Repeating a year

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Montessori Teachers Chatboard

Repeating a year

by John Jeffrey

Mar 18, 2014

Just looking for guidance from Montessori teachers out there. My son, who is approaching his sixth birthday, has just finished Kindergarten 3. He is dyslexic and, as a result, is behind with his reading and writing. The class teacher wants him to repeat Kindergarten 3. Most of what I read online warns against this course of action, especially for dyslexic children. What should I do?

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Teacher and parent of a dyslexic son On 3/18/14, John Jeffrey wrote: > Just looking for guidance from Montessori teachers out > there. My son, who is approaching his sixth birthday, has > just finished Kindergarten 3. He is dyslexic and, as a > result, is behind with his reading and writing. The class > teacher wants him to repeat Kindergarten 3. Most of what I > rea...See MoreOn 3/18/14, John Jeffrey wrote: > Just looking for guidance from Montessori teachers out > there. My son, who is approaching his sixth birthday, has > just finished Kindergarten 3. He is dyslexic and, as a > result, is behind with his reading and writing. The class > teacher wants him to repeat Kindergarten 3. Most of what I > read online warns against this course of action, especially > for dyslexic children. What should I do? What you're reading out there - be careful not to take it out of context. What is being said today in the field is this - retention was always the answer in the past but now let's really think it through when we retain a child because we now understand that retention seems an easy answer but is not a sure cure solution. And - dyslexic children often were retained in the past to no avail so if we retain a dyslexic child let's be very careful and very clear as to why we're doing that. The thinking about retention now is cautionary - it is not completely forbidding. All that said, K is the place to hold a child back if you're going to do it. My own son struggled through school - the process of school was not designed with dyslexic students in mind... If I could give him any edge, I would likely do it. I'd also do this. Read aloud to him every day. That helps to enrich his 'language bank'. And have him read everyday but from the easiest books possible - dyslexic children Need the experience of feeling what it is to read and not struggle. In school reading is at the "instructional level" - children are supposed to grapple a bit with reading in school but dyslexic children most often grapple a Lot and they come to believe all reading will feel like grappling. I could write volumes on our family experience with dyslexia - it was a roller coaster journey - there is a lot of ignorance in the world and sadly some of it is to be found among teachers in school. But saying that I'd also say I wish I could have given my son an extra year in K. Modern education has taken traditional curriculum and dropped it down in the grades in a mistaken effort to better educate children. In my day there was No reading or writing in K! We learned our alphabet on the first day of first grade. But that has changed and now children are expected to be reading in K and writing complete sentences- in 1st they'll expect him to be reading chapter books and writing paragraphs and often now they try to teach the 'research paper' in 1st grade. ( you might read a book called Whatever Happened to Recess and Why Is My Child Struggling in Kindergarten?) And the support services they have to offer are often not much. The fundamental issue is - how do they keep up with the expectations of the curriculum when their skills are not developmentally the same as the other children? If you are fortunate enough to have access to a Montessori school, you are fortunate indeed. I did not - we had to make do and what we did - and what my son did - to make do would fill a book. I hope that helped in some way. Warm best wishes to you and your son for the journey ahead.

