Having a child evaluated by the school system

JOEBunny

DD is having some challenges with "academics" in pre-k, like handwriting and letter recognition.  We met with her teachers and they want to keep her in pre-k another year.  I would like to have her evaluated before we do that.  I have an appointment to find out about the process.  Do I also need to have a private evaluation?  I ask the pediatrician and they recommended a Phycologist, but she doesn't have any social issues, so that confused me. 

Any experience?  I don't mind paying for an evaluation, but I want it to be with the right people and make sure we are not just holding her back only to face this again next year.

meghans30

The school system can take care of the entire evaluation process. A Psychologist may be a part of the evaluation process along with an SLP, OT , PT, and special education teacher. I would certainly have her evaluated before just keeping her another year in pre-k in order to rule out any learning disabilities. Good luck.

JOEBunny

meghans30:

The school system can take care of the entire evaluation process. A Psychologist may be a part of the evaluation process along with an SLP, OT , PT, and special education teacher. I would certainly have her evaluated before just keeping her another year in pre-k in order to rule out any learning disabilities. Good luck.

Thank you.  That is my concern.  I have a learning disability and worry that if we just hold her back, it will be another year before it is addressed if she has a similar disability, meanwhile, she still will be frustrated, but more so, and that her social skills, which are currently good, will suffer in the process.  She likes to do well at things people ask of her, so for her to be the way she is about learning letters and number, indicates to me that she can't do what is expected, rather than she lacks the motivation or maturity. 

Justinlove

Just to give you a head's up...unless the LD is significant, it is very hard for the tests at that age to identify LDs. 

Developmentally, learning to memorize/recall abstract letter/numbers is not the same as complying with adult directions so you really can't compare the two.  But, her inability to do it at age 4 does not necessarily mean that she has a LD. 

I teach Kindergarten and these are not things that she HAS to know before entering K.  These are actually part of the K curriculum. 

JOEBunny

Justinlove:

Just to give you a head's up...unless the LD is significant, it is very hard for the tests at that age to identify LDs. 

Developmentally, learning to memorize/recall abstract letter/numbers is not the same as complying with adult directions so you really can't compare the two.  But, her inability to do it at age 4 does not necessarily mean that she has a LD. 

I teach Kindergarten and these are not things that she HAS to know before entering K.  These are actually part of the K curriculum. 

Thank you!  Do kids who don't know that stuff , even if they have been trying to learn it "catch up" or do you think it is better to keep them back if they cannot process it yet?   I guess I don't understand why they want to hold her back, if it is something she could well "outgrow and catch up" as her mind develops.  I would be more inclined to repeat kindergarten or 1st grade if she is still struggling.  I would appreciate your thoughts. 

lite-bright

In our district, their evaluation is strictly to determine services, not to give a medical diagnosis. They'll evaluate her motor skills, language skills, etc. If your insurance covers therapies/treatments, you'll need a private evaluation in order to get a diagnosis and get them covered. 

I'm sure your pedi recommended a psychologist because they're qualified to diagnose various learning disabilities. Developmental pedis also do evaluations, but I really only know about that in the context of ASD and I don't know if it's also an appropriate avenue to get a possible LD checked out. Maybe someone else here can chime in on that. 

We just had our DD1 evaluated by the district and by a private psychologist, and found out she's on the autism spectrum. The district eval was basically an hour of play with three different evaluators. The private eval was much more thorough -- multiple hours over two different visits -- and included testing of her speech, motor, social skills, etc. The district result was basically: she qualifies for speech and OT. The private eval gave us the diagnosis, recommendations for treatment, etc. that we'll use to figure out exactly what she needs, and what private therapies we'll supplement with. Having the medical diagnosis will also help us push the district for services.   

HTH! 

