Advice to Advance Speech Delay Son to Spec. Ed. K or Keep in Spec. Ed Preschool

If he is able to stay in the pre k class, but go to a K class for some time each week, it seems like it's a good possibility that he might advance so well that he could skip a kindergarten class next year and go straight to first grade. Remember, kindergarten is a preparatory class, and not a requirement before going into first grade. I think, based on what you have said, that keeping him in the pre k might be the best plan.

HELLO A.. MY SON WAS IN SP. ED THE WHOLE TIME. SPEECH DELAY WAS DUE TO HEARING PROBLEMS. WE RETAINED HIM IN SP. ED. KINDERGARDEN. IT WAS GREAT! MY DAUGHTER TOO WAS RETAINED IN THE 4TH GRADE. IT WAS THE BEST DECISION WE MADE. SHE HAD MAIN STREAMED INTO REGULAR CLASSES & TO THIS DAY, SHE IS PLEASED. SHE IS NOW 24 & MY SON IS NOW 26. ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL ME. I WOULD LOVE TO HELP YOU THROUGH THIS. I LIVE IN SOUTH SAN JOSE. DON'T FORGET YOU ARE A GREAT MOM!!

BLESSINGS,
A. MYERS
____@____.com

I am currently teaching kindergarten. Just thought I would inform you that many school districts are doing away with the Class Size Reduction due to California budget cuts. What this means to your child is that there will be more children in the class and less time with the teacher. The budget cuts may also change the working hours of the speech teachers at the school sites. This fall my district will have 30 - 34 children in our classrooms. Check with your local district. That might help persuade you to keep him in the preschool longer so that he has time to mature.

I think you should go with your gut. Only you really know your son, and know what is best for him. A couple of my kids have late birthdays, and I have started them, and they have been great - but I know there are kids who could benefit from waiting. So, my advice is to just go with your gut! :)

I think it's better to NOT move him forward. Especially since he is small---if he is small, has speech difficulties, and is behind in school, how does being in a higher grade help him? He could get totally lost. Besides, IF he catches up later on, there can probably be a "social promotion" to have his grade corrected to be age appropriate. But he's already borderline between grade ages anyway, right? Let him build a solid learning foundation while he is young. Some kids are late bloomers.
One of my boys (now finishing 4th grade) started school a year late because he wasn't talking at all, so he is older than his peers, but it has not presented any problem. The only time he has had problems is when he was unable to meet the academic expectations of the classes he was in (he got a different placement to correct this).
My son's speech problems are noticeable, but have improved, and because he is such a likeable kid, he has lots of friends and I am not aware of him being teased about his age/grade, or even about being in special education.
He knows that he is in the right place for what he needs, and he has a lot more confidence since he got into a situation where he can keep up. He is thriving now. And his younger brother (2 year difference) has grown so big that they now look like twins-- but it doesn't matter about their sizes or about their grades. No one cares. Including them!

If your son needs more socialization, maybe he can have playdates or a "buddy" at school.

BTW, I wasn't sure if "skidish" meant "skittish" or what you meant like that.

Afer having spent many years working in K, I'm a big fan of younger kids starting K later. Our oldest son also has a Nov. b-day & he started K at 5 3/4. The best thing for him! He had another year to mature which is what he really needed. He's now 8.5, finishing 2nd grade & not (by far) the oldest in his class. I see so many kids start K at not quite 5 or barely 5 & they just aren't ready & do the year over. But I do undestand your want & the need for your son to be around kids his own age. Kids learn so much from their peers & being around younger kids may hinder him socially in some ways. I vote for pre-k again but can you have him spend a couple of days in a program w/peers his same age? On another note, b4 our boys, I spent almost 20 yrs working w/kids w/special needs as a teacher's aide at the elementary school level. The last 8 yrs, it was w/kids who were included in the reg. ed clasroom all day w/me as support for them as well as the rest of the class as a whole. I noticed you said spec. ed. K for your son....does he have needs other than language? I would highly recommend you look into this as an option for your son. As I said earlier, kids learn such a tremendous amount from their peers & if your son were to be around kids his age w/o speech delays, as well, chances are you'd see a huge growth in his language skills. Our younger son, 4 next week, also has a speech delay. He's been receiving speech now for almost 2 yrs. Once he was diagnosed, we got him enrolled in preschool (earlier than we had planeed) w/kids his own age w/ospeech delays & saw an AMAZING amount of growth in his talking. If you have more questions about inclusion, feel free to get in touch w/me via Mamasource. Best of luck!