Mar 19, 2014

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maureen On 3/19/14, Teacher and parent of a dyslexic son wrote: > On 3/18/14, John Jeffrey wrote: > >> Just looking for guidance from Montessori teachers out >> there. My son, who is approaching his sixth birthday, has >> just finished Kindergarten 3. He is dyslexic and, as a >> result, is behind with his reading and writing. ...See MoreOn 3/19/14, Teacher and parent of a dyslexic son wrote: > On 3/18/14, John Jeffrey wrote: > >> Just looking for guidance from Montessori teachers out >> there. My son, who is approaching his sixth birthday, has >> just finished Kindergarten 3. He is dyslexic and, as a >> result, is behind with his reading and writing. The class >> teacher wants him to repeat Kindergarten 3. Most of what I >> read online warns against this course of action, especially >> for dyslexic children. What should I do? > John: Of course, you would be the best judge on what to do with your own child. Trust your gut instinct. I am curious though. How do you know for sure your son is dyslexic? I ask because I have had several children over the years who were developmentally just not ready for reading and writing. I only had two students who were later identified later as being dyslexic, both girls. One girl I only had for her K year, and she was very social and didn't do much in the way of academics. I had had her brother so I knew this was the opposite of him, but I didn't find that too unusual. The other girl I had had since she was 2 1/2 until almost age 7. Both the mother and I shared concerns from the beginning of things that seemed off. She had her tested through the public schools and they wrote her off saying nothing was wrong. She finally had her tested privately after K and that is when they confirmed the girl was severely dyslexic. She was very motivated to want to read and she just had no recall of her sounds, letters and numbers no matter how many times she repeated, tried different approaches sensorially, etc. In public school in first on, she and the other girl both got intensive help through the special education department. Both learned to read after years of that work. In both cases, the fathers were also dyslexic. The mothers were unaware of their spouse's challenges they hid it so well. It wasn't until their daughters were diagnosed that they found out about their husbands.

My own daughter was in my classroom from age 3 through her K year. She turned 6 at the beginning of the school year. She reversed everything in her writing back then. She is a leftie so of course, she mirrored everything. Her first grade teacher in traditional school suggested we have her tested because her reading skills were not on par with most of her classmates. I knew she had some basic decoding skills and I put it off. As the teacher in the other post noted reading aloud to her made all the difference in the world. I started reading chapter books to her at age four and I continued reading novels to her every day through 5th grade. Her listening ability for books way beyond her own skill level was amazing and I am convinced that those years of reading to her was the key. She did not start reading until right before her 9th birthday going into 3rd grade. Something clicked in her brain and her reading took off. In first grade she used to mirror all her numbers up to 100. By the end of the school year, I noticed that she was only reversing her 9's. I mentioned to her that I noticed that she was writing her numbers differently. She said, "Mom, I figured out that when I write them the wrong way, that is the way they are supposed to look". Brains are a fascinating study and we know so little on how they are working in our little ones.

I wasn't sure if you son was already in Montessori since some Montessori schools call the third year Kindergarten. If I felt that my child could benefit from another year of Montessori, I would not hesitate keeping him there. If he is attending traditional school for K, you might find a Montessori that will take a child without previous Montessori experience for that "in between" year. I had several children over the years where we would use that extra year to see if the child was just a late bloomer. Some children can seemingly change overnight in areas that seemed way behind for the age. I had a couple boys and a girl that the parents requested that the child stay with me until age 7, and then they went to first grade. As far as I can remember all those children made the transition fine. As a Montessori teacher, I NEVER thought of having a child stay with me for that fourth year as "repeating". That is the beauty of the multiage classroom.

