Why does transitional 1st grade bother me so...

You’re caught in the middle of a social expectation that is impossible for a very large number of kids. There is theory A, that school is a socializing experience and that children should be with their age peers and that therefore kids should all be the same age in the same grade; and then there is theory B, that school is for academic training and kids whould be working at the same academic level in each grade. Obviously, if your child’s academic level and age/social level are not in exact sync with the mythical average, you’re going to have trouble. It’s a problem for kids who are ahead as well as those who fall behind.
Is your child the *only* one being recommended to stay in the transitional class, or are other nearly- seven-year-olds possibly there too? If this is judged fairly on academic level you would expect one or two others, so she wouldn’t stand out so much.
Seriously, looking at the academic side of things, this idea of having a transitional class is wonderful. It is so much better than the “sink or swim” method that most kids are treated to; your child would actually be taught needed skills instead of being left to fail and give up hope.
Yes, you are right, if she is that much older and taller, the social issues are a question. No easy answers here.
Her level, knowing letters but not putting them together, mixing capital and lower case, reversing, is *normal* for kindergarten, well withiin the average range. However, in a Montessori school where kids get earlier instruction than most other schools, she may well be behind the rest. If she goes into the Montessori Grade 1 she may be quite lost.
One option is to send her to another school that is not so demanding on young students. However, that opens another can of worms.
Another option, and one I would look at seriously, is getting her good intensive tutoring over the summer and continuing after school into the fall so that she can jump back into the regilar Grade 1 class as soon as possible, or 2 next year.

I don’t have any answers but just wanted to tell you that my son’s fourth grade teacher told me that when they had a transitional class (between K and first) they had far few kids with difficulties in fourth grade. A transitional class is not repeating K but working with kids who have been through k but are not up to speed for first grade.

As for your tears, I think we as parents have expectations for our kids—and there is no doubt that our own ego is in there somewhere. You have to figure out what is best for her, and try to separate yourself from the situation. Remember, she is a special little girl. Academic achievement, or lack thereof, is only a small part of her. And she will take her cues from you—and how you frame things.

Beth

and this is really the only solution is to send her to the LD school. We live in a rural area where there are no tutors who could just jump in there right away without having to take some training first. I’ve even checked the other small towns around us. We live an hour away from an area where there are programs like LMB, other tutors, etc. so we think it is better to have her at the school where she will be getting it all day long. It will be a shorter day for her this way.

Suzi

T1 was described to me as the first half of 1st grade and then 1st grade would be the 2nd half of 1st grade. I know T1 is common in the “better” private schools around here bec the curriculum is so difficult all the way through, the schools want to be sure the kids have a good foundation. I’m not sure if that’s the same theory for Shelton, but it’s what Greenhill told me.

… statistically speaking, it’s the boys who appear younger and the girls who appear older who have the most social difficulties on down the line.
That ‘s by far not the only thing I’d be thinking about — but don’t let anybody tell you that it flat doesn’t matter.
Drop in at http://www.cdl.org for lots of ideas about retention and lots of reasons why it’s being overdone. Let’s face it, with high stakes testing, if more kids are older when they take ‘em, the school will look like they’re teaching more, hiding that it’s really just taking htem longer.

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This is a specialized school for LD kids? What grade does the school start at? If this is the “first” grade in the school, what grade do these kids go to next? 2nd grade? Because repeating 1st grade in a special school does not make sense at all. Yes, public schools and prep schools have K-1 transition classes for kids who are immature, a bit slow, or who need intensive work that year, then they should go on to the next grade. I would not pay tuition for a K level class with 5year olds, when your daughter should be in 1st grade with LD instruction. Do kids spend more than one year in this transition class? Make sure you observe the class before school gets out this yr., so you will know for the fall.

working with her yourself, using “Reading Reflex”? Many parents have been successful teaching reading with this book. If nothing else, it would give you good insight into the pre-reading skills your daughter needs to develop. Your library may have a copy, and it’s widely available in bookstores.

Also, I want to mention that the writing difficulties (and possibly reading) could be related to an undiagnosed vision problem. Regular eye exams do not check for developmental vision delays. I would suggest checking out the information at http://www.childrensvision.com

Nancy

She’s very oppositional with me when it comes to doing anything educational. I can’t even persuade her to do her Earobics computer games on most days. Even if I could figure out how to make her do it, I also have a 2 year old who wants my constant attention. I think she would just do better with someone else.

Suzi

I don’t mean to be too suspicious, but private schools are in the business of making money on your child. It reminds me of my friend who had an autistic son in a private school teaching Abeka (SP?). They had him in Abeka (advanced curriculum) and had him in a “special” class for developmental delays to the tune of $450.00 month (NOT including the tuition). He failed K-5 x2! They were still collecting. She pulled him out this year and put him in public school and got a decent IEP and she continues to pay for private help (which she was also doing when he was attending private school).

Be careful. My daughter didn’t know but a handful of words in 1st grade, couldn’t copy from the board, couldn’t rhyme, read, etc. (She had to be tutored to pass). We provided outside remediation, kept her in public school and she has surpassed our expectations.

Just wanted to remind you that private schools are a business FIRST.

No guarantees, but sometimes there are people out there. One thing you can do is to check into the following resources and see if there is someone willing to travel - I travel up to an hour to see some of my students.

Here’s the general list of places to start looking for a tutor:

Here is a list of places online and physical that can refer you to paid
tutors in your area. BUYER BEWARE - you MUST check out these tutors in
person — the internet (or other) service just lists them without being able to
verify either safety or competence.

a. Go to ISER.com (Internet Special Education Registry). Both education
centers and private tutors are listed here.

b. Go to the IDA (International Dyslexia Association) bulletin board,
go to the side of the bulletin board, click on Branch Services, find
the email or (more likely) phone of your state/country IDA branch, and
contact them looking for tutors in your area; they maintain a list. If
your local does not respond, try again and then try the central office.

c. Contact the Association of Educational Therapists for a qualified
tutor in your area. Call them at 818-843-1183 (California) or
www.aetonline.org

d. Some colleges and university departments keep lists of tutors. This
is common in math departments, sometimes found in education
departments, and sometimes in job placement offices.

Colleges and universities also have physical bulletin boards where
tutors post their phone numbers.

e. Tutors often advertise in local and/or weekly papers, which are
focused to their area. Check the classifieds.

f. Many people recommend the Scottish Rite Masonic temples, who operate
an Orton-Gillingham tutoring program. Look for them online or try by
telephone (if not local, they seem to center in Texas). As with all
programs some will be better and some worse; investigate.
I am told this is free.

g. Many cities have websites — for example, in Montreal, we have
moremontreal.com. These sites may have, as we do, pages where people
advertise services.

h. Some other online tutor referral services are

TutorFinder.com (a new organization, based in Singapore and Malaysia
but rapidly expanding into North America. A real human being answers
your email within 24 hours - wonderful service! Of course you still
MUST check out the tutor yourself)
FindATutor.org (note .org, not .com)
Tutornation.com (undependable updates, but try it.)
TutorDepot.com
Hire-A-Tutor.com (very slow to update)
hometeaching.com
Tutor 2000
TutorList.com
Tutor.com (give your subject and grade and search for the place to
check for in-person tutoring — hard to find but supposed to be there.)

I think you raise a good point. I have heard good things about transitional first grade but it is in the context of a public school. I would think that a first grader could be a first grader in an LD school—because the programming should be oriented to kids with LD.

Beth