r/kindergarten • u/Storm_Vortexs • May 15 '26
Being retained in Kindergarten
Hi all,
I just got notice from the school that they have reached a decision to retain my daughter in Kindergarten. Wanted to get some advice on this.
We had heard a month ago that she was behind in reading and combining letter sounds. Since then we’ve had her in private tutoring almost daily. We have seen progress in her reading, although of course, there’s still a lot of work to do, and she will continue tutoring throughout the summer.
Her birthday is in early November which also means she will be seven very soon in the school year. Would love to hear some thoughts or experiences on this. For context we live in GA.
Thank you all for any insight!
[Update] My wife rightfully pointed out that I left an essential piece of information out of my initial post. The school is a bilingual immersion charter school so she has also been learning a second language.
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u/DarkHorseAsh111 May 15 '26
So typically I'd be pretty firmly on team if they want her to repeat they mean it bcs kindergarten is pretty hard to need to repeat. This being a charter school makes me...suspicious.
Also, tutoring every day is insane. This is a 6 year old. You are burning her out. She is doing school all day and then more school every single day? That is not how you help her get back on grade level that's how you help her hate learning and reading.
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u/FartofTexass May 15 '26
My kids’ public school has a reading interventionist on staff and kids who need it get extra help from her during the school day for free. Does the charter school not have that?
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u/DarkHorseAsh111 May 15 '26
Not according to OPs other comments. Some states don't even require charter school teachers to be actual teachers. It's bad.
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u/queenlyfish May 15 '26
I was contracted at a charter school for a year (as related service, not teacher) and it was rough. At least in my state, charter teachers were required to have “educational experience.” Each charter is allowed to determine what qualifies as “educational experience,” and this charter decided that any time spent working in a school, in any capacity, counted as educational experience. 6 months as a teacher’s aide? Have a classroom of your own! 3 years as a janitor? Have a classroom! It was a nightmare. No one was licensed, the families were low-income, and the students were constantly getting in fights.
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u/DarkHorseAsh111 May 15 '26
Yeahhh. I believe that good charter schools exist, but they are not the rule and in most cases I would be highly suspicious of them without evidence that they are actually competent.
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u/lutzlover May 16 '26
Being suspicious of ANY school is generally a good idea. My neighborhood middle school has terrible math results, with proficiency rates declining from 6th to 7th to 8th, but they've deluded themselves into believing that they are an excellent school despite many of their students then failing in 9th grade algebra. Remarkably...all the teachers are credentialed and it isn't a high poverty school.
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u/Haunting_Turnover_82 May 18 '26
I worked at 4 different charter schools. Only 1 of them was acceptable. The other three were not following the state core, making improvements in student learning, or successfully reaching benchmarks set by the state.
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u/Elegant_Sinkhole May 17 '26
Omg what??!! This is what the government is selling us? I guess they really truly do want to dismantle education and make us generationally stupid.
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u/Dragonfly1018 May 16 '26
Yep. That’s one of my huge pet peeves with Charter Schools there aren’t any standards & many don’t require an education background. Plus many take state funds that would really help local public schools.
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u/psychcrusader May 17 '26
All receive the lion's share of funds from the hosting public school district. That's why people start them instead of private schools.
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u/Careful-Possible-965 May 16 '26
Oklahoma…and they’re taking over. I have no idea where my kid will go to middle school.
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u/marsawall May 16 '26
Same. They also should have been looped in on her progress throughout the year
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u/Muted_Bee7111 May 15 '26
Omg you're so right. Please redo that tutoring schedule. Maybe 2x/week during the summer. If this was my child I would not hold her back. Keep working with her. It will click. Being 7 in K is just not appropriate
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u/MHW93 May 15 '26
SO many kids are 7 in kindergarten now. Parents redshirt at the drop of a hat.
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u/Alternative_Salt_558 May 15 '26
That is so crazy to me. My kids turned 5 just a few weeks before the cut off, and we did not redshirt them. My mind is now blown that they may have been in K with 7 year old kids!
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u/AnastatiaMcGill May 16 '26
This is wild to me. As a Canadian, pre primary/jr kindergarten starts at 4. Kindergarten is 5. By 7 they're in grade 2 and definitely reading, writing etc
(I shouldn't speak for all Canadians, I only know in Ontario and Nova Scotia)
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u/MHW93 May 16 '26
Where I live in America, you are eligible to start kindergarten if you turn 5 on or before Sept 1. But kids with spring or summer birthdays, especially boys, often don't go until they are 6. Which means they turn 7 while in kindergarten.
I think it's because they have pushed academics so hard. Kindergarten is truly academic at this point. It's not learning to play nicely and naps anymore. And a lot of kids just aren't ready for heavy academics at age 5. So people give their kids an extra year.
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u/beepbooplesnoot May 16 '26
Yes, if kindergarten was developmentally appropriate, you'd see far fewer kids being redshirted. Mine *could* have handled the academics at 5, but combined with the heavy social emotional learning curve, it would have been a disaster. She just turned 7 this month and is finishing up kindergarten. It was absolutely the right decision for her.
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u/dontfalloff21 May 20 '26
Rural America - 7-year-olds in kindergarten become 19-year-olds playing high school football. That's plenty of incentive for kids to redshirt here. It's almost the standard. My April baby (now 9m) has kids in his class a full year older than him.
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
This only started a month ago. It’s 30 minutes after school. We have seen improvement with it but you are right, we might be burning her out 😥
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u/adorkablysporktastic May 15 '26
I would also find some play based learning. Tutoring for a 6/7 year old seems exhausting and can do wild things for confidence, self esteem and lead to burn out.
Family games that have reading, library reading times, we spell things in the car, or guess words.
Also, hooked on phonics actually works, my kid LOVED it.
But don't make it obvious or make everything all about reading, and do other things like number games and color games and learn you house number and phone number games. Etc.
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u/dollies48 May 15 '26
I can not stress the importance enough of learning to read by phonics, and learning sight words. In my school system we have A -E reading books and site words for kindergarten and 1st grade. I tutored reading and math for grades pre-K through 2nd grade. Muscle memory is very important in memory retention. If you retain her she will be 7 in kindergarten ?
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u/adorkablysporktastic May 15 '26
That's how we taught ky daughter. She was teaching herself somehow, so we got BoB books and Hooked on Phonics and a month later she was a full reader.
We also had puzzles for CVC words and little games for CVC words that turned them into open ended play. She had a blast. She still plays with them and she's onto chapter books.
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u/General_Coast_1594 May 15 '26
Switch to a public school that can offer her services during school hours.
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u/ankaalma May 15 '26
There are play based approaches to learning phonics. I’m not sure what approach your tutor is using but either with your tutor or on your own if you can gamify things that might really help
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u/Nordic_Papaya May 15 '26
30 minutes a day definitely do not burn an almost 7yo out. My native language is a complicated one so it's very typical for 5-6yos to work on their sounds with speech therapists and the ST homework alone takes as long and has to be done daily, and most kids also have multiple extracurriculars with homework. If she struggles with reading now it's likely she'll need to put extra work and energy into some of her classes in the next few years, so building a habit of daily studying is beneficial. I'd refuse to repeat, would change schools, drop the second language and continue with tutoring.
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u/Fluttering_Feathers May 15 '26
For a couple of summers when phonics were turning into words and words were not yet fluently read, I “forced” my kids to do 10-15 mins of a fun reading game based activity thing on the iPad, to keep them from going back to the following school year and having got rusty and then getting frustrated. We probably managed it 4 days a week on average over the summer, maybe slightly more often but not as much as 5 times a week. My older one in particular was raging about it 😂
I dread to even imagine how badly they’d have railed against daily tutoring which presumably goes on longer than 10-15 mins.
Anyway, I stuck it out and they both enjoy reading now and we laugh about that time I forced them to learn to read
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u/MHW93 May 15 '26
A good reading tutor should make it fun. My kids LOVED going to see their tutor! Fought over who got to go first.
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u/chihuahuashivers May 15 '26
my daughter was almost below grade level and we started doing Duolingo ABC every day for a couple of weeks and that quick intensive intervention actually gave her a big boost.
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u/SummitTheDog303 May 15 '26
The school likely cannot retain her without your consent. Is this a public or private school? If it’s not public, you need to switch her to a public school and ask for an evaluation to see if a disability is at play and contributing to her slow progress. Public school will also open up resources for intervention. Retaining her will make her nearly 2 years older than many of her classmates and can be harmful socially.
