RE: Retention for one twin???.... [2 Attachments]

[Guest guest]

Hi Sherry,

This is a great topic, you will hear varying opinions. We retained our triplet son Zachary in kindergarten and in first grade. He has always split his day with typical classes and special classes.

What we had in mind was that we allow him to concentrate on learning to read. Many years ago I heard that up to around 2nd grade you are still learning to read BUT by 3rd you are reading to learn.

It wasn’t easy to get him to read when everyone at our school district felt strongly that kids w/ DS do not read at best they learn site words. We did not buy into that idea and with a lot of work he learned to read phonetically so if he sees a new word he can sound it out until he gets it!!! With this as our goal we didn’t want him in a typical class too soon where they hand out work and sheets that he couldn’t figure out? He is now in 6th grade at 13 yrs. of age, he is still the shortest and the many times the most “inappropriate†we have never regretted our choice. His triplet brother and sister move to high school from the middle school and he will alone again, it’s a bummer but it worked for him. They have been there to help him get acclimated, it has 1200 students and Zack fits right in. He has regular Geography, Science, Art and PE if he had not been retained he would not be ready. When the typical triplets have friends over he is “so†not on the same page as they are and he fits more with his 6th grade peers. I am sure there are just as many families that kept heir multiples together. We do so much together as a family and have a family run business so the triplet bond did not suffer which we worried about.

Irene

Zack, Nick, 13

Jake 15

From: The Giffords

Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 5:03 PM

To: multiples-ds

Subject: Retention for one twin???.... [2 Attachments]

Happy New Year Everyone!

I need some input for my preparation in deciding if I should have my Sam with Ds repeat Kindergarten. He is twin to his typical brother Ray and they just turned 6. They attend our "home" school and are in different typical classrooms. Ray is doing very well for his age and in some ways ahead of his peers. Sam is behind in all areas, but doing well adjusting to his full inclusion classroom of 24 kids. He has a one-on-one aid and gets pulled out for all his therapies. So far this year we all have been concentrating on acceptable social behavior and he's doing well with that AND he's even making progress with his academics. His teachers have asked me to consider what I want for him for next year as his IEP meeting will be in March. They aren't sure the 1st grade classrooms at the school will meet his needs academically and foresee him being pulled out of class for resource/therapies much of the day. Going into Kindergarten with Sam's delay, I was already prepared having him repeat kindy to give him an extra year for stature, maturity and academics. I know he'll always be delayed and need his own IEP goals in place, but my gut keeps telling me that if he could have one more year to grow taller, become more expressive with his talking and mature to more of his age level, this will give him the confidence he needs to succeed in an inclusive 1st grade environment. I have already received much feedback from others for and against retention for our kiddos, but need some input from anyone who has been in this "twin" situation when you leave one behind. I figured better to do it now when Sam doesn't know grades.? What were your experiences with repeating those early grades and do you regret any of it. One person told me that there is no research that supports retention for kids with special needs.???? My guys love being at the same school (and so do I) and don't mind at all being in different classrooms. I have subbed in the school district and I haven't found any other alternative program that I'm comfortable with to include self-contained classrooms. The school they are attending has an autistic inclusive program that is usually meant for higher functioning kiddos and only has 1-2 kids in each class/grade.

Thoughts, input & experiences much appreciated!

Sherry,

Mom to Ray & Sam(Ds), 6

school pics attached!

[Guest guest]

HI Sherry

My Sons Neil and both have DS so I

cannot help with the twin issue where one child gets left behind. I can say

though I did not put my guys into kindergarten until they were six years old

and they are now eighteen in grade eleven. We did not have much success in the

public school system because the teachers for one of my sons was not very

accepting of children with special needs in kindergarten and grade one. This

showed in his behaviour so much, he knew he was not welcome. I moved my sons to

a Christian private school when they were nine and I put them back into grade

two where they thrived. They were split up in the classes but came together in

the resource room. One thing I noticed and so did the assistants who have been

working with the boys since they were nine is around 11 or 12 is when they

really started to understand their school work and understood there was a

bigger world out there than just their world. Things started to really click in

the learning with reading, counting, colors and understanding how it all came

together.

I think putting your son back into

kindergarten will help him a lot with not only social skills but it gives him

that extra year of learning at his level. Your son will benefit a lot with

staying back.

I hope this helps and your decision is

made with your feeling good about it all.

Take Care

Caroline Mom to Neil and

From:

Multiples-DS

[mailto:Multiples-DS ]

On Behalf Of The Giffords

Sent: January-05-12 2:03 PM

To: multiples-ds

Subject: Retention

for one twin???.... [2 Attachments]

Happy New

Year Everyone!

I need some input for my preparation in deciding if I should have my

Sam with Ds repeat Kindergarten. He is twin to his typical brother Ray

and they just turned 6. They attend our " home " school and are

in different typical classrooms. Ray is doing very well for his age and

in some ways ahead of his peers. Sam is behind in all areas, but doing

well adjusting to his full inclusion classroom of 24 kids. He has a

one-on-one aid and gets pulled out for all his therapies. So far this

year we all have been concentrating on acceptable social behavior and he's

doing well with that AND he's even making progress with his academics.

