School Blog
We going to school to learn…

Our daughter is 5, her birthday is 1 March. She attends a private kindergarten. Her teachers (who have been wonderful) called us and asked for a conference in Oct. They asked what is her learning style was and indicated she cannot recognized the differences in the sounds of letters. They also said she was shy and seemed anxious. It was suggested she maybe a candidate for retention.

During our November conference the teachers indicated her confidence was improving and our daughter was becoming more outgoing. Academically though she is falling way behind. Out of 22 students, our daughter and 2 others could not write 1,2,3,4 on to 10 on a piece of paper. On the same assignment 17 students wrote 1 to 30 perfectly.

I’ve compared her hand writing to other kids and I can see she’s just not up to level with the rest of the class. Phonics…the same, she really struggles. Her teachers are indicating retaining is a good idea.

Other info:
*She didn’t go to pre-school - My wife home schooled her and our son.

*Our son is doing great in 3rd grade

*We moved last year and our daughter wasn’t happy about moving. She’s been forced out of her comfort zone, like alot of kids.

*Socially our daughter does very well, especially here at home and in the neighborhood.

*My wife and I used to be classroom teachers and we spend time everyday working with our daughter (review lessons, flash cards, hand writing, math manipulatives).

*We feel like for every 12 inches we give our daughter in at home instruction, we see an inch of progress. Kind of frustrating.

The next step - We still have months before we make a decision. What should we be doing now? Testing,,,what kind? Should we retain her? Or is continuing on to 1st grade better?

Thanks

By: gonefishinrt