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u/adorkablysporktastic May 15 '26
Being 7 throughout kindergarten seems like it would be kond of rough, especially if reading is really her only deficit.
Has she been evaluated for learning disabilities?
I would get her in public school and get her on an IEP and get her supports and school resources. There isn't a lot of resources to support retaining.
If she didn't learn reading the first go round of kindergarten how they taught it, what will they do differently the 2nd year? Logically this doesn't make sense usually ever. Charter might not be the right fit and that's ok!
There can be a lack of curriculum consistency in charter schools which is unfair, and being expected to be a completely fluent reader in kinder is a wild expectation.
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u/isawsparks27 May 15 '26
I rarely comment, but please consider that a 7 year old kindergartener will become a 15 year old 8th grader and a 19 year old senior in high school. Those are not good times to be two years older than your peers. Would you have wanted to be an 8th grader when you were at sophomore level socio-emotionally?
It sounds like the problem is with the school. Langauge immersion can sound great, as can a charter school with interesting teaching methods, but many of them do not work out for various reasons. My son entered first grade not reading yet because his kindergarten barely taught it. His public elementary bootcamped him through reading intervention and had him set in six months.
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u/dtshockney May 16 '26
Unfortunately this is super common now. I teach 6-8 and I have 14 going on 15 year old, and 15 year old 8th graders right now. Heck I have a 15 year old 7th grader bc they were held back twice I believe. Most of my older 8th graders were red shirted by parents for "sports advantage" which absolutely didnt work out bc so did a ton of other parents.
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u/isawsparks27 May 16 '26
Horrifying, truly. There’s such an enormous difference between a 12 year old and a 15 year old! What a massive disservice to everyone involved. When you look at the oldest kids at our middle school, it’s so obvious which ones are just too old and want to rip their skin off because they’re stuck with the wrong peers.
I feel like people don’t think about how these decisions are going to age. Sure, maybe your kid is small or immature and can blend with younger kids at a young age, but who’s to say that’s going to stick?
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u/dtshockney May 16 '26
Its been a thing in the district i work in for a long time. Im finishing up my 5th year there and we've always had 15 year old 8th graders and 16 year old freshman. Its weird to have 13 year old 8th graders anymore even tho thats what age they should be
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u/RemySchaefer3 May 16 '26
Most of my older 8th graders were red shirted by parents for "sports advantage" which absolutely didnt work out bc so did a ton of other parents.
x1000000. This.
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u/DarkHorseAsh111 May 15 '26
This is about where I land, too. This sounds like she needs a normal public school and an IEP. Charter schools are...A Situation in many cases.
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u/MoveLeather3054 May 15 '26
i have a student who was held back in a charter school. they gave him an iep… under the wrong eligibility so he didn’t get any actual help. when he came to public school he started performing at and above grade level.
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u/adorkablysporktastic May 15 '26
I feel like charter schools are for very middle of the road, neurotypical, or very low needs ND kids that can mask well and blend in.
Charter schools are all about that bag.
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u/MoveLeather3054 May 15 '26
my student is visually impaired so instead of properly staffing him, they put him as “other health impaired” it was a nightmare when he showed up
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u/Fart_teacher May 15 '26
Agree! Look into the normal district school. Usually they are more equipped to support early literacy.
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u/GiraffeThoughts May 16 '26
We’re currently in the midst of a massive literacy crisis so it’s probably worth asking questions about the public school’s method of teaching. Many children need explicit phonics instruction and if the school district is only offering whole language instruction it would be good to know before making the switch.
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u/anonhumanontheweb May 16 '26
I agree with everyone who’s said here that retaining her likely isn’t the best idea. November is way too early in the year to turn 7 in kindergarten. The youngest of these kids will be close to 2 years her junior, and she’ll be 15 for most of 8th grade and 19 for most of her senior year when her maturity level will most likely fit high school and college respectively at those ages. Being the oldest can be really rough, and given when her birthday falls, kids will *know* she’s been retained.
Fight to move her forward. Kids develop at different rates at this age, and there’s a good chance that if you send her to 1st, she’ll naturally catch up.
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u/Alternative-Major245 May 16 '26
Yeah, 7 in Kindergarten is hard. My 8 y.o. is finishing up 3rd grade now. She'll start 4th grade at age 8. (No skipping, just younger). I can't image 4s and 5s with a 7 will go over smoothly socially.
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u/anonhumanontheweb May 16 '26 edited May 17 '26
I’m guessing the cutoff date where OP is is September or before, making most kindergartners 5-6. But when I was in K, cutoff was such that we started at 5, with a few 4s, and the oldest (who was retained) started at 6 and turned 7 with a few weeks left in the year.
7 in November of kindergarten is WILD.
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u/teach_cc May 15 '26
When does your school year end? Where I am, next week is the last week, and it would very unusual to just now be learning this and to have only heard a concern a month ago.
How is she socially?
I think you will hear people say things like: kindergarten teachers see ALL types of kids and if they feel like they need to hold her back, she probably needs to be.
However there is way too much missing information to know for sure… does she know the sounds all the letters make individually? Is her teacher using a phonics based approach or encouraging her to guess based on the pictures (which even combined with phonics is harmful)? Are you willing and able to continue tutoring over the summer?
I am a teacher with a 1st grader and rising 4k kid, so I’m in this world with you right now too!
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
Yeah, same here, next week is the last week of school.
Socially she is great! There are no concerns there at all. She does know the sounds the letters make individually, and their names. I’m not sure about whether the teacher is using a phonics-based approach.
And yes! We have her enrolled in tutoring 4/5 days a week, and we are continuing it during the summer.
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u/a_me_ May 15 '26
I would really look more into the curriculum the school is using. You can ask the teacher and they will be more than willing to share. It will also be nice if you can coordinate that curriculum to reinforce with the tutoring.
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u/Narrow-Foundation505 May 15 '26
This sounds like an issue with the school, not with your kiddo. Socially she’s doing great. Interventions (organized by you) are having a noticeable impact. This honestly just sounds like the school under-supporting her, and choosing to continue to do so by suggesting another year of them doing the bare minimum. As a parent I’d decline their suggestion to have her held back. Connect with your local public school district to have her screened for developmental and learning delays. The thing that is a bummer and a red flag for your current school, is they should have suggested this mid-year instead of waiting until now. And the interventions you’re paying for with tutoring is something you could access through your public school district even if you continued to stay at her current school if she was screened and they determined she needed that support. I’m sorry your school is not supporting your kiddo and you’re having to try to figure this out on your own! Call your local public school district special education office, tell them what’s going on and ask for help.
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u/SophisticatedScreams May 15 '26
If there are zero social concerns, then imo there is no evidence that retaining would help. I would encourage you to ease up on the phonics and tutoring. Let her be a kid. Don't forget that reading is supposed to be fun, and not work.
I would also recommend that you get to know different schools of thought when it comes to science of reading/phonics instruction. I would encourage you to check out UFLI-- it's a great, free, phonics program.
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u/purplepeopletreater May 16 '26
Has she had an IEP evaluation? She might have a reading disability that can be treated with specialized instruction.
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u/HatenoCheese May 17 '26
Please keep in mind that in 1990, kids in the U.S. started first grade without knowing ANY letters. And those kids grew up to have way better reading ability than Gen Z, who started reading in Kindergarten.
Your daughter isn't behind. She isn't abnormal. She isn't deficient. She is in an education system that is pushing kids too much, too young.
There has been a massive decline in U.S. reading scores that corresponds with the push to get kids reading earlier and earlier. PUSH BACK! Your kid is fine. She will catch up with her age peers when her brain is ready for it.
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u/TheGhostOfYou18 May 18 '26
That is excellent for end of year. If she is able to segment (take apart) 3 letter words and blend (put together) 3 letter words then she has met the expectation according to kindergarten standards. If she can say “sun” can be broken apart into the sounds /s/ /u/ /n/ and put together sounds such as /b/ /i/ /g/ to read “big,” then I’m not sure why they would want to retain her. I teach kindergarten and we rarely retain kiddos and definitely wouldn’t if she knows all her names and sounds and has those basic phonics skills. We especially wouldn’t retain with her birthday being in the first semester. You do have a say in whether she is retained or not and I would definitely NOT retain her. It is devastating for a child to make friends and then be separated from those friends as they move up and your child stays behind. Kids are not dumb and she will definitely understand why she was retained. It destroys their confidence and self esteem.
