There are many factors for each child, individually, in reaching this decision. We decided to forge ahead because of Nash's peer friends, who he has been with since K, and know and love him (well, most of the time anyway). You can always put your educational needs in the IEP, where they belong anyway. So that being said, here is yet another reason to not hold back... from the IEP_guide yahoo group. The suggestion could be due to NCLB school requirements.
--- In IEP_guide@yahoogroups.com, "S. L. Crum, Ph.D." <able2learn@...>
wrote:
In that case, you can keep your child in Pre-K. But, I would think
very carefully about that before choosing that course of action. It is
usually not a good idea to retain a child early in their educational
career. This is because we are finding nationwide, that many special
needs children are being retained in 2nd grade, in hope that they will
past the 3rd grade NCLB tests for their state. Then, the fail the NCLB
tests and are retained in third grade. That puts them two years behind
age cohorts. The same thing happens in 7th grade when parents are told
to give them "the gift of an extra year to prepare", and then when
they fail the 8th grade NCLB tests they are now FOUR years behind age
cohorts. Add one year of pre-school retention or kindergarten, and
many children are FIVE years behind age cohorts. So, we have children
who are 16 or 17 in middle school! This is not only socially
inappropriate for them. It is socially inappropriate for the non
disabled children. More significanly, the data are clear -- unless
the parents of these children obtain guardianship before the child
turns 16, in many states the child can drop out of school at age 16
without parental consent. The abysmal graduation rates nationwide
show that this is happening at an alarming rate. While districts
report graduation rates in the 80 and 90 percent, they are more often
in the 50 and 60 percent range. That is because most school districts
calculate their graduation rate on the number of 10th or 11th graders
who make it through the system. But, many of our disabled children are
dropping out before they ever reach that level. So, consider
carefully whether your child could go to kindergarten and still
receive a good education. I know it is easy to focus on the here and
now, but, you need to use a mental telescope to look into the future
and project what you think might happen to your child if you do repeat
Pre-K, and if you don't.
Good luck with this difficult decision.
S. L. Crum, B.S., M.S., Ph.D.Special Needs Coachretired, Licensed
Psychologistretired, Nationally Certified School
PsychologistAble2Learn2880 Zankar Road, Suite 203San Jose, CA
95134Voice & Fax: 863-471-0281Email: Able2Learn@...:
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