Guest guest Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 Nati tell me if you need more -I pulled this from the fb http://www.apraxia.org page Research Link / When Children Aren't Ready for Kindergarten H. Holloway How can schools promote the achievement of children who are old enough to enroll in kindergarten but who are not developmentally ready to succeed? Two approaches that parents and schools commonly use are delaying the child's entry into kindergarten and retaining the child in kindergarten for an extra year. Giving children an extra year, whether through delayed entry or kindergarten retention, makes sense in view of the ample research suggesting that the youngest children tend to lag behind their classmates. West, Denton, and Reaney (2000) found that in the spring of their kindergarten year, younger children had lower reading and mathematics knowledge and skills on average than did their older counterparts. These researchers also found that older kindergartners were more likely to persist at tasks, more eager to learn, and better able to pay attention. Delayed Entry Versus Kindergarten Retention To avoid the disadvantage suffered by younger students, some parents choose to delay the entry of their children into kindergarten. Zill, Loomis, and West (1997) found that children whose kindergarten entry was delayed so that they started kindergarten when they were older performed better than their younger classmates in grades 1 and 2. These researchers concluded that the extra year before starting kindergarten does not harm the children who are held out and may help most of them. In contrast, the researchers discovered that children who repeated kindergarten were doing worse than their younger classmates on most school performance indicators by 1st or 2nd grade. For instance, two- thirds of the retained students had received some negative feedback from teachers compared with less than half of the nonretained students. The retained students were also much more likely to have problems concentrating, to perform below their capabilities, and to act up and disrupt the class. Zill, Loomis, and West concluded that repeating kindergarten had not helped those children and may have actually made matters worse. Reasons for the Differences What explains the difference between the school performance of delayed-entry children and those who repeat kindergarten? Both groups of students are older than most of their classmates, so why don't the beneficial effects of being older apply to both groups? Some possible answers are that The underlying developmental problems of the two groups may differ. The two groups may have different socioeconomic backgrounds. Parents who choose to delay their children's school entry may have a higher level of awareness and involvement. The stigmatizing effect of being required to repeat a grade may harm children's academic progress. Educational Leadership, " When Children Aren't Ready for Kindergarten, " H. Holloway, Volume 60, Number 7 (April 2003), pp. 89-90 ~~~~~~~~ The above is a clip of the original which is now hard to find online. One source of this article is here http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.js\ p?_nfpb=true & _ & ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ666037 & ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=n\ o & accno=EJ666037 There is such a myth for those that don't know of " he's so smart I don't want to hold him back " or " I don't want him to be bored " but statistically even at our private group over a decade there are just a few rare exceptions that started their child at 5 in kindergarten (even after knowing all the data) who did well. There is no stigma to having a child skip a grade up; however as we know there is one to holding back. The goal isn't just mainstream kindergarten -it's to have them start in the mainstream and stay and excel there. As you pointed out Lysa, in the long run delaying kindergarten ends up to be one of the best things you can do educationally speaking. Far too many speech impaired children are started in kindergarten at 5 years old in a self contained learning disabled classroom placement. Most parents don't believe their child should be in this placement but don't fight it as much as they should. Ask the stats on how many children go from this placement to the mainstream. From what I have seen over the years; first the schools give on on the child, then the parents, then the child gives up on themselves Just because a child has a communication impairment does not mean they are learning disabled. I've noticed in my son and now we know as a group that " late talkers " appear to have phenomenal recall unlike other preschool children who talk in some cases nonstop. Perhaps because our " late talkers " have to remember what they want to communicate until they can figure out how to get it across in a nonverbal way? If aware of this you can use this to help in early years with math, reading and other facts. For example; memory comes in very handy when " teaching " the differences between their, there, and they're. When you start your child at 6 years old in kindergarten as many in our private group do now, you are not withholding education; you are still providing that but while you also provide an extra year of intensive appropriate therapy as well as an extra year of developmental time. In our group the majority (like the majority) do average to even above average work. If the child has a more severe speech impairment such as apraxia there tends to be a lag in some of the language areas of education ...but it's developmental because when worked on almost all find over a years gain in less than a years time. Outside of that these children over the school years tend to blend just like any other child in some subjects and excel in others. These children are breaking the myth of the LD communication impaired child -and it is a myth. Not only is this great for