Kindergarten Transition Process

by Trish on May 13, 2008 · View Comments

in Advocacy,My Little Guy


Well, so far I have had just one vote for a topic in the new Skribit widget I installed, and that was on the Little Guy’s transition from preschool to kindergarten [insert plea here for readers to suggest topics and/or vote on topics in the list].

I am ashamed to say the process hasn’t gotten much farther since my last post about it. After a couple of unanswered emails from the school psychologist, I called her and was told that she hadn’t gotten either of them and that they must have gone into the district’s spam filter. So I told her what I was looking for in regards to classroom visits, a team meeting prior to the IEP meeting, and the involvement of the autism consultant.

On the phone, she seemed unsure of what she could commit to on any of these items, but thankfully she called me back the next day with answers on all of them. So, here’s the current plan:

  1. Visit both kindergarten and first grade classrooms this Thursday afternoon, with a chance to talk to each teacher and also to sit down for a few minutes with the psychologist and principal.
  2. Meet with the team on the following Thursday to discuss the ER (Evaluation Report) and IEP (Individual Education Plan). Yes, this is only one meeting, but it is early enough that we could meet again and I do not plan to sign the NOREP (Notice of Recommended Educational Placement) at the meeting.
  3. Autism consultant will be in attendance to provide “input into the IEP” – and I can make my case for her inclusion on the actual document. (Wow, we are now looking at between 8-10 people attending this meeting!)

I had a follow-up call yesterday with the supervisor of elementary special education for our school district today, and we discussed some of my concerns regarding the grade placement. Her advice is to take the long view approach and consider the Little Guy as a sixteen-year old who wants to play sports and go to dances and learn to drive; then ask myself if another year now might be of help to him later. She was very helpful and had some good suggestions for a couple of other concerns and issues I brought up as well.

So now I need to know what to ask the teachers/principal about grade placement – any thoughts?

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  • CC

    Okay, so I’m a little behind I guess. Are you thinking of skipping K b/c he’s advanced academically? We had 15 people on a team (true number, not kidding) trying to decide if one of our students with Autism should skip 2nd grade this next year. Ultimately, the decision was made that he should. That said, I’m not fully in support of it because his emotional development is like a preschooler. It doesn’t matter if he was in 3rd grade or 5th grade next year. He’d be academically above his classmates. Since academics are not his concern at all, I feel like we need to really work on the area that IS his concern (emotions, peer relationships, behavior, patience, sharing, being flexible, etc.). Anyways….the Autism Specialist disagreed with me. So to 3rd grade he will go. Hopefully it will go okay. The school has been preparing him for the last 4 months in case this decision was made.

  • CC

    Okay, so I’m a little behind I guess. Are you thinking of skipping K b/c he’s advanced academically? We had 15 people on a team (true number, not kidding) trying to decide if one of our students with Autism should skip 2nd grade this next year. Ultimately, the decision was made that he should. That said, I’m not fully in support of it because his emotional development is like a preschooler. It doesn’t matter if he was in 3rd grade or 5th grade next year. He’d be academically above his classmates. Since academics are not his concern at all, I feel like we need to really work on the area that IS his concern (emotions, peer relationships, behavior, patience, sharing, being flexible, etc.). Anyways….the Autism Specialist disagreed with me. So to 3rd grade he will go. Hopefully it will go okay. The school has been preparing him for the last 4 months in case this decision was made.

  • momto4kidsny

    I’m facing something similar with my 5 yr old. He is currently in kindergarten and not doing so well. With talking with his teachers and therapists they feel it’s best to hold him back in kindergarten. However rarely do they hold back a child with an IEP. We meet again next month at late as possible to figure this out. I have already decided that it will be better for him in the long run to do kindergarten one more year than it will to hold him back later. I have no idea if this helps you or not. In the long run he will end up further ahead than his peers but it will give him the edge he needs.

  • momto4kidsny

    I’m facing something similar with my 5 yr old. He is currently in kindergarten and not doing so well. With talking with his teachers and therapists they feel it’s best to hold him back in kindergarten. However rarely do they hold back a child with an IEP. We meet again next month at late as possible to figure this out. I have already decided that it will be better for him in the long run to do kindergarten one more year than it will to hold him back later. I have no idea if this helps you or not. In the long run he will end up further ahead than his peers but it will give him the edge he needs.

  • Cajunchic

    Well just think of it this way, you are one step closer. you no longer have to do that first step.

  • Cajunchic

    Well just think of it this way, you are one step closer. you no longer have to do that first step.

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