Update on Retaining my 1st grader...

I want to compliment everyone for being advocates for their children. My husband was retained in 4rth grade because he was lazy (now a days it's called dyslexic) and even though he is very intelligent, always felt stupid. What has enabled him to be successful is a strong work ethic and a great sense of humor. I remember reading a statistic regarding the ratio of retention and high school drop out rates. The number was huge. In most cases, I do not beleive in retention - there are special services and wonderful teachers and schools out there that can help.

OneOutof5,
Thank you for bringing this issue up.
That is exactly what happened in the first school my son attended. I don't want to give the exact area but it has a reputation of being "better". He is dyslexic, but compensated and reached his "levels" (by memorizing words, which is not the right way). They wanted to retain him without services every year until we took him out. There were 8 year olds in the first grade and he had to deal with some older, much larger kids who were actually able to do well and did not have learning disbailities, who took out their own aggressions on the smaller ones. His teacher even said she was worried about him attending middle school in that environment (which was a magnet school in a well off area) because he'd have to be able to defend himself- as another rationale for holding him back- and actually meant it sincerely. What was apparently accepted as normal there would send shockwaves where we are now. I'm sure the Principal's priorities, though, were monetary, as they were with everything else. It even extended as far as which parents had the most say in curriculum, who was "in" and who was "out".

When my daughter was a first grader, we personally knew 9 other children who got grade-retained that year. They wanted to grade-retain her (she does have learning disabilities). There was an incentive for the principal to hold back children that year -- those who were not LD but those whom had failed to meet 90% of the Sunshine Standards (Florida). The school was actually getting a certain amount of money per child who was held back (non-SLD). What they wanted to do with our child was to grade-retain her without SLD (Special Learning Disabilities) services -- first grade all over again without the help she really needed -- all because Dr. X wanted the extra money for the school. (Apparently it was related to Plan B money...)

If your child is doing well -- why would they want to grade retain her (don't fall for the "she's small for her age" reasons, those types of reasons evaporate later on and she'd still be stuck a year behind -- which really stinks for the kids once they are in high school -- think about kids 19 1/2 years old graduating from high school -- some 20-year-olds -- there is actually a kid who will turn 21 the day after graduation this year from my son's graduating class...)

Hi, Dawn 50,
It sounds like your daughter is doing much better now. There are some great, grade level workboooks for kids that can be found it book stores, and libraries have leveled books in the kids section, as well as storytime, puppet shows, etc. Congradulations and good luck!