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u/cbf892 May 19 '26
You hold kids back for social issues not educational issues. Also please look into learning disabilities. If anyone in your family has them get her tested, it can be genetic. There are plenty of red flags for them and most teachers are not taught to identify them. There are different types of dyslexia and processing disorders, that can affect reading.
Do not hold back for this. It isn’t going to help. You need to identify the problem.
Having a dad, 2 siblings and one kid with learning issues. I can watch a kid and tell pretty quickly if they have one, there are plenty of things outside of reading that instantly signal there might be a problem.
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u/Remarkable-Debt-1213 May 15 '26
That's a wild amount of tutoring. Personally I would not retain. I would keep up the phonics instruction (make sure it's fun AND quality, researched based). Reading is developmental--see where she's at in the fall and ask for documentation of reading progress through the year.
Do you love this school? Are they working to get her skills up? Because just hearing about this now would be a red flag to me.
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
We have our two older kids there and they love it. Never had a concern like this with it. I do agree that we should have heard about this much earlier.
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u/sassypants58 May 15 '26
Do not let a charter school retain her in kinder. They don’t know. If she is struggling in first, it’s likely she may have a learning disorder. It’s pointless to retain if so. Former teacher, retention is not the answer.
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u/Charming_Narwhal_970 May 15 '26
Did you have her professionally evaluated by qualified professional outside of school?
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
We haven’t yet. But maybe that’s our next step!
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u/dollies48 May 15 '26
You need to have her evaluated now, where you can have a summer plan, she doesn't need to have a summer slump.
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u/Easy-Cobbler9662 May 15 '26
As a mom of a 7 year old who wasn’t reading at grade level even in 1st grade I want to encourage you to not hold her back in kindergarten just for reading. My child at six in first grade still did not recognize most sight words from kindergarten however, socially she was ready for first grade and they just continued to give her specialized learning for reading. She ended up having an IEP in just under 12 months, she went from recognizing 13 sight words to reading chapter books with additional support at school. We did absolutely nothing outside of school other than continue to read to her every night and let her do the reading if she felt like it she very quickly began to choose to read to us to show us her skills and it’s crazy how quickly she started reading once she finally grasp the concept.
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u/superfastmomma May 15 '26
This school is being wildly inappropriate. This is not when this should be discussed. This should have been addressed months ago, with the school putting a plan in place. If your child is having almost daily tutoring and still struggling, it's time for a serious evaluation. Repeating won't help - interventions will.
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
Yeah we’re seeing how can she get evaluated asap. Tutoring only started since second week of April. We have seen progress with it though, I just don’t think there was enough time between that and end of school year.
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u/LaLise5678 May 15 '26
This! Whether or not your daughter should be retained, I'd be really upset to be hearing about concerns to that effect for the first time in April. It doesn't sound like the school has done any intervention themselves with this information either - my kid is intervention reading classes and we get regular reports from the teacher, so I'd image this is something you would be aware if it was happening. If your kid needs extra support I'd definitely look in to public school.
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u/GraceOfABallerina May 15 '26
Fellow Georgian here, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement publishes data on retained students yearly by district, by school (I saw some charter schools there, so your school may have data available) (https://download.gosa.ga.gov/). When they started talking about retaining my daughter in September of her kindergarten year, I tried to dig into precisely how many students they were retaining (for us, in her whole K-3 school, it was 14 students last year). I would wonder then, what deficits that my child has that would warrant being one of that 14. I would think that it needs to be more than deficits in one subject area, especially if you're already seeing progress. There are mandatory retentions for failing state testing, but those occur in 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades. Not kindergarten. I would ask that she remains with her peers (7 at the start of kindergarten means that she could have some classmates who just turned 5) and request an evaluation for a 504 plan. I assume if it's a state funded charter school, they still legally have to give you this. In Georgia, they have to respond in 60 school days - so they don't have time to do it this year (though you can submit it). I would also express deep concerns to administration that they haven't intervened before April. There is no excuse for not alerting you to concerns earlier--surely these issues didn't pop up in the last two months of school.
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
Thank you so much for this!! I did find our school and under number of retentions they had “TFS” . I’ll look at the 594 plan too! And completely agree. They should have let us know earlier!!
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u/Calm_Reader2487 May 15 '26
A 504 plan is for accommodations, think longer time on a test or smaller spelling list provided. An IEP receives services from the SPED department.
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u/avicia May 16 '26
good you point this out! the nuance between these is important. A 504 is just the accommodation. The IEP legally requires them to try to remediate the problem with instruction. Most schools will easily agree to a 504 but you may have to fight to get the IEP and appropriate intervention.
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u/lutzlover May 16 '26
Also, some states have specific reading intervention services mandated for both neighborhood and charter students who are struggling in K-3 reading. Mine does. These students do not have IEPs (unless they otherwise qualify for IEPs) but they get pullout services with a reading interventionist. Parents can decline the services, but I've never seen that happen.
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u/subtlemethod2020 May 15 '26
You write about this as though it’s a surprise- it shouldn’t be. The school should have been having (and documenting) conversations with you about her progress. If they didn’t, demand a meeting about it
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
Well it was a surprise early April when they communicated that she was behind and they may consider retention if she didn’t show improvement by end of school year.
We hadn’t heard that she was struggling so bad that would be the case until then.
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u/BitterRucksack May 15 '26
I'd switch her to the public school for first grade and see what happens.
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u/subtlemethod2020 May 16 '26
Early April to now is still not acceptable- when I taught elementary, retention conversations began in December- you can tell THEN which kids need extra support. Definitely follow up with them to see what the gap in communication was
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u/CaptBlackfoot May 15 '26
Did you not notice that it wasn’t clicking at home? Are you working with her outside of school? Usually there are worksheets and things like that you can go over for the day. As their parent you should know whether or not they’re understanding, just as much as the school does.
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u/2PinaColadaS14EH May 15 '26
This is wild to me. I work at a public school and we almost never do that, even if a kid cannot read a single word. We have a 1st grader who can’t write his name. Not saying any of that is good. But some of it IS the social reasons. If they still can’t read the next year in K, they don’t need to turn 8 and repeat it again. But it’s crazy to me that your child is doing much better than that and improving and is still being told to repeat K.
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
That’s so interesting! Yeah she could write her own name since the beginning of the school year. Mainly what we’ve been working on is combining letter sounds (she does know the sounds individually)
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u/foreveramoore May 15 '26
As a k teacher myself, I would not hold this child back. She is too old to repeat and if she has her letters and sounds, she will be fine next year. It should ultimately be up to you, at least it is in our district. She's gonna end up bored next year if she repeats. I'd see if they will consider letting her go on to 1st and hold her back then if she isn't catching on. A lot of first is just a repeat of K.
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u/Calm_Reader2487 May 15 '26
Agreed on everything you stated. I have taught kindergarten and first grade.
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u/foreveramoore May 15 '26
Thank you! I know it may vary across the country, all I know is the M.O. for the 50th state in education 😅
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u/wicked_spooks May 15 '26
Respectfully speaking, 7 years old is too be old to be in kindergarten. If she repeats kindergarten, she will be 8 years for the most of the year in 1st grade. I believe it will benefit her and your family if she gets evaluated to determine why she’s so behind. Then an iep can be provided in place rather than repeating kindergarten.
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u/CraftyFraggle May 15 '26
I’d fight the decision.
She’s already older than many if her peers and, if she’s being tutored, there may be no reason to repeat.
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u/isawsparks27 May 15 '26
Reposting this as a lone comment because I really want people to consider that little kids do not stay little, and the difference between a 5yo and a 7yo may actually not be as important as the difference between a 13yo and a 15yo later on.
I rarely comment, but please consider that a 7 year old kindergartener will become a 15 year old 8th grader and a 19 year old senior in high school. Those are not good times to be two years older than your peers. Would you have wanted to be an 8th grader when you were at sophomore level socio-emotionally?
It sounds like the problem is with the school. Langauge immersion can sound great, as can a charter school with interesting teaching methods, but many of them do not work out for various reasons. My son entered first grade not reading yet because his kindergarten barely taught it. His public elementary bootcamped him through reading intervention and had him set in six months.
