Spin off of the wiping thread... - Page 3

[mamazee]

My dd was very slow on physical things, and she just wiped as well as she could manage at school, though I think she tried to hold off on the bathroom till she got home. We got her Velcro shoes, and pants with elastic waists, and for a few things like buttons other kids might have had to help her. It would have been ridiculous to wait another year for her to start kindergarten because of this. She was already reading proficiently and doing math problems, and wasn't a young kindergartender by any stretch so she would have been substantially older than anyone else if she'd waited a year. But anyway, I did not expect the teacher to help her with this.

[kblackstone444]

I can't imagine a Kindergarten teacher helping a child go to the bathroom! They're not allowed to- where I am, once a child turns three, teachers are not allowed to wipe the child's butt. Too many liabilities (read- witch hunt for "abuse"). I'm a preschool teacher- we are allowed, however, to help the child zip or button their pants if they need help, once they come out of the bathroom. A five year old, though? A five year old (even a young five year old) without any physical issues, should be able to learn how to wipe, dress and undress, shoes included, and navigate "most" zippers or buttons. Kindergarten teachers CAN tie shoes, however.

[ThisCat]

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie

Of course she's entitled to a public education! But so is everyone else.

Part of public education is dealing with children from different backgrounds and with different abilities. A child with more needs than the average child still deserves to be in public school and often times those needs can be addressed with the child in a regular class room. That doesn't mean the rest of the class isn't going to get an education. I think if a parent felt otherwise, then perhaps a more homogenous private school might be a better fit.

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie

When a child doesn't have a significant number of skills required to function in the class, but for whatever reason does not need special education (e.g. the child is just a young five, or late bloomer, but is generally normal) then that child just needs more time.

You're making a lot of assumptions there. Not all children will be better served by another year at home. There may be a reason that the child is a "late bloomer," and entering school might help get those issues identified and get the child on track. Also, not all kids have a loving enriching home with involved parents where they will spend the extra year and come back better for it. There may be a reason that the child is not learning self-care skills at home, and school might offer them the chance to catch up. From the little I know of the story, I suspect this was the case for the boy I mentioned that came to K in pull ups. He might have been out of pull ups if he had been made to stay out a year, but he probably wouldn't have been any more ready and would have been older than the other kids which would have made things difficult in various ways for everyone involved.

And even if a child is just a late bloomer and has the luxury of spending another year at home with an involved SAHP or in a quality daycare or preschool program that takes kids who are old enough to be in K, there still might be some negative consequences to holding the child back a year. There's a lot of controversy surrounding redshirtting and several studies have shown that kids can suffer both socially and academically throughout school. It also has effects for the other children in the class when there's a wide age span in the early grades. So if some kids are starting a few months short of 5 and some are starting at 6 and a few months, that's going to create some problems for both groups as well as the teachers. This is at least part of the reason why the age cutoff has been moved up in a lot of areas, which again, is not without controversy.

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie

Starting a child a year late because they aren't independent in whatever life skills, or speaking, or whatever that is necessary, is not denying someone a public education.

Of course not if a parent made that choice. If a public school did, that would be another story.