Should my 6 year old go back to kindergarten?

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NiahShyla asks:

My daughter was born premature weighing 1.6 pounds. Doctors told us to expect developmental delays. When she reached age appropriate milestones like walking, talking and potty training on task with other children I felt relieved. We went thru preschool fine but I started noticing problems early in grade K. She got extra help in school completing tasks in small groups. I thought that we could get her up to par with her classmates if I worked with her a lot at home. She showed improvement and was passed on to first grade. We are just 6 weeks into the school year and her teacher and I agree that she is way behind grade level. She tries very hard and doesn't get frustrated. There are times were simple tasks that should take just minutes aren't completed after an hour. She will look at me and say "Its too hard, I just cant do it. Ive tired everything to break thru to her (books, worksheets, bingo, computer games, flash cards, games, educational videos and video games). Problem areas are:
-Handwriting
-Reading, Writing and Spelling kindergarten sight words
-Identifying Numbers past 10
-Patterns
-Completing simple tasks/Forgetting directions
-Homework takes over an hour

She is a very bright girl. very social. She speaks clearly and has a large vocabulary. She loves learning about animals and repeats facts she has learned in school or on tv all the time.

Does this sound like a learning disability or a developmental delay? Should we put her back in kindergarten?

In Topics: Learning styles and differences, Learning disabilities, Special education

50 days ago

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Expert

Allyn Anderson

Oct 3, 2009

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What the Expert Says:

As a parent I too would be concerned about the progress of my child who is socially bright but having so much difficulty with academic issues. Rather than holding your child back in kindergarten, write a letter to your daughter's principal and ask that the school conduct a child study meeting and request educational and psychiatric testing, which are the first steps towards determining the "causes" of your daughter's learning difficulties. This testing will help to diagnose your daughter's strengths and weaknesses and direct you towards the appropriated educational placement. This process could take six months from the date of your letter. There will be meetings, suggestions, testing, and more meetings. Just know that you are heading in the right direction to help your daughter, and each day will take you a step closer to learning what will help her to become more successful within the educational environment.

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Additional Answers (1)

lravidlearner , Teacher, Parent writes:

You should request the school do a formal evaluation of your daughter. My experience is that children with developmental delays often have learning disabilities as well. However, trained experts in a formal evaluation are the only ones who can tell you if she has a developmental delay or learning disability.

The sooner her condition is diagnosed the better. Many problems can be turned around if they're found and treated at an early age.

In the meantime, the website LearningAbledKids provides parents with resources and ideas for helping their chidren at home:

http://www.learningabledkids.com/

And LD Online has great advice for you about advocating for your child within the school system:

http://www.ldonline.org/parents

Resources:

http://learningreviews.com/jreviews/Learning-Styles-Challenges-Categories/Education/Learning-Styles-a-Challenges/Learning-Disabilities_c156_m48.html

49 days ago

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