Hi A.,
I like to say that even if he didn't have a speech delay, I would hold him back. It is better for boys to be older for their grade than younger. He will graduate 17 if you put him in this year, and always be the youngest in his class having a November birthday. Boys are already immature, and I beleive they definately benifit from an extra year of pre-k. I would go to the Kindergarten and talk to a couple of teachers or principle. It's always good to get advice from the people who will be caring for him during the day. Hope this helps!

With a November birthday he is a very young Kinder. My son was in special ed preschool and I really would've liked a pre-K option but of course the district didn't have anything like that so I enrolled him in Kindergarten at the school where he had been attending the Special Day class and then the follwing year I enrolled him in kinder at our neighborhood school. Kindergarten is generally much less academic and more social and language focused so it is a good place for a kids with speech delays to do some catching up.

A.,
I think that if they think he needs to be around kids that are older to help him keep advancing he should go on to Kindergarten but have him to k twice. The first time around to get the exposure and start learning the skills and the second time to master them. My kids are the youngest in the class I really feel like it is better to be the oldest so we are having all three do kindergarten twice. There birthday's are sept., oct., and Nov., so they are the youngest. My oldest just finished his first year and he really noticed that he was the last to get a loose tooth, that all his friends turned 6 and he turned 5 and a few other things, so I explained that is why he is doing k again and he was fine with it. He will already be good at the basics and be able to build on that, a teacher k at the school where my husband teaches told us "there is nothing wrong with being the smartest kid in the class it motivates him to stay that way and allows him to learn how to help others with things." He also said it is better to be the oldest and repeating is a great idea. Our son was not told to repeat, he did fine, this was our decision because we think it will help him in the future. I think this might be a good option for you. You could always try it for a month and if it is way to much put him back in pre-k, you know what pre-k is like so find out what k is like.
Good luck,
C.

Speaking as someone with a November birthday, I would not start him in Kindergarten until next year. This has nothing to do with special ed. I started K when I was 4 (turning 5 in Nov.) because I was advanced academically, and at first this was fine. I was not small for my age and had no problems with the work. The problems began as we all got a little older. The other kids were just a little more advance socially/emotionally. I also developed a little later so I began to look younger than my grade level by about 6th grade. Starting high school at only 13yrs. old was not a good situation. This will be a bigger deal for a boy. Also, boys mature socially a little later anyway so what will middle school look like for him? These days most kids with later birthdays are waiting to start K, so he will not be the oldest in his grade if he waits, but if he goes up now he is very likey to be the youngest. By waiting, he is more likely to be in a class with kids closer to his age.

Hi A.,

I have almost 30 years experience with IEPs (my brother and both my kids). My suggestion is to put him in Kindergarden with a stipulation in the IEP that if he seems to be out of his league and is REALLY struggling, then he will be moved back down into pre-k. However, don't give up on Kindergarden too soon. If he needs to do it twice, no big deal. Like I told Geraldine, kids don't think too much of repeating kindergarden. It is like an extra year of daycare. Our kids seem to take a little longer to develop so give him the time he needs to get to the level of the other kids (even if he takes longer and is a bit older) and that is what will help his self esteem. Better to do it at the beginning than to risk having to do it later in school. Since he is small for his age, that is even better because he will actually be more of the same size as his classmates when he is finally ready to step into the big world of 1st grade. Good luck and let me know if you want to talk and I will give you my e-mail.

T.

special ed or not, after teaching K for a couple of years I am a big fan of waiting to enroll. Those kids who turned 5 before July just tend to do better. The others usually muster through, but I felt like if some of them had had that extra year before they started they could have really shined. Don't worry about what other kids will say of him and his sister being in the same grade. Just find a good response about how close in age they are to teach them. Kids won't think about whether he's been held back for several years if ever.
Some figure, oh well, you can always hold them back if that Kindergarten doesn't work out. While that is true, i don't take holding them back lightly, you can ONLY hold a child back once in Elementary school. As teachers we have to carefully consider what is best for the children we want to hold back and try to find the "best" time for holding them back. With you son having an IEP, he will always be judged by his progress in his IEP goals over the standards and will not necessarily be held back if he does not meet the standards as long as he is meeting his IEP goals.
My daughter is a November birthday. Knowing how much more rigorous Kindergarten is now than when I was in school and having seen first hand the difference a few months can make in these kids I have known since the day she was born (early) that she would not attend Kindergarten until she is 5 going on 6.
Good Luck with your decision!