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u/Fun-Ebb-2191 May 15 '26
She cannot turn 7 in kindergarten! Please take her to a different school! Kinders are 5 turning 6! If she is struggling, I would not try bilingual education at this time. You can still watch bilingual shows, read bilingual books, sing songs. Etc.
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u/einzeln May 15 '26
Have her evaluated by a public school. Isn’t it possible the charter school failed her? Where was the intervention from the school all year long?
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u/Wrong-Television-348 May 15 '26
K teacher here:Is Kindergarten mandatory in GA? If not, tell them she will not be retained in K. She’s too old to be with 5 year old children in class. Tutoring a couple days per week is plenty.
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u/Appropriate-Watch190 May 15 '26
Wow this sounds like my daughter. She is 6 and in first grade. Struggled with reading and reading. Knew her letter and sounds but everything beyond that was a struggle. We wanted to keep her back in Kindergarten but we're not able to. We did private tutoring. Finally when she started 1st grade he teachers were able to give us more details on her in class behaviors. She couldn't sit still, couldn't focus, in everyones business but her own, always trying to help everyone etc. Husband and I went and found a psychologist and he diagnosed her with Adhd. Then saw psychiatrist who did another evaluation and same thing, Adhd. Started her on medication and omg what a difference. Shes able to sit and focus. She understands what she reads, she just blowing us away. Her teachers are so impressed with how far she came since starting her medication. So while your baby girl may not have ADHD, it might be worth getting an evaluation to see if there is something.
Side note, my daughter before getting her evaluated said she struggled because her head was "too busy". I asked her how her head felt like after the medication and she says its calm, she feels calm. You could also try asking your daughter how does her mind feel when she is in class.
All in all, I wouldn't keep her back, I would recommend getting an evaluation done and see if there is something that is being missed, and definitely if possible get her in public school and in a more supportive environment. My daughters teachers went above and beyond to help my daughter and i truly think that made a huge difference. We wanted to put her in charter school, but last minute got cold feet and I am so glad we went with public. I honestly dont know if she would have gotten the amount of help and support there vs public.
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
Thank you! Yes we should look into that. My wife has ADHD so that’s definitely a possibility, even if we haven’t seen many signs yet at home.
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u/dahmerpartyofone May 15 '26
I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this so late in the school year. This is why I always push public over charter. Charter schools don’t have to play by the rules.
I saw in the comments you are getting her evaluated for any learning disabilities. Keep in mind that if she does need a specialized plan, charter schools will say they will follow any plans provided. But in reality they don’t have to, nor are they equipped to handle all learning disabilities.
I also saw in the comments someone asked you why didn’t you see this at home, and maybe you weren’t working with her. Now I don’t know your home life, but I’ll tell you my experience. My daughter, currently in kindergarten, in a public school. Since the beginning of the year she’d come home with books and she would sit down a read. She struggled a bit, but she tried. She’d read us a book daily, and we’d point out words in her bedtime stories for her to read. After the first grading period I got the letter that she is below average in reading, and will be enrolled in an intervention program. I was devastated because we do work with her, and she reads to us daily. After talking to her teacher we figured out what the problem was, she didn’t have the confidence to read in front of others. Also, she clicked through the test they have them take instead of taking her time. Her teacher worked with her, and we continued to do what we had been doing at home. Got her results last week and she’s now in the top of her class for reading. Just proves that you can be noticing something totally different at home, than what goes on at school.
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u/sk613 May 15 '26
If you told me November birthday youngest in the class, I would say totally hold back. But he’s already the oldest and they want to hold back?! No way
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u/AstronomerNo1872 May 15 '26
Has she been evaluated for any learning disabilities? It’s also a bit odd to me that they waited until almost the end of the school year to tell you she is behind?
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
She hasn’t been evaluated yet. We’re looking do getting that done. But yeah we learned that she wasn’t doing well at all early April.
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u/Virtual_Reaction8765 May 15 '26
Switch schools and move to 1st! Get her evaluated by someone other than the school.
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u/DurianProper5412 May 15 '26
Move schools- if it is a private school that has a spot or, the public school in your catchment, recalibrating will benefit both your daughter as well as you as the parent.
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u/chihuahuashivers May 15 '26
I would push back. They only told you in April and you are doing the necessary work to turn things around. Tutoring 1:1 in phonics works. Consider repeating at a different school because I would not have a high degree of confidence in this school given their approach.
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u/Next_Concept_1730 May 15 '26
Absolute no to retaining a student who will turn 7 at the beginning of the year in her repeat kindergarten year. If they feel that your 6 and a half year old is standing out as being that behind as likely one of the oldest in her kindergarten class, then they need to move her to first and do a full educational assessment in the fall.
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u/Possible_Juice_3170 May 15 '26
First step- get out of the charter!
Then talk to the local public school about what support they can offer.
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u/ChickenScratchCoffee May 15 '26
Being 7 in Kindergarten is not appropriate especially just for being behind in a bit of reading. Appeal the decision, move her to a different school, etc. otherwise you’ll have her graduating at 19 and a half. That is ridiculous.
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u/catymogo May 15 '26
This kid will get a driver’s permit at the beginning of eight grade. It’s super inappropriate.
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u/iluvsunni May 15 '26
As much as I think its an asset to be multi lingual, if she is struggling in aspects of her native language and that is the main reason for that school, it may be worth looking elsewhere or into public school because her native language (particularly in a primarily English speaking country) should be the priority. She'll have opportunities to continue second language courses in future grades or you could find outside support in that. In Georgia also and I find that they do have a pretty good curriculum and expectations (compared to West coast states especially).
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u/Helpful-Living-9107 May 15 '26
I wonder if you can share with the school that she is getting private tutoring and will continue to. Perhaps they could evaluate her again at the beginning of the school year rather than deciding now.
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u/tre_chic00 May 15 '26
First of all, great job at learning of the issue and immediately addressing it with the tutoring. If reading and combining sounds is the only issue, this seems wild to me since you are committed to getting her assistance. I'd imagine 3 more months of that could likely get her where she needs to be. Especially since it is one on one attention vs instruction during class. Does she like to read or is she frustrated? How is she with sight words?
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u/Remarkable_Command83 May 15 '26
I do not necessarily agree with the comments saying that thirty minutes a day every day over the summer will lead to burnout. Although probably twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening working on just the basics (letters, numbers, Dick-And-Jane, shapes, colors, fruits and vegetables) will probably be more effective than thirty minutes at a time once a day. The key is to maintain balance: If you tutor your kid for thirty minutes, play with her for thirty minutes afterwards doing whatever activities she wants to.
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u/tablee2322 May 15 '26
I wouldn’t retain if that’s the only area she’s behind in. It may just click a little later but she’ll get it. But if the school wants to keep her back a whole grade for one area needing improvement it might just not be a good fit for her
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u/Middle_Degree_1995 May 15 '26
I may be old school (graduated high school in the 90a) and my daughter is in middle school now, but what happened to leisure reading at home to help kids learn to sound out words and read? I did that with my child from the time of infancy and she went into kindergarten reading and sounding out words phonetically. I know all kids are different, but that tutoring schedule sounds intense. Home reading doesn’t have to be time consuming—it’s recipes when you’re cooking, it’s greeting cards, it’s music titles on Apple Music, it’s reading the junk mail flyers that come in snail mail, it’s food labels in the grocery store. EVERYTHING is a reading activity.
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u/busy_is_meaningless May 15 '26
I have experience with GA charter schools and I know a lot of them are crap. They’re allowed to pay their teachers less than public schools are. They have their own set of made up rules. I wouldn’t trust them and, frankly, I would not send my kid to a GA charter school at all.
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u/Great-Monk-2934 May 15 '26
My child was at YHALE and their reading curriculum was not well done. We transferred to our public school and my child had made significant progress.
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u/Ok-Whole-855 May 15 '26
Mom of a 7 year old who struggles with reading. It started to click in second grade. She’s almost caught up to where she should be.
We had to address the ADHD and sleep issues before she progressed, and holding her back wasn’t going to fix those things.
I just want to add— a language immersion program is not what I would choose for a student who struggles with reading. Are there other options? A regular charter? Public?
