Do you remember your days in Kindergarten? You wrote your name, played with blocks, learned your alphabet, and listened to stories. Ah, those were the days. Some of you may not have even gone to Kindergarten because it was not required. Well, we are going to end the dream now, because Kindergarten has changed. There is now much less time for blocks and art and Play-Doh and a whole lot more to learn. This leaves a lot of parents with the dilemma at the end of the year whether to retain their child in Kindergarten or send her on.
First let's consider the many things Kindergartners are expected to know at the end of the year. I won't list everything, but this will give you an idea of how Kindergarten has changed.
*Capital and lowercase letters *Letter sounds *30-50 sight words *Read a Level C book (I will give an example later) *Write a story of at least 3 sentences with correct capitalization, punctuation, and spacing.
*Numbers 0-30 *Shapes such as rectangles, triangles, spheres, and cubes (also being able to build them) *problem solving *days of the week, months of the year, seasons *modeling addition and subtraction
And the list goes on.
Now let's consider some other factors that go into learning. Some children in Kindergarten are almost a year older than other children. You luck out if you have a September-December birthday because you are much more developmentally ready to accomplish the goals above. Unfortunately if you have a June-August birthday, you often have quite a challenge, because no matter how smart you are, there are something things you just are not developmentally ready for. Also, some kids are just more mature in general and more motivated to learn. Others are more interested in playing at this young age. Boys, especially, are less mature at this age. It is often difficult for them to sit still and focus on academic things such as reading and writing.
So we revisit the dilemma. My child is at the end of Kindergarten and struggling. Do I hold her back and let her repeat Kindergarten again or do I push her on and hope that she matures and catches up?
Here is my opinion. (Of course each situation in unique and needs to be looked at on an individual level.) There is no grade better in which to retain than Kindergarten. Even though there is a lot of work in Kindergarten, much of it is done in fun ways. There is still a lot of what children would consider "playing" (even though it is learning through playing). There is also a lot of singing and stories. Kindergarten is just plain "fun" to children. First grade is a different world. While there are still some fun activities, there is much more time spent sitting and working. The jump in levels that children are expected to meet from the end of Kindergarten to the end of first grade is unreal.
Here is an example of a Level C book, which is the end of the year level expected in Kindergarten:
"Where is my hat?' said Ben. (p.1) Ben looked under his bed. "It is not here," he said. (p.2) (Beaver, J. (1997) Where is My Hat? Parsippany, NJ: Celebration Press)
Here is an example of a Level I book, which is the end of the year level expected in first grade:
Gorillas are members of the great ape family. They live in the forests of Africa. Gorillas have strong, heavy bodies. They can walk on two legs like people do. Most of the time they walk on their feet and hands (p. 1). (Freed, K. (2003) Gorillas. Tuscan, AZ: Reading A-Z)
Do you see why it is difficult to think that 1st grade will give a child time to "catch up"? I am not saying it is impossible, but I hate to see children struggle every year always coming up just short of the goal. Unfortunately, children are very perceptive. They figure out real quickly who is "smart" and who is not. Of course they do not understand all the other things going on. They just know that Johnny can read what the board says but they cannot. Repeating Kindergarten can be a really powerful thing when done correctly. First of all, the struggling child with low self-confidence suddenly becomes the leader. She knows the school, knows a lot of routines, and can model a lot of behaviors that are expected. She is suddenly looked at as the "smart" child. If the teacher does a good job, it is possible to reverse the low self-confidence. At the same time the retainee gets the chance to review skills she may be shaky on and gets another chance to learn the skills she didn't know before. She also is given the chance to grow up a little bit more. All the while she is having fun at the same time.
Here are some things to keep in mind. You have to be 100% committed to the idea. If you convey a negative message to your child about retention, she will have a negative view about it. For instance, retention is not because your child is stupid or because she was bed. Retention is to give her a little more time to learn some more things since everyone learns at a different pace. Also just know that this decision is going to be difficult at first for your child. All she will think of is that her friends will be in a different class and she will still be in Kindergarten. I have seen many children go through this, but after a week or so in Kindergarten they are comfortable with their new friends and don't really have much of a stigma. Children are so much more resilient at this age. Retention will be a much bigger deal at an older age when friendships are more established and peer pressure is much more prevalent.
I know this decision is very difficult, but it can be one of the most important decisions that you will have to make as a parent. If you would like to share a specific case with me, I would be happy to listen and give any advice I have.
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