Mar 19, 2014

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John Jeffrey Thanks for the response...very enlightening and much appreciated. On 3/19/14, Teacher and parent of a dyslexic son wrote: > On 3/18/14, John Jeffrey wrote: > >> Just looking for guidance from Montessori teachers out >> there. My son, who is approaching his sixth birthday, has >> just finished Kindergarten 3. He is dyslexic a...See MoreThanks for the response...very enlightening and much appreciated. On 3/19/14, Teacher and parent of a dyslexic son wrote: > On 3/18/14, John Jeffrey wrote: > >> Just looking for guidance from Montessori teachers out >> there. My son, who is approaching his sixth birthday, has >> just finished Kindergarten 3. He is dyslexic and, as a >> result, is behind with his reading and writing. The class >> teacher wants him to repeat Kindergarten 3. Most of what I >> read online warns against this course of action, especially >> for dyslexic children. What should I do? > > > > What you're reading out there - be careful not to take > it out of context. What is > being said today in the field is > this - retention was always the answer in the > past but now > let's really think it through when we retain a child because > we > now understand that retention seems an easy answer but is > not a sure cure > solution. And - dyslexic children often were > retained in the past to no avail so if > we retain a dyslexic > child let's be very careful and very clear as to why we're > doing that. > > The thinking about retention now is cautionary > - it is not completely forbidding. > > All that said, K is the > place to hold a child back if you're going to do it. My own > son struggled through school - the process of school was not > designed with > dyslexic students in mind... If I could give > him any edge, I would likely do it. > > I'd also do this. Read > aloud to him every day. That helps to enrich his 'language > bank'. And have him read everyday but from the easiest books > possible - > dyslexic children Need the experience of feeling > what it is to read and not > struggle. In school reading is at > the "instructional level" - children are supposed > to grapple > a bit with reading in school but dyslexic children most often > grapple > a Lot and they come to believe all reading will feel > like grappling. > > I could write volumes on our family > experience with dyslexia - it was a roller > coaster journey - > there is a lot of ignorance in the world and sadly some of it > is > to be found among teachers in school. But saying that I'd > also say I wish I > could have given my son an extra year in > K. > > Modern education has taken traditional curriculum and > dropped it down in the > grades in a mistaken effort to better > educate children. In my day there was No > reading or writing > in K! We learned our alphabet on the first day of first grade. > > But that has changed and now children are expected to be > reading in K and > writing complete sentences- in 1st they'll > expect him to be reading chapter > books and writing > paragraphs and often now they try to teach the 'research > paper' in 1st grade. ( you might read a book called Whatever > Happened to > Recess and Why Is My Child Struggling in > Kindergarten?) > > And the support services they have to offer > are often not much. The > fundamental issue is - how do they > keep up with the expectations of the > curriculum when their > skills are not developmentally the same as the other > children? > > If you are fortunate enough to have access to a > Montessori school, you are > fortunate indeed. I did not - we > had to make do and what we did - and what my > son did - to > make do would fill a book. > > I hope that helped in some way. > Warm best wishes to you and your son for the > journey ahead.

Mar 19, 2014

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John Jeffrey Thanks Maureen for taking the time to respond. My son displayed a number of traits common to dyslexic children so we had him assessed by an educational psychologist. While assessing children of this age for dyslexia is an inexact science, the psychologist was convinced he was dyslexia. Another opportunity arose soon afterwards to have him further a...See MoreThanks Maureen for taking the time to respond. My son displayed a number of traits common to dyslexic children so we had him assessed by an educational psychologist. While assessing children of this age for dyslexia is an inexact science, the psychologist was convinced he was dyslexia. Another opportunity arose soon afterwards to have him further assessed with the same result. And yes he attends a Montessori school and the teacher has recommended he repeat Kindergarten 3. On 3/19/14, maureen wrote: > On 3/19/14, Teacher and parent of a dyslexic son wrote: >> On 3/18/14, John Jeffrey wrote: >> >>> Just looking for guidance from Montessori teachers out >>> there. My son, who is approaching his sixth birthday, has >>> just finished Kindergarten 3. He is dyslexic and, as a >>> result, is behind with his reading and writing. The class >>> teacher wants him to repeat Kindergarten 3. Most of what I >>> read online warns against this course of action, especially >>> for dyslexic children. What should I do? >> > John: Of course, you would be the best judge on what to do with > your own child. Trust your gut instinct. I am curious though. How > do you know for sure your son is dyslexic? I ask because I have > had several children over the years who were developmentally just > not ready for reading and writing. I only had two students who > were later identified later as being dyslexic, both girls. One > girl I only had for her K year, and she was very social and > didn't do much in the way of academics. I had had her brother so > I knew this was the opposite of him, but I didn't find that too > unusual. The other girl I had had since she was 2 1/2 until > almost age 7. Both the mother and I shared concerns from the > beginning of things that seemed off. She had her tested through > the public schools and they wrote her off saying nothing was > wrong. She finally had her tested privately after K and that is > when they confirmed the girl was severely dyslexic. She was very > motivated to want to read and she just had no recall of her > sounds, letters and numbers no matter how many times she > repeated, tried different approaches sensorially, etc. In public > school in first on, she and the other girl both got intensive > help through the special education department. Both learned to > read after years of that work. In both cases, the fathers were > also dyslexic. The mothers were unaware of their spouse's > challenges they hid it so well. It wasn't until their daughters > were diagnosed that they found out about their husbands. > > > My own daughter was in my classroom from age 3 through her K > year. She turned 6 at the beginning of the school year. She > reversed everything in her writing back then. She is a leftie so > of course, she mirrored everything. Her first grade teacher in > traditional school suggested we have her tested because her > reading skills were not on par with most of her classmates. I > knew she had some basic decoding skills and I put it off. As the > teacher in the other post noted reading aloud to her made all the > difference in the world. I started reading chapter books to her > at age four and I continued reading novels to her every day > through 5th grade. Her listening ability for books way beyond her > own skill level was amazing and I am convinced that those years > of reading to her was the key. She did not start reading until > right before her 9th birthday going into 3rd grade. Something > clicked in her brain and her reading took off. In first grade she > used to mirror all her numbers up to 100. By the end of the > school year, I noticed that she was only reversing her 9's. I > mentioned to her that I noticed that she was writing her numbers > differently. She said, "Mom, I figured out that when I write them > the wrong way, that is the way they are supposed to look". Brains > are a fascinating study and we know so little on how they are > working in our little ones. > > I wasn't sure if you son was already in Montessori since some > Montessori schools call the third year Kindergarten. If I felt > that my child could benefit from another year of Montessori, I > would not hesitate keeping him there. If he is attending > traditional school for K, you might find a Montessori that will > take a child without previous Montessori experience for that "in > between" year. I had several children over the years where we > would use that extra year to see if the child was just a late > bloomer. Some children can seemingly change overnight in areas > that seemed way behind for the age. I had a couple boys and a > girl that the parents requested that the child stay with me until > age 7, and then they went to first grade. As far as I can > remember all those children made the transition fine. As a > Montessori teacher, I NEVER thought of having a child stay with > me for that fourth year as "repeating". That is the beauty of the > multiage classroom.