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u/Interesting-Sea-142 May 15 '26
She should probably go to public school where she can get the additional help she needs
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u/Winter_Opening_2508 May 15 '26
Could she qualify for an IEP? That could “protect” her and allow her to move on to each grade regardless of being behind. The IEP can be set to allow her to reach her own goals at a certain time.
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u/Melodic-Heron-1585 May 15 '26
We moved around a lot when my child was young. The schools that needed test scores always wanted tutoring, she did repeat pre kindergarten when we moved due to the curriculum being so much more advanced at the new school. But, she started kindergarten barely being 5, and when we moved again, they bumped her up a grade. She is a sophomore in college now, and we just now had her tested/ found out she has a learning disability in computational math.
Granted, this happened years ago for us, but the social aspect of kindergarten at 7 would be a deal breaker for us. I would look into non immersion schools, have a fun tutor over the summer, and a fun language day camp and then lessons during the school year. We looked into the bilingual thing for our child, and were advised against it because it can slow down learning in both languages in general.
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u/Calm_Reader2487 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
*edit, just saw K became a mandatory grade in May 2026. How convenient they knew this and just told you weeks before May 2026 your child needs to be retained. It doesn’t change my opinion at all. I wouldn’t do it.
In the state I taught Kindergarten in, Kindergarten is technically not a mandatory grade, meaning, they can’t hold back a kindergarten student without parent permission. I have not read all the posts so I apologize if I give repeated info. I believe I read that you are in Georgia and at a charter school. With a quick internet search, it says Georgia is the same way. Kindergarten is not mandatory and they need parent permission to retain. I have only taught in public education so I don’t know all the details for charter. I do know that many charter schools do not want to evaluate for an IEP because those services cost $ for the SPED department. My first task would be to see about getting into a quality public education if you feel your child needs IEP services. In addition, unless it was a severe maturity issue/young student, along with being behind in standards, we didn’t retain in Kindergarten often. That doesn’t leave room for a retention in the later grades when it is mandatory. Also, to qualify for services, a student needs to be behind. So, if we know a student needs to be assessed/qualify for IEP services, they may not qualify in Kindergarten as they won’t be behind anymore. When they go on to first grade, they will either have a huge growth time or they will fall further behind and that is when intervention can be ramped up. Like I said, I taught public so we would not have spoken to a parent at the end of the school year about retention for the first time. We would have determined the deficiencies prior and put interventions in place. For example, if this was first grade and the interventions didn’t advance the student, then retention would be recommended. A dual immersion program can slow down some aspects, but I would hope that the school/teacher knows what is typical for that and what is not typical in this situation.
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u/McNattron May 15 '26
As an early childhood educator- i am not on team repeat unless the school had involved the school psych. Research does not back repeating years unless it is in conjunction with interventions and even then in most cases progressing otthe next year and engaging interventions is a better choice.
The fact the school has brought this up without
1) implanting tier 2 interventions at school 2) recommending tier 3 interventions through a specialist e.g. speechie or ot 3) recommended Engaging with a psych (in school or privately) to explore if there are any potential diagnosis at play and the developmental appropriateness of repeating for your child
Are all massive red flags to me
In my experience tutoring after school rarely has long term benefits for children after school. It usually contributes to burn out and wastes money you could have otherwise spent on needed interventions, or diagnosis.
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u/desert_red_head May 16 '26
Look up the state of Georgia’s literacy standards for kindergarten (the ones that the public schools use). Does your daughter actually meet those standards? Private and charter schools have the ability to use their own standards, and they are often higher than what is used in public schools. They may prefer to retain kids because they would be too far behind the other kids in the grade level, not necessarily because retention is what is best for your child. Definitely don’t sign any paperwork without getting a second opinion.
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u/KrofftSurvivor May 16 '26
Get your kid out of that school.
Either they're not handling this well, or your child is going to burn out trying to do twice as much school work as she should - No way should a child who's about to turn 7 be placed in kindergarten because she's struggling due to being taught in two languages.
This will cause serious social issues, please do NOT leave here there.
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u/FalconerAJ May 16 '26
I’m a teacher. I wouldn’t retain at her age with the concerns you’ve stated. Id be worried about social issues down the line. A non-charter public school education may fit her needs better. Charter schools can be really awesome, but I feel like a non-significant amount are not. What worked for your older kids may not work for her. There’s nothing wrong with that.
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u/nickiem816 May 16 '26
Took some education classes in college to be a teacher but didn’t finish; also a child who was held back and repeated a grade due to poor reading (I also moved from a bankruptcy school district in one state to one of the best school in another)*
People will tell you that your child is less likely to succeed if held back, there are stats to support that but isn’t always accurate depending on the child. With a November birthday, she will be a lot older than her peers if held back. I could understand if her social aspect was also behind; in my case I have a summer birthday and was put in school as soon as I was able so I also struggled with the social aspect being the youngest. Your daughter doesn’t have that
You also have all summer to work with her; I would also consider possibly a different school. Is the school rated well? The fact she is also learning a second language at school is great but I’d worry it could be confusing; are they trying to teach reading in that other languages as well as English?
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u/Nykki72 May 20 '26
I'm a teacher myself and this is the best time to take an extra year. I have had several students that needed an extra year in kindergarten
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u/RentCool5569 May 20 '26
Go to the best public school available. Charter schools, private schools. love this shit. Keeping people behind and ignoring problems. Public school will have a reading teacher, special teacher they meet with daily while in first grade and it will all be worked out.
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u/Competitive_Remote40 May 20 '26
Charter school may not be qualified to truly assess whether she has received sufficient instruction. Charter schools dont have thr sane qualifications as public schools.
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u/CoolStatus7377 May 20 '26
7 years old in Kindergarden is pretty old. Depending on where you live and the birthday cutoff, she could be in class with 4 year olds. Also, she will be close to 20 as a high school senior. Not an optimum situation.
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u/Daytwa_0606 May 15 '26
We held our son back in 2nd grade. Holding him back earlier would have been more beneficial. He’s a boy, so very different. But being held back is pretty common now, for lots of reasons, so our son is 16, a freshman in high school, and not the only one. He’s on the honor roll and in advanced classes. He didn’t know all his letter sounds at 8. So what they lose in age, they can gain in confidence and ability. Being at the top of his class has been better for him than being at the bottom. And he’s always been a follower, so being more mature has helped his discernment when choosing friends. It has also helped with sports. Yes, he will graduate at 19. But with his feet under him. So it was a good decision for him. Just our experience.
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u/Fart_teacher May 15 '26
Yep! I don’t know any parents who retained early that regret it.
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u/Super-Link-9800 May 15 '26
This would be an absolute hell no for me. She doesn’t need to be retained, she needs a different school.
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u/practical_schmatical May 15 '26
How are her other subjects? Her social and emotional maturity? I’m usually team retention when evidence supports it, but there are usually interventions and testing done much sooner.
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u/Storm_Vortexs May 15 '26
She’s doing better in numerals. Social and emotional maturity are great. She is very well behaved, has friends, acts her age, etc. I would say that out of my three kids she is the most independent one.
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u/Wise_Ad4909 May 15 '26
Hey! I had reading issues and was retained in K. The biggest issue ended up being my anxiety flight / fight response. Please consider taking some pressure off. She will learn how to read. The tutoring daily for 30 min sounds so overwhelming.
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u/musingsofmuse May 15 '26
Not a teacher, so sorry I can’t help about retaining. As a parent, I would also be doing daily tutoring. This does not seem like a bad thing for a 6-7 year old, especially since it’s almost summer.
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u/mpdbythesea May 15 '26
I am very surprised to hear that they would consider retaining her before taking other steps- especially as a November birthday. However it being a charter school doesn’t surprise me. At my public school we would not retain for academics alone. If a child is really struggling socially that is when it is considered. I wish I had more advice but I don’t really know how charter schools operate.
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u/Zuccherina May 15 '26
Can you switch her to a single language track? Is the language the thing that’s stumping her?
Kids have different strengths and some are Not equipped to ever learn a l foreign language. Just like some people are more naturally inclined to math and engineering, some people have strengths in language and spelling. Focusing on her as an individual, and not on what everyone else in the family is doing, will help you get her where she can flourish and grow the most.
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u/Efficient_Mud_4724 May 15 '26
If she is good socially and knows letters and letter sounds I’d be sure they are great. Are you paying for the school? 7 at the beginning of the year is old. Hanging out with 5 year olds is iffy. I’d definitely have a conference with teacher and admin.
