Repeat a Grade - HOW DO I DEAL?

Just stick by your child, so she knows that whatever choice you make, you are doing it for HER best interests.

I have not had to make that choice for any of our own children, but my husband, who is a VERY intelligent man, had to repeat 2nd grade. This was back in the 1960s, and he had ADHD and Tourette Syndrome, and most likely a learning disorder and of course, back then, they weren't diagnosed at all. (Chicago Public Schools.)

He said it was really hard for him, the first year, because he had to stay in the same school, in a class with his old friend's little sisters and brothers. But, I think his parents and teacher made the best choice. He had not yet learned to read, he could NOT sit still, he fell out of his chair at least 20 times a day, he walked around the classroom and talked non stop. Despite that
, he was very smart. He just wasn't ready to be learning what they were trying to teach him, and he had also started school too young. (In those days, you could start K at age 4, and due to his test scores, the school let him. However, they didn't test for ADHD or anything else.) Today, he is a very successful man, who works as a Senior Staff Scientist in Engineering, and supports an entire family. One would never know he repeated a grade.

Many times with girls, learning disorders and ADD or ADHD are not diagnosed in the early years. If she is falling behind, or seems depressed or irritable, talk to her doctor, it may also be a condition which medication and therapy could help with. (I believe that if we hadn't insisted on Therapy and eventually medication for one of our children, who also is a female and had an ADHD diagnosis missed, because girls present the disorder differently than boys do) she would have most likely have been held back.

Let her know you believe in her. Let her know YOU know she is intelligent, spend as much time with her as possible, and then make the choice, hopefully, with the help of you dd's Pediatrician and the staff at school.

Good luck.

I thought that's what would happen!

When we moved from Ohio to North Carolina, my oldest daughter was in the 5th grade. She was doing very poorly. We decided to move her back into the 4th grade. Much of the reason why she was doing so poorly was because she didn't know anyone and she was very shy. We decided that giving her the chance to review the 4th grade and make friends along the way, get used to a new school ect. would all help her to become a more well rounded person. She did really well, and became more confident in herself. That was several years ago. She is now in High school. She is takeing all honors classes and getting all A's and B's.
Be patient with her. Repeating a grade really is'nt all that bad and doing it now is a lot less stressful on everyone then it would be in middle or high school.

UPDATE: I just called the public school to schedule the assessment test and they didn't realize that my daughter's a returning student. Therefore, NO ASSESSMENT TEST REQUIRED!! Yes!!