these children and their families; but financially speaking think of how much money this is saving the tax payer! Statistically speaking most children with communication impairments tend to be boys -and for athletic reasons as well, especially with a child that has a motor planning or weakness issue, having that extra year of therapy and developmental time in this aspect is also a plus. From 5 to 6 years old most boys will grow a bit taller and more coordinated. In fact in a town where I used to live in NJ not far from NYC many of the educated parents used to retain their son in preschool until 6 years old just for athletic reasons down the road...and these were boys that were not in any way special needs! I'm all for special needs multisensory enriched preschool placement with appropriate therapy up till 6 years old..but from 6 years old on I'm also for mainstream K-12. At least as one wise professional told me " give the child the benefit of the doubt. Start in the mainstream and if for whatever reason they can't make it there then pull them out and place them in a self contained LD placement " Don't believe that my son Tanner was any different then the rest. http://cherab.org/information/familiesrelate/letter.html The only difference is that my husband and I fought like crazy against stereotypes and inappropriate classification or placement. As I say all the time -learn your child's rights and advocate for your child too. Because if you don't chances are nobody else will. Years from now down the road someone is going to right, but if you provide your child with the best chance possible for success you'll never have to look back to " if only " That to me is getting back to the topic of this thread; Delaying kindergarten until 6 years old for a speech impaired child according to anecdotal evidence and the research study above provides the best chance possible for success. Who cares if a child is 17 or 18 when they graduate HS?! I care more that my children graduate HS with a HSE (high self esteem). Remember who is hurt most is hurt most by stereotypes and inappropriate placement and therapies; A child that can't yet speak up for himself. ===== Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2009 Report Share Posted December 14, 2009 I delayed Kindergarten for my three who would have started this past September. My girls are in integrated preschool classes that last year where strictly special needs. My son is in a class for children with autism--he is severely globally dyspraxic/apraxic. So they are getting services. Our district also has a support class for special needs kids in kindergarten that are mainstreamed. But I still wanted to keep them back for the year. For us this was the best choice and their teachers supported it. I agree the prev post about checking out the school. The more info you have, the better choice you can make! ~ > > In our school district it was mandatory to follow the rules of moving > to kindergarten when the child is 5. I was so against it since my > daughter was a July birthday and was considering getting a lawyer and > fighting it. You know what? I am so thrilled she went! Our district > has a special Ed kindergarten for speech and cognitive delays. We are > so happy with the program, the ratio and staff. Before you decide, go > look at what the school district can offer. You never know!! > > Stefanie > > H 234 0878 > C 552 0350 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2009 Report Share Posted December 16, 2009 This is perfect! Thanks for the replies and sharing your experiences. Nati > > > Nati tell me if you need more -I pulled this from the fb http://www.apraxia.org page > > Research Link / When Children Aren't Ready for Kindergarten > > H. Holloway > > How can schools promote the achievement of children who are old > enough to enroll in kindergarten but who are not developmentally > ready to succeed? Two approaches that parents and schools commonly > use are delaying the child's entry into kindergarten and retaining > the child in kindergarten for an extra year. > > Giving children an extra year, whether through delayed entry or > kindergarten retention, makes sense in view of the ample research > suggesting that the youngest children tend to lag behind their > classmates. West, Denton, and Reaney (2000) found that in the spring > of their kindergarten year, younger children had lower reading and > mathematics knowledge and skills on average than did their older > counterparts. These researchers also found that older kindergartners > were more likely to persist at tasks, more eager to learn, and > better able to pay attention. > > Delayed Entry Versus Kindergarten Retention > To avoid the disadvantage suffered by younger students, some parents > choose to delay the entry of their children into kindergarten. Zill, > Loomis, and West (1997) found that children whose kindergarten entry > was delayed so that they started kindergarten when they were older > performed better than their younger classmates in grades 1 and 2. > These researchers concluded that the extra year before starting > kindergarten does not harm the children who are held out and may > help most of them. > > In contrast, the researchers discovered that children who repeated > kindergarten were doing worse than their younger classmates on most > school performance indicators by 1st or 2nd grade. For instance, two- > thirds of the retained students had received some negative feedback > from teachers compared with less than half of the nonretained > students. The retained students were also much more likely to have > problems concentrating, to perform below their capabilities, and to > act up and disrupt the class. Zill, Loomis, and West concluded that > repeating kindergarten had not helped those children and may have > actually made matters worse. > > Reasons for the Differences > What explains the difference between the school performance of > delayed-entry children and those who repeat kindergarten? Both > groups of students are older than most of their classmates, so why > don't the beneficial effects of being older apply to both groups? > Some possible answers are that > > The underlying developmental problems of the two groups may differ. > > The two groups may have different socioeconomic backgrounds. > > Parents who choose to delay their children's school entry may have a > higher level of awareness and involvement. > > The stigmatizing effect of being required to repeat a grade may harm > children's academic progress. > > Educational Leadership, " When Children Aren't Ready for Kindergarten, " H. Holloway, Volume 60, Number 7 (April 2003), pp. 89-90 > ~~~~~~~~ > The above is a clip of the original which is now hard to find online. One source of this article is here > http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.js\ p?