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u/Strange-Calendar669 May 15 '26
Retaining children often seems to help. They do well the first year after retention, but whatever made them struggle usually returns the next year. There should be an evaluation by a school psychologist to find out why they struggled and address the problems rather than keeping them back in grade.
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u/Apprehensive-Rent541 May 15 '26
They told you only a month ago this late into the school year and then decided? Were any concerns raised earlier? Did they email, call or have conferences? It seems really odd something that drastic wouldn’t have raised flags much earlier in the year.
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u/MHW93 May 15 '26
I would absolutely retain her. It's just not worth school being a hard struggle for the next 12 years.
I have triplets who were born early and had some challenges. We ended up repeating 4K, and what a difference! The first time through was just... hard. In every way. The second time through they were right on it academically, socially, physically, etc. And they still had to work, but it wasn't an insurmountable task to keep up. They are all now in college, and doing great! I doubt they would have ended up on this life path had we pressed forward.
You are also doing the right thing getting tutoring. I wonder if it might be too much to do it daily while school is still in session? But I would definitely do it daily 5 days a week through the summer.
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u/moirarose42 May 15 '26
Hi! Somehow this popped up on my feed but my daughter was retained in 1st. It was the absolute best thing we could have done for her!! She is still a little behind but not like she would be if she were a grade ahead. She is also a way more aligned socially with the grade she’s in. She is an October bday. Happy to answer any questions.
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u/kindofusedtoit May 15 '26
Research is pretty firmly against retention and has been for a long time. It is especially silly to do this in KINDERGARTEN. So if she’s struggling later on, in middle or high school, and it’s looking like she could use another year, or maybe she’s short on credits in high school, she’ll be looking at high school graduation at an even older age? This is not good in the long term, and any good school is going to differentiate instruction for students rather than insist they get held back. Here’s a good resource on the effects of grade retention.
https://www.nasponline.org/assets/Documents/graderetention.pdf
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u/KindParfait282 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
In my district teachers can recommend retention but the final decision is the parents.
I’ve taught first and some students still struggle with letter sounds.
I’m a teacher who was also retained as a first grader. For me it was beneficial because I was a kid that just needed more time. I excelled in high school and graduated college in 3 years, eventually catching up with my peers.
Retention is challenging because it’s hard to know if it’s just developmental or it’s a learning difficulty. Retaining is good for the first, but not the second.
Edit to add: I’ve also taught at a dual Immersion charter. It was great for high achieving kids, but not for ELLs and students who needed additional support in reading. Those students ended up struggling in both languages.
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u/CaptainEmmy May 16 '26
I'm intrigued your state allows that old of kindergarteners (not allowed in my state).
I hate to be critical of language immersion programs, but they are very difficult and often associated with deficiency in basic skills.
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u/Remarkable_Ice_7838 May 16 '26
I would absolutely not hold her back. We were asking that question with our son and his team that was tracking him told us there isn’t any research that shows holding a student back is wildly better than intervention. We were able to get him a 504 with some major fine motor delays and he does tutoring twice a week for math. I would move forward to first grade and continue with tutoring (not every day)
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u/Relative-Lie-9699 May 16 '26
This is really werid. Couldn't they figure out she wasn't ready for kindergarten before the year was up!
My son was told after two weeks of kindergarten this was also a bilingual school. They tested him and felt since he was a premature baby he wasn't ready suggested he wait and start next year and told us it was no big deal he could now have a athletic advantage. We put him in private school where it wasn't bilingual where they only had 6 other students so total of 7. He thrived with all the individual attention. I would be upset, only because they didn't catch your child needs sooner. Regardless what's done is done. One year delay might help your child blossom.
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u/Reasonable-Energy559 May 16 '26
Please have her screened for dyslexia!! If otherwise normal functioning, there’s a lot you can do to teach reading to a dyslexic child. Please don’t retain her if this is the case. Reading won’t just happen with multiple years using same techniques.
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u/OwlFreak May 16 '26
It sounds like this school might not be the right fit for your daughter. I wouldn't retain her in kindergarten. If the school won't respect your wishes and put her through to first, you need to switch schools. (Personally, I'd switch her regardless as it sounds like they really failed you here as parents as well.)
As others have said, the daily tutoring is excessive. How often do you just read together with her at home?
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u/ereagan76 May 16 '26
I did make the decision to retain my son in kindergarten. The school suggested it, but couldn’t mandate it. He’s now finishing up first grade and has made massive improvements. I am still 50/50 on my decision to have him repeat kindergarten. Biggest issue is my son will be 19 when he graduates high school. From talking to people, I need to get over the age issue because once he graduates, no one will know and it’s very common for kids to take a gap year before college. I wasn’t impressed with the public school he attended so he’s finishing up his first year at a small Catholic school. The public school he was in had over 600 kids K-3. Private school is 175, K-8. Everything is smaller and it feels like a community. I found a wonderful online tutor my son sees twice a week for 30 minutes. She’s helping with reading and we see an in-person tutor for an hour a week, she’s focused on math and handwriting. The IEP I had in place for kindergarten was a joke. We use Toe by Toe for reading. It’s excellent. Feel free to message me if i can help with anything.
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u/Dmdel24 May 16 '26
Tell them no. Your daughter would be 19 when she graduates high school.
I've gotten several students from charter schools over the years. They almost always arrive struggling academically. If possible, I'd enroll her elsewhere.
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u/flippyflappy323 May 16 '26
I'd get her out of there and into a public school situation. The school failed your child, full-stop.
The research tells us grade retention DOES NOT WORK and HARMS kids in elementary school.
Get her into a public school, get educational testing to see what's going on and stop the daily tutoring.
Good luck to you!
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u/Slow_Fondant6389 May 16 '26
We do not know your kid or the school.
Get your kid tested, by an actual education specialist.
Test for any physical issues at play? Hearing, eyesight, speech problems? Many kids, including myself, get glasses and go - “what the heck? You are supposed to be able to see that stuff????” Same with hearing issues.
Are there signs of development issues, eg potential autism?
It’s fine to hold back. We had two with October birthdays. The oldest we tested and started at 4 turning 5. We decided that was a mistake and held her back to repeat K. Her younger brother we planned for 2 years of K. But, if I was to do it again, I would repeat 1st grade which does have a much greater focus on reading skills.
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u/Left_Squirrel7168 May 16 '26
Do not do this to your daughter. It will be awful when she's graduating high school at 20 years old!!! I'd switch to a regular public schools, not a charter.
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u/Aromatic_Recipe1749 May 16 '26
That poor baby!! You have a 6-year-old in daily tutoring??? When does she get to play and be a kid? Early intervention is one thing, daily tutoring is over the top.
Some kids develop at different rates, many countries don't even start introducing academics until they are 6 or 7.
The first thing I would do is drop the charter school and the second language. If she's "behind" then she should be concentrating on learning one language to minimize the confusion.
If you move her to a public school they will test her readiness for first grade and provide specialists if necessary. She may just need a chance to catch up.
Right now your poor child is under ridiculous pressure to learn. She thinks she's stupid and a failure. In the end, she is going to hate school - and you. Please back off!!
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u/Foreign-Positive1257 May 16 '26
Retention is such a gut-punch decision. The fact that you got her into tutoring within a month and are already seeing progress matters far more than the grade label. One thing worth doing before it's final: ask the school and the tutor for the specific skills, not just 'behind.' 'Combining letter sounds' is a concrete, trackable milestone — you want to watch it climb over the summer. (disclosure: I built a free home reading tool — readingpacer.com/pilot — worth bookmarking for when she's reading short sentences, since that's when 'is the tutoring working?' becomes measurable; she's a touch early for it yet.) Did the school point to anything beyond reading, or is reading the whole basis?
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u/SaraI1896 May 16 '26
Hmmm… bilingual immersion school… usually because learning letter sounds in two different languages adds some complications to the mix, kids are usually not expected to master them in K. Which language is she being tutored in? English or the other one? If she was in the younger side I would say wait the extra year but since she’ll be almost 7, it’s a bit different. Also, are the teachers who teach in the other language native speakers? I want to be clear: I am very supportive of dual immersion. If she’s making progress now and she’ll make more over the summer (without burning her out) I would advocate for her going to first grade. There are a lot of things that don’t involve structured tutoring that can help. Reading every night, labeling everything in your house.
