Re: Please help me locate a kindergarten for my 5 yr son Ben

[Guest guest]

something is up with but I answered you again and wanted to stress

that yes I still think you should wait till he's after 6. He needs to address

global motor planning issues and in addition I pointed out in the email I wrote

that has not showed up yet that I'd like you to also seek second opinions to

rule out sensory and weakness issues as they are very common in apraxia too.

Instead of seeking names of schools please let us know where you are so others

can provide names of neurodevelopmental medical doctors to confirm or rule out

sensory or weakness (mild hypotonia) so that can be addressed in this extra year

as well. You may not have noticed but in 's messsage she kind of answered

your question as she has a child just turning 6 NEXT WEEK but won't start

kindergarten for him till the fall -so he will be starting even a bit older than

your child. Last I checked nobody after the age of 10 is saying " and a half "

after their age. I mean if your child graduates from HS at 17 vs 18 will anyone

care, notice? No. Will anyone say " oh but he's 18 years 9 months " No. I mean

not for nothing he probably will be more mature for college!

The goal isn't to see if he will do well in kindergarten and follow other kids

there-of course in most cases just about any child here will just like they can

follow kids in the neighborhood or at preschool...but will he continue to be

able to follow kids in 1st grade and up? By 3rd grade (years after

kindergarten) your child will be expected to be sitting upright in a chair for

long periods of time and reading and writing off the board -working more

independently on progressively harder and harder work. Being pulled out becomes

an issue because what class are they missing for therapy? The more time you can

address this prior to the school career the better. Kindergarten again is not

much different than a really good multisensory enriched preschool and sadly if

you check the archives (and again the research

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=8863 & post=58452 & uid=115029735601#post584\

52 ) those that start children that still are impaired in any area at 5 vs 6 in

kindergarten are putting the child at a disadvantage. In your child's case

because you will still need to address his global motor planning issues in the

body and speech.

So just in case my other message shows up later which it may unless it's lost in

-land..I wanted to send this one more time.

One other thing to keep in mind - where I used to live in Warren NJ -there the

parents sent their " normal " kids to kindergarten at 6 vs. 5 for academic and

athletic reasons. Older children if you check the research statistically are

more mature and bigger and more coordinated for sports.

" 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. "

Of course his Holloway's research also includes the negatives of

kindergarten retention vs. delayed entry to kindergarten...again it's all

throughout the archives here and in research.

What happened in my old town in NJ -delaying kindergarten- tends to happen from

what I read in Dr. Holloway's research in more educated, affluent families

And I have another reason why I no longer say " but it's your decision " Oh how I

wished someone saved the politically correct you know what and told me what I'm

telling you. Sometimes you know better -and yes always follow that gut feeling

-but sometimes you just don't know. I am speaking in addition to running this

group and following research from personal experience too. When you have 2

kids and start one at 5 and one at 6 and live to regret for years and years your

decision of starting the one at 5 -I can tell you from experience that I

personally would tell people they don't know what they are talking about if they

disagree- not one bit. My son Dakota and Molly were the two " ADHD " kids in the

kindergarten class- OK so Dakota really was ADHD but Molly was just a year or

more younger than the rest of the class -just like my son....I don't want to go

into all the details as they are in the archives -but please know that I am

saying what I am to save you the grief. Dakota has always been in the

mainstream -genius runs in my mom's side of the family and he tested 99th

percentile in 3rd grade -extremely gifted- but a summmer baby born August 30th

with the attention span of a flea and not mature enough to start when he did.

Poor thing went through too many horrible teachers that yelled and yelled at him

to " PAY ATTENTION DAKOTA " " SIT DOWN DAKOTA " " STOP TALKING DAKOTA " " STOP

PLAYING DAKOTA " . And here I am with a 15 year old who has friends that are all

at least 16 -some 17 years old! What's good about that? Some are into girls

already in a more serious way and my JUST turned 145 year old son is still not

as mature as his friends. Too bright to keep him back once he started and

besides he had too many friends -but oh how I wish someone told me what I'm

telling you.

You get to choose which advice you listen to -we all do. And yes there was one

child I know of from this group that was started in kindergarten at 5 that

continued to do well last I heard -and that was -'s son. She'd

tell you it's fine to start at 5 too. It's all relevant. To me -check with the

majority as that is where the truth lies.

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[Guest guest]

Yes, advice from local parents is always good--where are you again?--and are you

considering mainstream?--do you have the IEP?--We sort of dodged the IEP--she's

due for her 3 year eval now this Spring--and we initially thought we were going

to with until 2010 for kindergarten---but we learned about a good public

Montessori program at a nearby school--visited it--talked to other parents and

we knew that she did NOT belong in special ed as the first IEP decision had

instructed--so we applied for the lottery and she made it in. Had she not we

would have applied thsi year and she would have spent another year in

preschool--which was a small child/teacher ratio at a religious preschool--a

wonderful place for her--loved it--but she was now ready to move on to other

things and her speech/language skills were developing so well y now.

We really fought the school district tooth and nail to get her in an inclusive

preschool program--but truth is--they do not have one and they did not want to

accept that---wanted to put her in a special ed preschool class with 6 ASD

boys--and that was just not appropriate for an apraxic-only girl who needed to

model normal speech and behavior. She's a little behind now on her social

skills--particularly when playing with girls--so I'll be asking for that --I

actually have already contacted the counselor at school and she will try to put

together a girls' social skills group--and She'll get some language/speech in

group (we'll be continuing with the private speech of course--but she now can

benefit some from group language therapy so that will work well for her--I've

learned that I cannot expect OPROMPT from the overburdened school district I am

in and we do have good insurance that covers most of it in the end--after

appeals--but it does cover it in the

end--at 60% out of network and 100% after maximum out of pocket is met--)---and

some classroom accommodations---perhaps repeated instructions when needed, If

she does not answer verbally maybe asking her to point to a picture of what ever

the question was --things like that would help her I'm sure--but overall the

Montessori method seems quite appropriate for her--I have to go observe

more--see if she is independent enough or needs a little more hand

holding--that's' my big fear--but so far so good--she seems to be on target

academically, no real issues yet so it shoudl be going well.

I think a developmental pediatrician eval--would also let you know if your child

appears to have the kindergarten skills and if you can try it out. Also

remember--if you try it and it doesn't work--you can pull the child out and go

back to preschool--and try again the next year--so don't feel too pressured. Or

he can repeat kindergarten....No big deal--as long as he enjoys it, thats' the

most importnat thing. Chances are you'll do the right thing after giving

everything some thought and seeing how your child fits in. I was very nervous

too--but they will always surprise us....

All the best,

Elena

________________________________

From: " Chowder38@... " <Chowder38@...>

Sent: Sat, February 27, 2010 12:58:55 PM

Subject: [ ] Please help me locate a kindergarten for my 5 yr

son Ben

Hi Elena, thanks. I am really looking for the name of schools, in the area that

have programs that are good for and work with children who have apraxia and

motor planning issues. Can anyone make any recommendations that I can visit and

perhaps recommend to my school district?

" Fwd: Please help me locate a kindergarten for my 6 yr son Ben "

May want to read why I say this here:

Research Link / When Children Aren't Ready for Kindergarten

http://www.facebook .com/group. php?v=app_ 2373072738 & ref=ts & gid=

115029735601#!/topic.php? uid=115029735601 & topic=8863

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