I had an SAT meeting the other day for my five year old son. No, he's not a genius preparing to take his college entrance exams early. SAT stands for Student Assistance Team. A group of school faculty and the parent meets to discuss a students possible retention.
My little guy is a "young" 5 year old kindergarten student who didn't have any preschool experience. While he's definitely shown improvement from the beginning of the year to the middle (More than doubled most of his scores, I'm so proud!) he's still not up to par with what they expect. He knows a lot of the information but apparently isn't mature enough to translate it into a written form.
I knew going at the beginning of the year he might have to repeat kindergarten. I was actually prepared to enroll him into preschool for this school year but his would be principal rejected the idea and said it would be best if he had two years of kindergarten. Also, we moved and his new school's preschool program was full.
My main concern is that he not feel like a "loser" because he's behind the rest of his class. I'm afraid that might result in self esteem issues that will hinder his education. I know that at this young age it's highly unlikely but it's still a possibility. I'll need to be sure to offer him extra encouragement and praise for his accomplishments. He really has come so far considering he has slight ADHD. He may not be a genius but he's one smart cookie (he likes to be called that, don't know why)!
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Are you sure you aren't talking about my kid? Sound identical to my "young" 5 year old guy. I'm seeing him to start to change now. Parent Teacher Conference didn't go good this week. He's a smart kid, but they want me to have him tested for ADD or ADHD. I think he's a 5 YEAR OLD BOY!?
ReplyDeleteMy oldest son repeated kindergarten and it was the best thing for him. He is now a thriving 3rd grader. When we were trying to make this decision, my husband brought up the fact that throughout his school years he was very immature. He thought that it would have done a world of good if he had repeated kindergarten. Just don't medicate! Good luck.
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