With kids, special needs and otherwise, expectations are IMPORTANT! You say he needs to become a bit more mature. This is MUCH more likely to happen in a class where the other kids are more mature (& possibly some do better than he, speech and language-wise), so that he has role models to try to emulate. In a class with kids his age and more advanced, the teacher will expect more of him than in a class where he is the most advanced of the bunch--this is NOT due to any shortfall on the teacher's part. It's a subconcious thing we all do. Your son will have more incentive to strive in the kindergarten class. Having him spend time in a regular class each week is something I would also consider important. I would move him to the kindergarten special needs class.

my thought is you son is young and won't be 5 until november. I would have him stay where he is and let him go into a kinder class for part of the day if possible. The concern with putting him in kinder with he has a speech delay or not is his age. and if he falls behind than you end up keeping him in kinder an extra year. I would also talk to the IEP team and see what thier thoughts are. His speech therapist should be able to give you some feed back. I am a speech person for sac. city school district and depending on how your son is socially etc... would depend on wether you want to move him. but talk to his speech therapist. what school dist. are you in.

I have a son that is a November birthday too, he does not have speech delay and is not in a special ed program but we are waiting to put him in kindergarten for several reasons, 1 boys tend to mature slower than girls, he's small for his age, and I'd rather him be ahead in class than behind because of his age. Several of my friends and acquaintances that are teachers applaud my decision. I realize that I don't know your child so it is you that can make the best decision for your child, this is just some advice from my experience.

A.,
As a mother with a student in special ed, I can give you some advice. There is more than one type of special education classes for students. The size of your child shouldn't make a difference. In special ed, they do have extra aides in the class to work with your son. He may not understand being held back, IEP's are twice a year to determine his placements. My son didn't understand the concept of being around kids his own age. Some kids vary in their learning. For a long time I couldn't understand what my son was saying. He is now a freshman & he socializing is something he never comprehended.
Your son will be ok. With special ed children they do need help with many things. I do agree being around kids his own age, there will be obstacles of other students with difficulties. As we all know there will be fellow students with attitudes & others calm. I wish you the best of luck.

My youngest had a speech delay as a result of lack of nerve development in his mouth (as a toddler he'd grab for and eat pepperinchinis and jalepenos (sp?), and was enrolled in speech therapy classes twice a week (through the school district). He attended a regular pre-school where he had a lot of interaction with other kids--the kind I think you are seeking. Is it possible for your son to attend a regular pre-school (an advanced pre-k class)--my son did this because he was a late December baby and just missed the cut off--so he is one of the oldest in his classes now but it was definitely worth the wait. Does you son need other assistance in a "special ed" pre-k? If not, see about how you might continue the speech therapy outside of a classroom experience. I realize you've got other little ones and might find it difficult, but my son really advanced in his pre-school experience. Also, I don't know how much time you spend working with him at home, but I spent at least an hour a day doing things with him and required him to speak with me, make sounds, sing--all in a playful manner. We'd play games where I'd ask questions, we'd sing and dance at home, we'd do art projects (with lots of questions about this and that), we'd take stuffed animals and cover them with bandages (large box at Costco) and talk about body parts, what could get hurt, bandage things up, and then he'd have a blast removing the bandages (but had to make a ripping noise). We'd go to the park, build stuff with the sand, talk about it, break it down (again with noises). I'd set up "stories" with action figures or small toy animals and tell stories, ask him to give me the next line/direction he wanted me to go, ask him to tell a bit of the story, etc. Soon he didn't shut up! He's still talking a mile a minute today and he's 14. From a little boy who only growled, he came a long way. Good luck.

I think that sometimes it's hard to know the "right" thing to do. My daughter had a Sept BD and I gave her an extra year in preschool and now that she's going into 5th grade I feel as if she's much more advanced than her classmates. She turned out to be a fast learner, something I could not tell in preschool.

