. Sometimes it resolves on its own, and more often it doesn't.

I'd pursue a more clear diagnosis (she's now old enough). Early Intervention never gives clinical diagnoses, so you can't rely on what they told you. If she qualified for your county's SN preschool program it was more than 'mild.'

-BTDT parent of child with speech issues

OP - she did not actually qualify for the SN preshool program.

Try again. We got rejected at 3 and got in at 4. My son has ADHD and actually no speech issues other than "pragmatics" but a social delay.

[Anonymous]

One of the problems with redshirting pre-K especially with an edge case like yours is the child can go without services for an entire extra year. My neighbor had a similar situation and elected to redshirt pre-K. When she had the child evaluated or asked teachers for recommendations, she had to remind them that her child is a year older and "slightly behind her peers" was actually 1yr+ behind where she should be with speech. She eventually ended up getting private services.