Mar 20, 2014

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maureen On 3/20/14, John Jeffrey wrote: > > Thanks Maureen for taking the time to respond. > > My son displayed > a number of traits common to dyslexic children so we had him > assessed by > an educational psychologist. While assessing children > of this age for dyslexia is an inexact > science, the psychologist > was convince...See MoreOn 3/20/14, John Jeffrey wrote: > > Thanks Maureen for taking the time to respond. > > My son displayed > a number of traits common to dyslexic children so we had him > assessed by > an educational psychologist. While assessing children > of this age for dyslexia is an inexact > science, the psychologist > was convinced he was dyslexia. Another opportunity arose soon > afterwards to have him further assessed with the same result. > > And > yes he attends a Montessori school and the teacher has recommended > he repeat > Kindergarten 3. > John: that is great that he was identified this early as that can only help him. I was thinking that there was some kind of special training a Montessori teacher could get to help specifically with dyslexics. I attended a couple workshops many, many years ago and I recall learning about that. There is a training center somewhere in Texas that helps teachers with all sorts of learning challenges. If he stays with his current teacher, she might be able to find out more specifics on that training. Just attending the workshops was helpful to me. I am sorry but I can't remember the name but I was thinking it had the name of a woman in the title of the training center.

With the little girl I had for four years that was later diagnosed with dyslexia, one of the traits we noticed about her early on was some lapses in her coordination, too. She tended to trip easily was one thing I remember. When she was tested by the public school system special ed team, they told the mother that there wasn't anything wrong with the child and it was only "because her shoes didn't fit". ?????!!!!! The girl was also later diagnosed with Tourette's. I am glad that you found a private professional. As you can see although we who know the child better then anyone else, too many times the professionals in the school systems too often don't listen to us (teacher and parent) and make their own diagnosis when they see the child for a few hours at the most. It sounds like you have an important decision to make for the fall.

My question would be for the teacher would be something along the line as to what she could do specifically to work with you or any specialists on addressing his unique needs? Is she saying he is immature for his age as to why he should stay another year, or because of the dyslexia he should stay out of public school for another year? I would think another year even in an enriched school environment would also mean some direct instruction for his specific needs.

You sound like a loving and caring parent and your son is fortunate to have chosen you to be his dad!

Mar 20, 2014

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