Daughter No 2 has a February BD and her Kindergarten experience was somewhat traumatic. Some of the kids were sailing through the work and she struggled. Sometimes she would hide under the tables and cry. She could not manage the pace and because much of the work was done communally she was always aware of what she didn't know and it bothered her. She's now in Montessori and everyone works independently and at their own speed. The difference is night and day for her but I did not know this before we went through KIndergarten

I guess I'm saying it's hard to see into the future and know how things will play out. I will say that I don't think there is the stigma of being held back that there once was so if you feel moving ahead is right, do it and if you find, later, that it wasn't, change your course. Good-luck.

Greetings A.: I truely do have compassion for your situation. I am the mother of a special needs child and a child advocate for special needs child and parents.
Parents Helping Parents will be a great resource for you.
I asked my son how to answer this since he is also languaged delayed, has dyeslexa, mild ADD, and Aspberger's Syndrome. He thought that it will help him to be more grounded to be held back now instead of finding out that it needs done later. The up side is that he will still be able to advance at his own ability. It has been proven that children that are on the young side of Kindergarden have to struggle to keep up. I never personally sent any of my other 4 children to kindergarden until they were 6 so they were able to have that advantage. You can see if they have K1 or Kadvanced classes, or does your special ed or resource class have several age groups together? I know that in Speech itself a teacher will di individual as well as group classes and can have different age /levals together so taht the children can learn from one another.
Children can stay in the special ed. program through out their school years at many levals. Our son waas able because of the Resource Teacher's to be in regular ed classes all through school and in High School and he was in one Honors class. The IEP covered all his needs and I made sure that every teacher had a copy BEFORE the 1st day of school so it was in process and my expectations were met the 1st day of class.( made sure that all his educational needs were in the IEP so that there were no loopholes fora techer not to teach him to the best of their ability) Our son graduated and has been succesful at the local JR College -- again with the help of the Disability Center for his needs and class adjustments that help him to be successful. I would like to suggest that you consider some kind of musical experiance for your child. It has been shown that children that are languaged delayed do very well with music. Jon choose drums and piano but there are many things to choose from even vocal. It has a way of leting them communicate in another form.
Please feel free to contact me if you ever need to. Good Luck with this great adventure of parenthood, it will be the greatest thing you will ever accomplish in life. Nana G

Hi A.,

I am in almost the exact same situation with my son who will be 5 in 10/09. He has been in an inclusion pre-school program through El Dorado County since he turned 3. The kids are ages 3-5 and about 25% of the kids have mild delays/mild autism. He has been with the same teacher for 2 years now, so she knows him really well. Our son really only began speaking more than one to two words about a year ago, and can now have small conversations. He is still a little shy when in comes to social interactions because he finds it hard to initiate play with other kids sometimes.

A few months ago, the teacher and I discussed that he would benefit from one more year in her program rather than going into Kindergarten. The school district has agreed to give him "the bonus year", so we will be staying in the program one more year. I am comfortable with that because I know that he will know many of the kids in class and we're hoping it will give him an opportunity to be more of a leader in the class. We don't however have the sibling issue that you have, so I understand your concern there.

It's a tough decision, but I think you are better off placing him based on where HE will do best rather than worry about him being in the same grade as his sibling. It's so hard when you're dealing with a speech delay like this because it affects so many things in their lives. I know my son can talk, I know he can play, I know he can learn and I know he can participate, but my concern is putting it all together. They expect so much from kids in Kindergarten these days...I just didn't want to put that kind of pressure on him. Have you seen the Kindergarten readiness checklist for his school? They have to be able to sit, pay attention, respond to questions, know their numbers and letters and a lot more. It seems that preschool is now what K used to be.

The bottom line is that you and your husband know him best. Personally I think 4 years old is to young to enter K anyway. Even if my son didn't have an October b-day and the speech delays, I would have held him off another year. I don't know when your daughters b-day is, but is it possible she could start a year later as well?

Good luck to you in your decision.
A.

Take Care,
A.