His teachers have asked me to consider what I want for him for next year

as his IEP meeting will be in March. They aren't sure the 1st grade

classrooms at the school will meet his needs academically and foresee him being

pulled out of class for resource/therapies much of the day. Going into

Kindergarten with Sam's delay, I was already prepared having him repeat kindy

to give him an extra year for stature, maturity and academics. I know

he'll always be delayed and need his own IEP goals in place, but my gut keeps

telling me that if he could have one more year to grow taller, become more

expressive with his talking and mature to more of his age level, this will give

him the confidence he needs to succeed in an inclusive 1st grade environment.

I have already received much feedback from others for and against

retention for our kiddos, but need some input from anyone who has been in this " twin "

situation when you leave one behind. I figured better to do it now when

Sam doesn't know grades.? What were your experiences with repeating those

early grades and do you regret any of it. One person told me that there is

no research that supports retention for kids with special needs.???? My

guys love being at the same school (and so do I) and don't mind at all being in

different classrooms. I have subbed in the school district and I haven't

found any other alternative program that I'm comfortable with to include

self-contained classrooms. The school they are attending has an autistic

inclusive program that is usually meant for higher functioning kiddos and only

has 1-2 kids in each class/grade.

Thoughts, input & experiences much appreciated!

Sherry,

Mom to Ray & Sam(Ds), 6

school pics attached!

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align=center>

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[Guest guest]

rSherry,

I have twin girls Casey (DS) and Chloe. They were in Kindergarten together. Casey did pretty well her first year but was still very far behind with the rest of the class. The teacher wanted to move Casey on to First grade with her sister but I said no. I didn't think it would be fair to Casey to move her to first grade when she could not read and keep up. I just didn't think it would be fair to her. It turn out to be the best thing I ever did! After Casey's first year in Kindergarten we got her a reading tutor for the summer and started her on Edmark reading program. By the time school started in the Fall Casey was reading! She started her 2nd year of Kindergarten ahead of the class. She has so much more confidence and actually stood in front of the class to read! All the kids thought Casey was the smartest kid in the class! She did very well that year and was able to keep up with her class and was in the top reading group all year. Her teacher told me I was right to hold her back another year and it was the best thing we could have done for her. Casey is now in 1st grade and has all A's and is still able to keep up with the rest of her class in reading and math. She is still pulled out for therapy and for extra math and reading help. By the way we started using Touch Math with her and Kindergarten and now she is able to do addition and subtraction. Edmark and Touch Match are both amazing programs! Our daughter Chloe had a very hard time her first year in Kindergarten with Casey. Chloe thought everyone liked Casey so much more because she got so much attention and had her own Aid and was pulled out for therapy. Chloe started having behavior problems to get more attention. When Casey was held back in Kindergarten for the second year and Chloe moved on to first grade she did so much better. She felt important in her class and didn't feel the need to "compete" with Casey for attention. Both my girls and doing so good in school and I am so happy I listened to my gut and not the teachers. You will know in your heart what is best for each of your children! Good Luck!

Mom to (17, ADD), Collin (14, ADD), Chloe (8) and Casey (8, DS)

To: Multiples-DS From: armygiffords@...Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2012 17:03:14 -0500Subject: Retention for one twin???.... [2 Attachments]

[Attachment(s) from The Giffords included below] Happy New Year Everyone!

I need some input for my preparation in deciding if I should have my Sam with Ds repeat Kindergarten. He is twin to his typical brother Ray and they just turned 6. They attend our "home" school and are in different typical classrooms. Ray is doing very well for his age and in some ways ahead of his peers. Sam is behind in all areas, but doing well adjusting to his full inclusion classroom of 24 kids. He has a one-on-one aid and gets pulled out for all his therapies. So far this year we all have been concentrating on acceptable social behavior and he's doing well with that AND he's even making progress with his academics. His teachers have asked me to consider what I want for him for next year as his IEP meeting will be in March. They aren't sure the 1st grade classrooms at the school will meet his needs academically and foresee him being pulled out of class for resource/therapies much of the day. Going into Kindergarten with Sam's delay, I was already prepared having him repeat kindy to give him an extra year for stature, maturity and academics. I know he'll always be delayed and need his own IEP goals in place, but my gut keeps telling me that if he could have one more year to grow taller, become more expressive with his talking and mature to more of his age level, this will give him the confidence he needs to succeed in an inclusive 1st grade environment. I have already received much feedback from others for and against retention for our kiddos, but need some input from anyone who has been in this "twin" situation when you leave one behind. I figured better to do it now when Sam doesn't know grades.? What were your experiences with repeating those early grades and do you regret any of it. One person told me that there is no research that supports retention for kids with special needs.???? My guys love being at the same school (and so do I) and don't mind at all being in different classrooms. I have subbed in the school district and I haven't found any other alternative program that I'm comfortable with to include self-contained classrooms. The school they are attending has an autistic inclusive program that is usually meant for higher functioning kiddos and only has 1-2 kids in each class/grade.

Thoughts, input & experiences much appreciated!

Sherry,

Mom to Ray & Sam(Ds), 6

school pics attached!