Justinlove

Not recongnizing/recalling all the letters or numbers by itself is not a reason to hold a child back.  Now, if your daughter has consistently struggled or been lagging behind with acquiring new skills (ie:  colors, shapes, patterning, sorting, sequencing, etc.) that might be one reason to hold her back.  She might just need a little more time before her brain is ready to retain/apply these skills.  Not every child develops at the same rate and so it is hard when they enter school and "every five year old" is expected to know certain things.  Is she young for her school year (meaning, is she a late spring/summer bday?). 

I would sit down with her teachers and ask them to specifially share their concerns.  Are they concerned about her social maturity as well as her academics?  Why do they think she will struggle in Kindergarten AND how will another year in PreK benefit her? 

I will say that I am all for additional years when it is needed.  Often times, kids just aren't ready (maturity and academically) for the rigors of the modern day Kindergarten.  K is sooooo academic now (for better or worse).  As far as kids catching up.  Some do, some don't.  It is impossible to give an overall generalization for this since it is really so kid-specific.  I know it is a hard decision for a parent to make!!

JOEBunny

Justinlove:

Not recongnizing/recalling all the letters or numbers by itself is not a reason to hold a child back.  Now, if your daughter has consistently struggled or been lagging behind with acquiring new skills (ie:  colors, shapes, patterning, sorting, sequencing, etc.) that might be one reason to hold her back.  She might just need a little more time before her brain is ready to retain/apply these skills.  Not every child develops at the same rate and so it is hard when they enter school and "every five year old" is expected to know certain things.  Is she young for her school year (meaning, is she a late spring/summer bday?). 

I would sit down with her teachers and ask them to specifially share their concerns.  Are they concerned about her social maturity as well as her academics?  Why do they think she will struggle in Kindergarten AND how will another year in PreK benefit her? 

I will say that I am all for additional years when it is needed.  Often times, kids just aren't ready (maturity and academically) for the rigors of the modern day Kindergarten.  K is sooooo academic now (for better or worse).  As far as kids catching up.  Some do, some don't.  It is impossible to give an overall generalization for this since it is really so kid-specific.  I know it is a hard decision for a parent to make!!

Thank you.  I really appreciate your sharing what you know.  I am going to talk to the school she will be going to next year and to a good friend who is the headmaster at a 4k-8 grade school here.  Hopefully, that will help.   I am also going to make a point of working more with her on her letters, and see if she improves at all with extra help.  Socially, she is great, so I am not worried about that.  Her fine motor skills have consistently been behind.  Her gross motor used to be, but she has done well with that this past year and "caught up".

torrey111

I am so glad you posted this as we are currently navigating down this road.  Our son, who has a Dx LD and ADD, has recently been referred to Special Ed-  it has already been made very apparent to me that I've had to really insist on a number of things within this new Special Ed land....that is, while the Special Ed team is looking to test him to see if/what he qualifies for, I'm having to push for additional testing for both auditory and visual processing (as I think these are at the core of his learning issues) and then inquire what their plan is to work in those areas.  I sort of feel that if I'm going to allow my son to get yanked out of class regularly, thus missing out on what is going on in the classroom, it better damn well be individualized specifically for what his issues are.

If I were you, I'd definitely have an outside eval done by a psychologist so you a more objective view of the situation. Good Luck!

 

REOM

Mastering letter writing and letter recognition are kindergarten skills, not pre-k. I wouldn't keep her back just for that. Does she retain information? Is she making progress? I would put more weight in her ability to make progress at this age.

Even if she does wind up with an IEP, she should be in an age appropriate class. The teacher will make modifications for her LD (assuming she has one). If you feel she is ready socially, I wouldn't retain her. Based on what you have posted about your DDs strong personality, I bet she would do better with a new classroom and environment.  

I understand that you are concerned with her having a learning disability,  but my experience in schools has shown that it's really difficult for a child to get the LD diagnosis before 2nd or 3rd grade. Before then, there just isn't enough of a discrepancy to prove it. Yes, I've seen signs as early as K or 1, but those kids weren't diagnosed until later. Because of this, I would think that if you decide to pursue the school based eval, you will come up empty.

Good luck with your decision!