A.,
Our son has been in special ed since kindergarten. I knew something was wrong when he was small. He started speech therapy at the age of 18 months. He was in SDC up until 6th grade. After on triennial meeting, I was told that he is legally by state standards considered retarded. We have since moved him to a ILS class so that he can learn more everyday skills and be able to hopefully be on his own some day. There is one thing I have come to realize over the years (he is now going to be a sophomore) is that you can hold them back all you want, but when they are in special ed, chances are pretty good they will stay there. I would start him in school now, and see how he does. Try to get him any diagnosis that you can while he is young. We finally ended up with a neurologist that knows what he is doing.
A phychologist can't diagnos a learning delay and that is where they sent us to. Our son has a speech impediment, with ADD and a processing disorder. Put all those things together and its like watching him stand there and you can see his brain spinning inside his head because the focus is just not there. I wish we had the diagnosis early on, and could have helped him at a younger age. I kept asking where to go for help, and know on knew. It wasn't until I said he was staring off into space a lot, then did the send us to neurology because they thought he might be having a type of siezure. He has never been able to leave special ed, he has two regular classes that he attends with modified support. One of which is Wood shop. He also has regular PE and has an A in both classes. There is no aide with him for PE. He does it all on his own. To answer your question, start him now, and you might get more answers sooner and be able to help him more.
W. M.

Hi, A.--

First, I have two boys, the youngest has a speech delay and just finished his first year of kindergarten with a speech IEP. Second, I'm a teacher with a Master's in Special Education and time in a special day class, K-3.

Now.

:)

You're worried about your son being confused as his sister's twin if they're in the same grade--I had sisters who were in the same grade because their birthdays were so close to each other. Once people understood everything was normal.

Your husband is worried about him not being with other boys his age--that's not exactly a concern as they will all be within a few months of each other. Though some may still be in diapers I would imagine that that won't last long. My youngest started the state pre-school in diapers but was out of them within a few months. Not sure what the difference was between seeing his classmates use the bathroom over his brother, but dang--at least it worked! :) And I do know that his other classmates didn't regress just because he was still in diapers.

The chance to spend time in a regular kindergarten class seems to be a benefit and I would definitely take advangtage of it unless it proved to be a problem (which I can't imagine it would).

Does your district have a different kindergarten class specifically for kids in your son's situation? Our district has a pilot kindergarten set up to give late-birthday kids with a special need (mostly speech) a chance to prepare for regular kindergarten. Nine of the 20 kids were November birthdays and I believe most or all of the students in his class had an IEP. I helped out in the classroom once a week and saw huge growth in all them. They are such different students than at the start of the year that I know they'll all excel in kindergarten this year. I'm excited to see how Alex does this next time around.

If your school doesn't have such a program then I would lean toward keeping your son in the pre-school program one more year. If you're sure it would be best to send him on then I might ask the district to put him at a different school than the one he would normally go to. This is a decision that completely rests on how you feel about it. I felt good about my son starting the second round of kindergarten with new friends while moms of the other kids in his class were excited about keeping their child at the same school.

What I liked about this pilot k so much was that they were given more time to explore/learn without all the extra pressures of having to obtain the standards and benchmarks for kindergarten. It was more like kindergarten of old and the kids learned while still having fun at school--an important base for the rest of their education. Their teacher was experienced with this "breed of student" and as such she was able to help with their speech therapy needs. She was a great asset to their education this year.

I can't emphasize the importance of making sure your son doesn't feel like he's being pressured at school--especially at this age. It's much better to spend extra time now to get the basics down than to have to do it later. And if he's a bit older than the rest of his classmates it's not going to be by much and for a boy that's just a few more months' maturity to aid him in everything from academic acheivement to sports to social aspects. :)

Good luck with the decision--hopefully I haven't given you too much to think about that I just confused you even more.

M.

If speech is the only issue, I would say let him advance to Kindergarten. However, you should seriously consider letting him stay in a special ed program. My son has some serious speech delays and in our district they have a "communication" class in special ed which is for kids with speech delays -- the kids don't feel different, because they all have the same issue and the teacher is able to incorporate alot of speech into the regular curriculum.

This year my son, whose speech delays may or may not get better, was in a regular classroom with an aide and did OK, but the problem is that some kids will just avoid playing because they don't understand him.

The other issue, for me at least, is that in our district they are doing away with class size reduction and the primary classes will be close to 25 kids, rather than 20 like they have been. In special ed, the class size is limited to 17 and most classes have at least one aide in the classroom, so the kids are getting more individual attention than they would in a regular classroom.

Having said that, though, I did have my son repeat Kindergarten. He has a rare genetic disorder which has caused him to have some behavioral issues which I felt were better worked out in Kindergarten. He spent one year in a special ed K class and this year was in a regular classroom with an aide. He is advancing to 1st grade this next year, but we are sending him back to special ed because of the enlarged class sizes.