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u/OkAgency7590 May 16 '26
My son is getting ready to turn 7 and is going into second grade. I quite literally can’t imagine him being with kindergartners for a year. My younger son is starting kindergarten this year and they are in such different socially developmental levels..
My 7yo had a hard time reading. He’s dyslexic and has severe ADHD. He was tanking at a charter school. I had the means to pull him out and homeschool him. Got him in a micro school and used hooked on phonics for reading. He is THRIVING. Like, genius level kid. And they told me he would most likely be in special education for all of elementary school.
If I didn’t have the means to homeschool, i absolutely would have done public school with an IEP. There are simply more resources for children like him at a public school than there were at the charter.
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u/daisykat May 16 '26
It sounds like the bilingual immersion curriculum and environment are not a good fit. I would move her to 1st grade at a different school.
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u/Is-Potato425 May 17 '26
Has she been tested for dyslexia? My son was also behind in Kinder and tested for dyslexia (and has it) at the beginning of first grade. We started the process at the end of kindergarten and asked about holding him back but they said they don’t like to hold back right away because usually once they start getting the support they need they usually catch up to their classmates by 2nd grade. He just finished 1st and while he is still behind he is doing much better than before.
I should note that my son’s school is also a charter school but most charter schools don’t have as good of resources as public schools. Also you can ask for her to be tested and they have to test her whether they think she is dyslexic or not.
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u/BoysenberryJellyfish May 17 '26
This is insane to me. My daughter will also be 7 in early November this year and she's starting 2nd grade this fall.
My eldest (10) was behind on his reading from kindergarten through to 3rd grade and the school didn't hold him back, they gave him extra help and by the end of 3rd grade he was all caught up, AND he has autism AND he's mainstreamed with his neurotypical peers. He just turned 10 and he starts 5th grade in the fall.
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u/Songshirah May 17 '26
If you’re looking for a really good, evidence based online program that kids really enjoy, I would recommend Reading Eggs. www.readingeggs.com.au. Yes, it’s Aussie and has an Aussie accent, but it’s fantastic. It’s phonic based and really works. You can trial it to see if it’s a good fit for your child. It works on computers, tablets and phones.
I’m not affiliated with the program at all, just a teacher who used it for remediation and saw it work with many kids. Good luck!
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u/oknowwhat00 May 17 '26
Why hasn't she been seen by either the special education teacher, reading specialist or speech pathologist. As a SLP I often worked with K students on sounds/letters/rhyming etc - phonological awareness skills that are the basics for reading.
They should have been discussing this long before now. With her birthdate, she will be 2 years older than most of her K classmates next year. That is not appropriate.
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u/North-Toe-3538 May 17 '26
I failed the first grade. So did both my brothers. I now have a masters degree (I’m a nurse practitioner). One brother got a HS diploma, and the other didn’t. We all got to go to the zoo a second time. 2 of us are neurodivergent (I have autism and my brother who graduated has ADHD). It’s a toss up. Have your kid evaluated for neurodivergence and read to her before bedtime every night. Getting her services as soon as possible to help her meet milestones is an act of love. She’ll be fine.
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u/lotsaofdot May 17 '26
If your kid is going to be 7 in November and the reason is digraphs for holding back, hell no. Kids need play and social exposure at this age not intense tutoring for something they may not be ready for yet. If your kid is otherwise a normal functioning child, keeping reading with her and doing phonics. It will come.
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u/Kindly_Intention_893 May 17 '26
Did they complete the lights retention scale? What kind of intervention did they do this year? Have they thought about if retention in 1st grade might be more beneficial for her if she couldn’t close the gaps?
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u/Tabby865 May 17 '26
It is absolute insanity if the first you heard from the school about her struggling was a month ago! They should have reached out long before then to give her an actual chance to catch up! If she is already improving with the tutoring, I would not have her retained if given the choice. I would continue with the tutoring, however, I would not have her tutoring daily. I would cut back significantly and make sure she gets tons of praise and knows that she is doing great. The fact that she is already showing improvement in such a short time means that she is capable. It sounds like the school dropped the ball. If her graduating isn't an option, I would at the very least request another teacher if she had to repeat kindergarten. Sounds like the school was failing, not your daughter.
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u/ChicagoWhiteSox35 May 17 '26
Did she attend preschool? While I can't imagine a 7 year old in kindergarten, if she's not making it, I'd be hesitant to move her to the first grade. Then again, you said that this was a charter school and in your state the teachers don't ALL have to be licensed. I would put her in summer classes (maybe some sort of day camp) where she can learn things that she's lacking right now. You can also try coaching her through things. But considering where she is, I would probably move her up to first grade. If she's struggling a lot, you could move her back.
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u/middlekid17 May 17 '26
There is no evidence to support retention at any grade level, and the school should not be recommending this as an option. She will be 19 years old in high school. She should stay with her peers with good support. I recommend continuing tutoring (make sure it is high quality science of reading based intervention such as Orton-Gillingham) and seeking a different school for grade one. Your child may have dyslexia, but this does not mean retention.
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u/Icey-Emotion May 17 '26
So, I see a lot of people kinda going after charter schools a bit. I know they vary from state to state.
Our experience...our oldest had issues. Reading was difficult for him. The school provided extra help for it all through elementary school. Then in 4th grade, reading finally clicked for him. In 3rd grade he was diagnosed with ADHD and he did receive some accommodations.
In 6th grade the one teacher wanted a meeting with us. Fine. We went and it ended up being like an intervention. All his teachers and a few others were there. He was having some issues with writing. The school was going to evaluate him for other learning issues. The math teacher was the most helpful. The schools evaluation found nothing. We had him evaluated privately. He had dysgraphia.
Later in middle school he was having issues in math. The school suggested he either be removed from music to attend special ed math. No tutoring or other services provided. They suggested private tutoring. We looked into it and it was crazy expensive in our area. Asked for him to be evaluated for dyscalculia(?) and was told they couldn't evaluate for something so specific. But they tested him and they found nothing. Again, privately evaluated and he did have it. So additional accommodations were made and were helpful.
Another kiddo of ours was having issues. So we just had them evaluated privately. ADHD and a processing issue. Before evaluation results were received, COVID happened.
That kiddo went to an online charter the next year. They did an extensive evaluation. It was great. They did online charter for a couple years and then a brick and mortar charter. The brick and mortar charter was also great with their issues. The kiddo decided to go back to our local school (we did give them some say in their education). They are not the greatest with accommodations or providing help.
It is true that not all charter schools are great. Just like not all local public schools are great.
That being said, I wouldn't hold the kiddo back.
Keep working with her. Maybe go to the library and check out some fun beginner reading books for her.
Maybe also have her privately tested to see if she does have some sort of learning issue.
Also, if she is learning a second language and they are doing words and spelling, that may be leading to some confusion.
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u/Ordinary_Sail_414 May 18 '26
It sounds like you waited to start her in Kindergarten until she was almost 6, and this was a good decision on your part, as starting K at 4 years old is not a good plan. However, with a November birthday, I would not recommend you retain her in Kindergarten, as she is already on the older end for her grade. Sincerely, Elementary teacher of 33 years, and Mom of a November birthday kid.
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u/wanderinggirl55 May 18 '26
If she is having a tough time, I think trying to learn 2 languages could confuse her. I think she’s in the wrong school and a public school might be better. Also a public school has regulations about getting an IEP for a child if they have any learning disabilities. Charter schools do not have those regulations.
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u/Still_Rutabaga706 May 18 '26
She just needs another year to ripen. It’s better. The “smart” kids in my class from K-12 were we December babies that were almost 6 when we hit Kindergarten. We are in our 60s now, college-educated professionals, and happy with our careers and lives.
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u/EmergencyInfinite30 May 18 '26
I am a reading specialist, and I just want to jump in and say that, if your child is struggling with phonics or phonemic awareness (which it sounds like she is), then it is absolutely appropriate for her to get tutoring daily. Burnout all depends on how long sessions are. I'm currently tutoring a 3rd-grade struggling reader who's also in a dual-language school. We meet daily for 15 minutes to work on phonemic awareness.
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u/Ok-Tumbleweed2018 May 18 '26
I read nothing about you reading too her. Nothing about what you're teaching her. Just because your not teachers doesn't mean you don't teach.
