Redshirting from Kindergarten

[Nola2]

My DS was born in September. He is also a special need child. Even though his age allows him to be in Kindergarten this coming school year, we would like for him to enter in Prek-4. Does DCPS have a right to force us enroll him into Kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

I think you can apply for a waiver. Does he have an IEP?

I would email Wrights Law and ask, but it's a good resource in general:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/retain.index.htm

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/fape_retention.htm

[Anonymous]

Which school? Some are more flexible than others.

But PP is right - if you have an IEP this can be addressed that way.

[Anonymous]

They can't force you to enroll in kindergarten, but they can prevent you from getting a PK seat. Do you want to enroll in PK4 in the same school as you were in for PK3? What does the principal and teacher say?

We were in the same position and had to go to private PK (and then public K the following year).

[Anonymous]

I think in DC, kids need to be enrolled in a school by the age of 5:

"Regular school attendance is required by DC law for children ages 5 to 18..."
http://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/DCPS%20Parent%20HandbookEnglishweb.pdf

I don't think this necessarily means public school. You could be in private; homeschooling, etc.

If you're interested in pursuing the IEP process for DC:
http://www.earlystagesdc.org

[Anonymous]

You have to discuss it at an IEP placement meeting. Bottom line is that yes, they can say they think K is appropriate. But the IEP process is the place to suss out what would be best for the child.

[Nola2]

We are in the process of the IEP review with ES. We are not yet placed to any school. We do have a recommendation letter from our DS private therapist saying it is best to keep him in PreK-4. We are still waiting to hear back ES's decision. However they are hinting to enroll him to K and see if he can handle it .. Which we think is a disaster.
We would like to know our rights. We want to know if anyone have been in the same situation and what you have done.
Thanks

[Anonymous]

get an advocate

[Anonymous]

Nola2 wrote:We are in the process of the IEP review with ES. We are not yet placed to any school. We do have a recommendation letter from our DS private therapist saying it is best to keep him in PreK-4. We are still waiting to hear back ES's decision. However they are hinting to enroll him to K and see if he can handle it .. Which we think is a disaster.
We would like to know our rights. We want to know if anyone have been in the same situation and what you have done.
Thanks

The public school doesn't like delaying/retaining b/c it costs them more money.

Private schools will often encourage delaying/retaining b/c it makes them more money.

I would email the Wright's Law website and see what they say. If you need someone to make your case during the IEP meeting then an advocate would be a good move but expensive. Would your therapist be willing to attend the IEP meeting and make the case since they already know your kid? You'd probably need to pay for this service.

If the school finds your kid "ready" for K and won't offer you pre-K, do you have a back up plan, e.g., private school/home schooling where he would go?

[Anonymous]

OP - I would go with your gut and do some research on area private kindergarten programs. I would even say a well run day care with a K curriculum would be better then forcing your child into a kindergarten class, especially in DC where depending upon where you live there could be so many kids who have not been tested with varying needs.
Even if you had to find a day care program, you would have the option of half days and working up to full days to get him used to the programming. We have seen two grandchildren in a chain daycare setting with a great curriculum do extremely well. The oldest is heading to K in North Arlington and they are going to be so surprised that she has not been in private programs as she is reading writing and has good command of math facts. We have been very impressed with the curriculum from the beginning. Of course, the actual teacher matters.

Now as the Mom of a young adult daughter who held her back in preschool one year, I can say it was the right decision for her as she went to two different preschool programs, received therapies in local elementary school in the afternoon and we did private speech year-round. She never needed an aide and was able to handle programming by middle school moving among a couple of buildings. We did this to get the full benefit out of a mostly self-contained program with some mainstreaming. If I thought she could have handled full inclusion as is done now, I DEFINITELY would have kept her out because I can tell you from other grandchildren that instruction is "paced" and there is little chance for flexibility. Instruction is also "push down" in that what parents had in first grade is now taught in kindergarten.

Do your research, and I would just say that the money would be well spent to provide your DS with the best solid start to an academic program as possible.

[Nola2]

Thank you all for your advice and input. We know our child better than anyone and we are absolutely sure that he is not ready for K. We will consider talking to advocate. meanwhile we will work in securing on a private prek.

[Anonymous]

NCRC and St. Columba's in DC have historically a good reputation for being inclusive. They are also competitive to get into. You may want to try a summer camp option at the school that you'll have him start in the fall if possible.

[Anonymous]

Waiting a year won't magically make things better. I know from experience. My parents redshirted me because I have Asperger's Syndrome. Guess what? Even being a year older than everyone, I never fit in socially, which makes sense. At 22 years old, there are social concepts that 7 year olds understand that I don't. I could have been help back twice, 3 times, 4 times, however many times, and I still would have struggled socially. Waiting a year did not solve any of my problems. It just delayed them. The same goes for a lot of disabilities. Waiting a year won't magically make things better. It'll just delay his problem. I wish it were as simple as redshirting, but it isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waiting a year won't magically make things better. I know from experience. My parents redshirted me because I have Asperger's Syndrome. Guess what? Even being a year older than everyone, I never fit in socially, which makes sense. At 22 years old, there are social concepts that 7 year olds understand that I don't. I could have been help back twice, 3 times, 4 times, however many times, and I still would have struggled socially. Waiting a year did not solve any of my problems. It just delayed them. The same goes for a lot of disabilities. Waiting a year won't magically make things better. It'll just delay his problem. I wish it were as simple as redshirting, but it isn't.

You have no idea. So, pick up a social cue, stop trolling the SN board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waiting a year won't magically make things better. I know from experience. My parents redshirted me because I have Asperger's Syndrome. Guess what? Even being a year older than everyone, I never fit in socially, which makes sense. At 22 years old, there are social concepts that 7 year olds understand that I don't. I could have been help back twice, 3 times, 4 times, however many times, and I still would have struggled socially. Waiting a year did not solve any of my problems. It just delayed them. The same goes for a lot of disabilities. Waiting a year won't magically make things better. It'll just delay his problem. I wish it were as simple as redshirting, but it isn't.

You have no idea. So, pick up a social cue, stop trolling the SN board.

He's not trolling, he's offering his perspective as an adult with similar issues as many of our children, including the OP's. I appreciate his perspective. It's not easy making decisions in my child's best interests without knowing how he'll think of those choices as an adult.