I think I'd try to put him in Kindergarten and see how he does. Even if he's a bit behind in speech, does he understand everything? I have a baby just turned 3 with speech delay too....IeP etc. BUT she's smart as a whip.....very coordinated, no fear, keeps up with her big sister or tries to........he is young, but Kindergarten work is something you can help him with... ABC's, counting to 30, coloring.....later he might not be happy to be in the same grade as sister....he'll catch up with the speech.....it might really give him a boost of confidence to be a Kindergartener..... I dont know if my advice is "sound", but its just my opinion..... L

Ps. I agree though, with the one lady that said go with your gut. In my case, my little one has a May bday (just turned 3).... her older sister has just finished K. She is 5 will be 6 this month. (one of the youngest in class, but had no problems) When we take sister to school, little one is wanting to stay...likes to stand in line with sister, has no problem entering the class, playing in the classroom. In otherwords, she's not really shy or anything around the 5 and 6 yr olds, but she does still speak in 2-3 word sentences. She absolutely understands everything, but just doesnt get the words out very well. She's getting better though and has thrown out a few new words just this week "mango juice please" I was so thrilled! You sound like a great mom and you want the best for your kids... if there are other delays (gross motor or ? ) maybe keep him back....but otherwise he could always do kindergarten again.... I just dont know if I'd want to keep him around the babies any longer.

My advice would be to advance him in the regular K class and have him spend time once a week in the special K class where his special needs would be met. Then if you have to you can always use the option of repeating K so that he would be ready for first grade with confidence and more daily practice with his verbal skills. Having your peers around is very important for them to learn from eachother especially language. He could regress if he stays in PreK, Kinder is more often when parents will hold boys back and if you choose that option he will more than likely have other boys his age still as he continues his education. My blessings are with you!

Hi A.,

I would wait to send him into K. It will allow a chance for more language to develop, and he will still be with kids his own age. There's no rush to put our kids through school, so let's try to give your son the best development, which he can do by waiting another year :O)

~N. :o)

A.:
My 3 year old son also has a speech & language delay and has been in a Spec. Ed. Preschool through our school district since March 30th.
My suggestion would be to request a meeting with all who were involved with his IEP. I don't know how it is where your are but I know we had a group of 5+ people who were involved. Discuss with them the pros and cons about both. I think, due to when he turns 5, that he would be a young kindergardner. And honestly, why push him on farther just to be with kids his own age. The main focus is to work on his speech.
Good luck!

Hi, A..
I current work as an IA in a Special Day Preschool in my school district. I agree with doing an "informal tranistion IEP" to kindergarten with all involved. They can help you with the pros and cons that you're talking about. And you can request this meeting...they don't always offer it, unless you ask. My opinion is the same as the last one.....send him to kindergarten so he can be with kids more his own age, and possibly start picking up more speech with them. And yes, you can request that he repeats kinder too. Most Special Day kinder classes are still small with a higher adult ratio than a typical kinder class so he will still get the attention that he needs. I've also learned that you need to ask (and sometimes push) for more services or they won't be offered. During your IEP in kinder if you feel he's not making the progress....request more speech...demand it if you have to. But, you may find that you won't have to do that. Another point is that if he goes on the Spec. Day kinder he'll probably go on with some kids in his class that he knows, so that would be a comfort to him. As for the teacher, that is so great that you have good teacher for him now...but the longer you keep him there the harder time your son will have, later on, when he changes teachers. They (and us) need to learn to let go of last years teacher and to move on to the next one....it's a reality that they'll need to get used to. I wish you all the luck and hopefully, with the right help (at school and at home) your son will eventually leave the "spec. day" world and move on.

M.

I think I would hold him in Pre-K another year. When my brother and I started school we lived in SD. State law there was that you had to be 5 by Sept. first or wait till the following year. Waiting the extra year was great for both of us. If he can do the Pre-K and visit a K class for a few hours a week (probably during their free play time) that would be the best option.
Once he gets started in the school system he will be with the same kids most of the way through so his classmates will know that he didn't get held back a grade. But if you start him too soon and have to hold him back in the next year or two I think that would be worse for him. It sounds like he is doing a lot of growing and improving with the great teacher he has now. Keep him with her. Great teachers don't come along every year so give him as much time with her as you can.