Considering Holding 7 Year Old Back

I think only you truly know what's best for your child, so I'm by no means giving advice. I just wanted to share with you my sister's situation. My older sister, who is now 35 years old, was held back in second grade. Being that she was born just after the cut-off to enter kindergarten she was already older than most of her classmates. When she was held back, she wound-up being considerably older. It defintitely had a HUGE impact on her self-esteem.

Hi G.,

I have a 5-year old son who can actually read well but his reading comp is not at the same level. We are actually using the Visualizing and Vebalizing program with him right now and it seems to be helping him absorb the storyline better and anticipate how the story will unfold. I guess, studies have shown that it is much harder to really comprehend what you are reading if you don't have a picture in your head while you are reading. I have always attached an automatic picture to everything I read and maybe that is why I've always been a big reader. For some people, this does not come naturally.

If you feel this is what your daughter is struggling with, the Visualizing & Verbalizing program or individual materials may be purchased on-line through Gander Publishing, http://www.ganderpublishing.com/ Maybe this will help you not have to make the decision to keep her back another year.

I wish you and your daughter the best of luck.

Home school.
You should do some real research about the "education" institution.

Dear G.,
I worked in the school system for numerous years. My middle son was still struggling with reading in third grade. What worked best to help him was reading aloud but softly as he read a book to help his flow and decoding. Use books lower than her reading level at first so she enjoys it and gradually increase the difficulty. This will improve fluency. Also, make sure she does know all the phonic sounds to the letters and sound blends (gr, fr, fl, etc.) Hooked on phonics is a game that could help. However, my son was a site reader and really had trouble decoding even though he knew the sounds. My sister gave me site books instead of phonic books to work with him. Some of it can be maturity too. I don't know when her birthday is or how mature she is. The comprehension problem is what concerns me more and she may have a learning disability. When you read to her or when she reads with you, ask her questions about what you have read...who said...?, what did they ... do next?, why did they do it? etc. Do this with TV programs she watches too and see if she is following them..if she can follow them and the story plot and answer questions it is less likely there is a comprehension problem.
As far as retention, first it depends on when her birthday is and also how big a child she is and if it is maturity or a learning disability. I actually have 2 of my three children back a grade...but did it at K. I also had two 5th grades and that was late and more difficult for me even though I was tiny and had a Nov. birthday...I should have been held back earlier. Since she is only in 2nd grade and you will be moving, if she isn't really big for her age or has a birthday that makes her really older than the others, she probably would benefit the retention. Actually a lot of parents of sons hold them back a year for maturity today since K is more like 1st grade use to be. If you are concerned about the comprehension after reading with her and having her answer questions about what she has read, you may want to see if you can get her tested by RSP (the resourse specialist program) to rule out a learning disability. (This is what my sister does who gave me the site books).
Have a wonderful, meaningful Christmas! I hope that this helps you with the decision that you must make in a few months,
H.

Since you are moving it would take away any feelings of not being "As good as" the friends who would leave her behind. I had the opposite problem, every year I tried to get my daughter’s teachers to consider holding her back and they would not. She received Cs and Ds. No child left behind really means no money for a child to repeat a grade. My daughter struggled to get by and they put her in lots of extra programs like your daughter. It was not until junior high that she actually caught up academically with her peers. If you don’t hold your daughter back now it will get harder in every way to do so latter. Holding her back gives her the chance to really learn the things she is barely getting. I wish I had had this option for my daughter. It was very difficult to see her struggling for 6 years. It wasn’t long before she felt she was “stupid.”

Is your daughter reading at grade level?
Mostly all 7 yr olds will have trouble with fluency and reading comprension.
What exactly is the teacher saying? are they recommending retention at this point?
FYI Public schools are pushing children to perform to get good API scores.
I wouldn;t pressure her if she is trying her best.
(You have started her on the right path with the tutoring and xtra time with the teacher.)
Retention works 50% of the time for some kids.
There are a lot of children who need xtra time to get into the groove of reading.
I personally don;t retain students unless they are struggling far far below grade level.

Have you thought about homeschooling to catch her up?
I am homeschooling my son . I am also a 15 yr veteran GATE Elementary school teacher. I currently teach 3rd grade. I hope this was helpful 2 ya! :)