About Maria Batkovic Expertise I can answer any question concerning primary grade (K-3rd) education from the perspective of the student, parent or teacher. My speciality was designing highly creative ways to teach all levels of reading, writing, spelling and math (addition, subtraction, multiplication and fractions). In the last few years, I also became very adept at dealing with students with learning disabilities integrated into mainstream classrooms.
Experience I taught 2nd grade for more than 25 years in Catholic schools in New York City and Northern California.
Expert: Maria Batkovic Date: 10/26/2007 Subject: repeating kindergarten
Question Maria,
My son is a November baby and started Kindergarten this fall at age 4. Intellectually he is above the kindergarten level and is reading and has great verbal skills etc. He is also high energy and can be a whiner at times. His teacher suggested to us that we consider having him repeat Kindergarten due to what she calls his emotional immaturity. Some of her concerns appear to be, he has a difficult time settling down on some occasions and his inability to deal with rejection and hurt feelings. He has no behavioral issues of hitting or being mean to kids. There are only 12 kids in his class. She seems to be of the opinion that boys should start school at a later age but my son is already beyond the skill level and Pre-k would be boring and not stimulating. Please share your thoughts on repeating kindergarten and what things we should consider at this time.
There are many studies that have been done throughout the years. Many educators do feel that it is beneficial to the student to wait another year before entering kindergarten. The most important factor here is that your son succeed in school and have a wonderful educational experience. The foundatiion is the most important if your son is to succeed both academically and socially.
MB