_nfpb=true & _ & ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ666037 & ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=n\ o & accno=EJ666037 > > There is such a myth for those that don't know of " he's so smart I don't want to hold him back " or " I don't want him to be bored " but statistically even at our private group over a decade there are just a few rare exceptions that started their child at 5 in kindergarten (even after knowing all the data) who did well. There is no stigma to having a child skip a grade up; however as we know there is one to holding back. The goal isn't just mainstream kindergarten -it's to have them start in the mainstream and stay and excel there. > > As you pointed out Lysa, in the long run delaying kindergarten ends up to be one of the best things you can do educationally speaking. Far too many speech impaired children are started in kindergarten at 5 years old in a self contained learning disabled classroom placement. Most parents don't believe their child should be in this placement but don't fight it as much as they should. Ask the stats on how many children go from this placement to the mainstream. From what I have seen over the years; first the schools give on on the child, then the parents, then the child gives up on themselves > > Just because a child has a communication impairment does not mean they are learning disabled. I've noticed in my son and now we know as a group that " late talkers " appear to have phenomenal recall unlike other preschool children who talk in some cases nonstop. Perhaps because our " late talkers " have to remember what they want to communicate until they can figure out how to get it across in a nonverbal way? If aware of this you can use this to help in early years with math, reading and other facts. For example; memory comes in very handy when " teaching " the differences between their, there, and they're. > > When you start your child at 6 years old in kindergarten as many in our private group do now, you are not withholding education; you are still providing that but while you also provide an extra year of intensive appropriate therapy as well as an extra year of developmental time. In our group the majority (like the majority) do average to even above average work. If the child has a more severe speech impairment such as apraxia there tends to be a lag in some of the language areas of education ...but it's developmental because when worked on almost all find over a years gain in less than a years time. Outside of that these children over the school years tend to blend just like any other child in some subjects and excel in others. These children are breaking the myth of the LD communication impaired child -and it is a myth. Not only is this great for these children and their families; but financially speaking think of how much money this is saving the tax payer! > > Statistically speaking most children with communication impairments tend to be boys -and for athletic reasons as well, especially with a child that has a motor planning or weakness issue, having that extra year of therapy and developmental time in this aspect is also a plus. From 5 to 6 years old most boys will grow a bit taller and more coordinated. In fact in a town where I used to live in NJ not far from NYC many of the educated parents used to retain their son in preschool until 6 years old just for athletic reasons down the road...and these were boys that were not in any way special needs! > > I'm all for special needs multisensory enriched preschool placement with appropriate therapy up till 6 years old..but from 6 years old on I'm also for mainstream K-12. At least as one wise professional told me " give the child the benefit of the doubt. Start in the mainstream and if for whatever reason they can't make it there then pull them out and place them in a self contained LD placement " > > Don't believe that my son Tanner was any different then the rest. http://cherab.org/information/familiesrelate/letter.html The only difference is that my husband and I fought like crazy against stereotypes and inappropriate classification or placement. As I say all the time -learn your child's rights and advocate for your child too. Because if you don't chances are nobody else will. Years from now down the road someone is going to right, but if you provide your child with the best chance possible for success you'll never have to look back to " if only " That to me is getting back to the topic of this thread; Delaying kindergarten until 6 years old for a speech impaired child according to anecdotal evidence and the research study above provides the best chance possible for success. Who cares if a child is 17 or 18 when they graduate HS?! I care more that my children graduate HS with a HSE (high self esteem). > > Remember who is hurt most is hurt most by stereotypes and inappropriate placement and therapies; A child that can't yet speak up for himself. > > ===== > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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