I wouldn't assume that they'll let you repeat Kindergarten. I wouldn't hesitate to hold her back another year in pre-K. I'd move her to non language immersion.

Are you set on language immersion? I wonder if she would do better in just one language.

We held our autistic kid (low accomodations but with an IEP) in preK and it was a great decision. Even though your kid may need other types of support, holding them back only gives them more time to catch up. You won’t regret it.

I held one DC back, and every so often circumstances remind me again what a great decision that was. The other I fought and couldn’t convince school to hold back. Regret it so much I didn’t do it before k. Both SN.

Hi op, I am also in Chicago. In case you aren’t aware (and maybe you are…just refuting a pp from above) CPS will not allow children to repeat in K or 1st. If you go private for an extra year of pk4 and then try to enroll in k in cps, your child will automatically be placed in 1st, based on age. So if you want to hold back, you will need to commit to private for the next few years.

I have a middle schooler who sounds similar to your child, and CPS has been wonderful for us. After hoping DC would catch up, we requested an IEP & received one in 2nd grade. Got a full neuropsychological evaluation in 3rd. Turns out my kid has dyslexia. Learning a foreign language is very difficult, as DC is struggling with learning English. Immersion would have been a disaster for us. You can call cps Office of Access & Enrollment to request an IEP evaluation (even if you are planning on staying private, you can still get the eval). 773-553-2060.

My kid is doing great now and testing above grade level. I do think services vary depending on which cps school you are at. We lotteried into a magnet that is well resourced.

Best of luck to you!

Many kids don’t have those skills. Work with her over the summer and find a new school. Get her a tutor if needed.

OP here. That’s what I’m thinking- I should see about repeating kindergarten, rather than pre K. I am starting to feel like taking her out of language immersion school might be best for her. Learning a whole kinder curriculum in another language (not spoken at home) might be challenging for many kids, and certainly for her if she has other barriers to learning.

Anonymous wrote:This is commonly done with kids with SN and even for kids without, and called "redshirting." Do it and don't think twice. I also have a kid with a genetic condition about which nothing is known. You want to extend your kid's time in educational services because it is the only time services will be free. It also reduces the benefits gap between finishing high school and turning 21. There is no downside to this. You will be giving your kid a chance to have an easier time of school in the long run.

I think the question is whether redshirting in PK is the right move given that the extra year won’t involve literacy instruction to the same degree and extra year of K would.

I think your instinct about repeating kindergarten instead of PK could be correct since that is where all the core instruction for reading happens. I also think you should strongly consider moving her to a DCPS that is not immersion so you can be assured they will use phonics correctly.

This is commonly done with kids with SN and even for kids without, and called "redshirting." Do it and don't think twice. I also have a kid with a genetic condition about which nothing is known. You want to extend your kid's time in educational services because it is the only time services will be free. It also reduces the benefits gap between finishing high school and turning 21. There is no downside to this. You will be giving your kid a chance to have an easier time of school in the long run.

OP here. Thank you for your thoughtful replies. I don’t have a team here but I did post in a Facebook group about sped services in Chicago, where we are living. Thank you for the story about your kiddos- and I’m so glad to hear about their positive progress.

I plan to hear what the teachers want to share about their concerns when we meet, and share my concerns. It’s frustrating bc at the parent-teacher conference in March, they thought things were going ok.

This is a long time ago, but I held my middle child back in pre-K. One thing to know that it is extremely rare for a public school to allow a child to be held back once they hit kindergarten, so the decision you make now is absolutely critical. You likely won't have another opportunity unless you move to private school later.

Another thing to know is this. Until the end of second grade, kids are learning to read. Starting in third, they are reading to learn. And, if they are struggling with reading, they will struggle with everything at that point. So if there are any issues with being on target with skills leading up to being able to read that would be remediated by another year in pre-K, then it's wise to hold your child back.

Another thing is that time and repetition isn't the answer for all disabilities. For some kids getting them into school where they can get services through the IEP process is a better alternative to just repeating the same thing again in the same way. Thing is though, if the IEP process isn't yet in place and you haven't done evaluations, it may be too late to get answers in time for your decision.

Last thing. Teachers rarely recommend holding a kid back. That your child's teachers made that recommendation says a lot about her readiness for kindergarten and the need for her to stay in pre-K.

As to my experience. My son was not ready. He struggled academically and also socially. He was so far behind, they didn't know if he'd make it into a regular classroom or whether he would need non mainstream special ed services - he already had an IEP, so this would have just been an adjustment to it. The year made a big difference. He wasn't fine by the time he started, but by middle school he lost his IEP and he became an honor roll student who earned the student award in every one of his classes. I would say that kind of jump it unusual though. Part of it had to do with ADHD so severe he could not function at all until it was medicated. It was like everything he was learning was locked in his head and he couldn't use what he had learned, so his performance was terrible until he was diagnosed.

^ In our district/state, you need to be 3 grade levels behind to get academic services in an IEP after they age out of "young child with developmental disability" category. My mom works in sped in NY and says there he would be getting services even though he is only a little bit behind. So it is worth asking your team.

Does she have an IEP? Typically public schools/sped teachers counsel against retention and advocate instead to provide in-school support. I had similar concerns with my son entering K, but his team was adamant he start, and I didn't want to lose his services, so we did. K actually went well. He couldn't write a single letter or recognize any letter (or number) other than the first letter in his name when he started (after years of high quality preschool, OT, etc.). But he was in the 40th percentile for reading and math at the end of K. He had daily pull outs, etc. With lots of summer tutoring- he hit the 60th percentile in reading at the start of 1st (math was still about 40% ile and writing is his worst area. He has CP).

The bad news is he lost his services in 1st grade (this past year) and has kind of floundered, but we are in an under-resourced state. That said, he would have fallen behind anyway once he got to new learning standards, even if he had done an extra year of pre-K, because he just needs longer than other kids to learn the concepts. I am sending him to a school for learning disabilities next year, but as angry as I am about his lack of support this year, he grew by leaps and bounds in K. He is also socially age level, so I think it was appropriate to start him when we did.

Hi there—

My newly 5 year old is at a language immersion school. She does have a rare genetic disorder that little is known about. She is in pre K4 and is supposed to be entering kindergarten in the fall. Today, her teachers requested we meet to discuss her staying back in pre K4 for a year. She just got to this school in January (but has been exposed to this other language from her past school). Her last school (in an dif city) also had concerns about her. Academically, she struggles a bit- requires a lot of repetition to learn letter and numbers and to write them. Sometimes struggles to count to 20 and say days of the week. Seems to struggle with some memory and attention, but does stay seated and is not disruptive.

Has anyone held their kid back at pre K? Thoughts on your experiences? I would rather hold her back if needed at Kinder, to allow her more time to learn academic stuff. Other hesitations about holding her back at pre K- she is also a tall/big kid and if she stays back now, she can’t stay back in a later grade. We are also contemplating sending her to public school instead, but worry she would not get accommodations since she is fairly high functioning- social, potty trained, can write her name, etc.

Any thoughts anyone can share? Or questions to ask her school about their rec to hold her back? Thanks in advance!

—Struggling, stressed, and scared mom