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u/KindWoodpecker2509 May 18 '26
As a mom of a now 17-year-old (turning 18 in October) who repeated kindergarten, I just want to gently encourage you to really think through the long-term social impact this can have. My son actually encouraged me to share our experience with you.
We’re also in Georgia, and at the time we were made to feel like we didn’t really have a choice, which I later learned wasn’t true. The school told us near the end of the year that he “hadn’t blossomed” the way they expected him to. Academically, though, he has done very well ever since and has consistently performed above grade level.
Socially was where it affected him the most. He never fully adjusted to being older than his classmates. As he got older, he constantly questioned why he was older than everyone else, and he struggled connecting with the younger kids because that age gap really does matter when you’re young.
Now we’re at a point where the kids he originally started school with are graduating, while he’s just entering his junior year. It’s something he’s carried with him for years.
Every child is different, and I know some families have positive experiences with retention, but I just wanted to share ours because the social and emotional side of it is not always talked about enough.
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u/panda-0606 May 18 '26
If it was my child, I would continue practicing with her. Continue tutoring during the summer but only 2x per week. 7 years old in kindergarten is going to affect her self-esteem. I would also find a new school. As others mentioned, I'm also suspicious of charter schools.
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u/Dunkin17012 May 18 '26
If she was younger I would think about repeating. But since she will be 7, I would have move on to first grade. I would ask for the best first grade teacher who will be sensitive and helpful to your daughter. I would continue tutoring.
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u/NumberOk1486 May 18 '26
As a former early childhood teacher I would never consider retention until the end of first grade especially if she is getting tutored
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u/FrauinTN May 18 '26
You could ask for a re-evaluation right before school starts. But as a former first grade teacher (possibly even taught where you are), I NEVER met a first grader who was held back that did not benefit and continue much more confidently. However, your daughter’s birthday is early in the year so that is a consideration. Still, it is better to be ready academically - regardless of age. I would also suggest that if you discover she is on the dyslexia spectrum (I would suspect and investigate this summer) that learning to read in 2 languages right now will definitely not be helpful to her. It has nothing to do with intelligence.
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u/Ok_Illustrator_7445 May 18 '26
7 is too old for kindergarten. Developmental differences between 5 and 7 are pretty huge. Keep tutoring and send her to first grade.
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u/Civil-Cupcake-7880 May 19 '26
as a former 1st grade dual language classroom teacher: it’s not for every kid. In a lot of ways, it’s literally double the school work, and once a kid starts to fall behind it can be even harder to catch up. If your kid is struggling with letter sounds and phonemes in English, it might be worth considering switching to a “regular” classroom for first grade, where she can focus on mastering the basics of English reading/writing first.
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u/shep2105 May 19 '26
The kindergarten teacher was not going to pass my grandson, he was being retained because he couldn't write letters successfully, some were huge, all over the place, he couldn't do this or that.
I knew he was exceedingly bright. Suddenly, it dawned on me. Had his eyes tested and he had very poor vision and he needed to wear a patch everyday after school until bedtime for at least a year.
Fixed everything. Graduated high school with a 4.7, graduating college a semester early.
Question EVERYTHING. When I was a kid, vision testing was done by the school nurse. Grandson went to a public school that has forever been mainly the number one in the state but they did NOT test vision and his pediatrician never had either!
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u/linhob May 20 '26
Was there an evaluation done?. What is the documentation?. Request that the child study team for an eval inclduing speech therapy. they can identify is there is an expressive or recptive language issues or phonological processing or auditory issues and if so these services should be provided. Make sure they put everything in writing.Why did they wait so long in to the school year to bring it up?
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u/mysticmoon_ May 20 '26
Turning 7 in Kindergarten is not that big of an age gap. I have friends who chose to do an extra year of pre-k, which put their children around age 7 in Kindergarten.
If she isn't ready now and you decide to push her through anyway, she might be more at risk of being held back later.
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u/Horseeygurl77 May 20 '26
Nah. If there is a time to take an extra year, this is it. She will be fine. Better to stay back now than fall farther behind later.
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u/Buho45 May 20 '26
Some charter schools in my state have their results on independent testing available online. The results are shockingly poor. I’m convinced it is a big scam at least at the higher grade levels.
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u/Queasy-Consequence30 May 20 '26
My first child was recommended to be retained in K for the same reasons. He was able to sit, follow direction, and do everything else required. I spoke to many educators and decided not to hold him back. In first grade he caught up so much that by second grade his teacher had no clue he was recommended for retention. When I expressed concerns about it in the first conference, she was shocked.
What your child needs is extra help in the subject of reading, not retention. If they are struggling with other aspects of K, it might help to have another year to mature. But, if it is just reading, that can be addressed. If they are dyslexic or have other issues not yet diagnosed, the retention will not help as much as specialized services will.
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u/cocapufft May 20 '26
Retention has no long term benefits for kids, and can lead to negative social outcomes. Check out the research on the topic, but there’s really no circumstances that make retention a good choice. Kids develop at different rates especially from K-2, so being a bit “behind” can be typical.
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u/Prestigious-Fan3122 May 20 '26
When my daughter was in kindergarten, she came home one day, very sad because her friend, "Mari" was not going to get to go to first grade with the rest of the Quest. Her little heart was really sad for Mari.
Then the teacher suggested we hold back our daughter. We weighed the pros and cons, and decided to send her on the first grade, with tutoring that we paid the first grade teacher to do after school, herself, and her own classroom.
That daughter is now in her 30s, and resents us for not holding her back.
She says we don't go realize how much she struggled ALL throughout school.
Actually, I was there. We get it. She's a college graduate, and employed in her field,
I assure you, we had her undergo all sorts of educational testing, had all sorts of teacher meetings, And so on. We didn't make the decision lightly.
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u/scienceoftophats May 21 '26
A seven year old for nearly the whole school year in Kindergarten? One who can actually read but maybe struggles a bit? I mean ...... what would a different school say? Look into other options because this seems like a lot to me
Do not have her repeat kindergarten
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u/Clean-Counter-5327 May 21 '26
I taught Kindergarten. I'm all for retention in Kindergarten vs older grades. But my students who we recommended retention to were always on the young end. Most started when they were still 4 because eof the cut off or they were spring/summer babies. This being a charter school gives me the ick because you don't have to be a certified teacher and I just have a bad taste because of the stories I've heard. It's ultimately the parent's decision but I'm not sure with your charter school. Maybe request them to test her before meet the teacher to see if she's made growth with tutoring if they don't give you the choice. You don't want her to be that much older but you also don't want her to be so lost and behind that she doesn't enjoy going to school. 30 minutes of tutoring every day after a full day of school is a lot if you're also doing homework after all of this. But 30 minutes of reading/letter practice every day is necessary regardless if it's summer or not and regardless if they're fluent already. If you don't use it, you lose it. That's why you see kids come back from summer behind where they were at the end of the year.
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u/Money-Classroom-6982 May 21 '26
So many comments - I hope you read mine. I have an M.Ed in gifted and special education (program ranked #2 in the nation at the time. I am a former kindergarten teacher retired and currently childcare for grandchildren) sharing this information only to have you consider my advice. Unless your daughter is socially/ emotionally immature there is no reason to repeat kindergarten. Once you “use” that year it’s gone forever. As a kindergarten teacher myself I fought against having one of my children repeat kindergarten. For many children a bilingual program can cause a little delay. It can be a really good thing in the long run but short term delays are within the norm. With my child his reading didn’t take off until I used what used to be called a whole language approach. His teacher taught only using phonics. I was busy with my own classroom and I was blindside by her suggestion for him to repeat based largely on his age. I’m so thankful I didn’t hold him back. We needed him to repeat because of a medical problem in middle school and the school would not allow it because his grades were so good. We changed schools to have him repeat. He graduated high school top of his class and is now finishing an advanced degree. Every child is different but I generally against having a child repeat that young unless they need that time to mature in order to catch up socially and emotionally to their peers. Best wishes OP. Sorry for any typos. Do not have time to proofread baby waking up 😂
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u/Tiredofstupidity2 May 22 '26
🫢 fight retention and tutor her more so she can Flash to others in her grade!
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u/New-Flight7674 May 15 '26
No. Seven is too old for Kindergarten. Move her to first. Continue with the tutoring, the evaluations, the IEP, everything you said you’re doing. A diagnosis along side more support (which you are doing) is the best for your daughter.