Mid-year entrance to K?

[Aufilia]

Lately I've talked to several school district people about Vivian (I ran into the superintendent of schools at a party... and talked to the special needs people... and a couple others), and they keep telling me, "You should talk to the principal of your local school." Only they never say what it is I am supposed to talk to him/her about. So I asked my mom (a 2nd grade teacher in another district) today what the heck I would want to talk to him/her about and what I might get out of such a meeting. She said, "Well, maybe they'd take Vivian into K this year for a trial run."

Recently my mother's helper, who has a 4.5 year old brother, told me that her mom talked to the principal of the school and her brother is going to start in April, when he turns 5. I was actually skeptical about this and figured she had the story mixed up. (She's 11.) But since my mom came up with the same idea independently, maybe I'm wrong. This girl also told me last week that her brother has just learned to write his name and the letter sounds, so he's not entering because he's advanced.

Has anyone's kid actually done this? Or known of it happening? I'm not sure how I'd even approach it. Just flat-out ask?

Vivian is in her 3rd year of Montessori but DH and I are not feeling confident in her program this year. She has a new teacher who doesn't know her, and we came away from parent/teacher conferences disappointed. The teacher had no idea how well Vivian reads, hasn't done much math with her at all, and suggested that her behavior issues were the result of her needing more attention at home (rather than SPD-related).

Public K would not be giving her work at her level. But they would (very likely) provide OT in the classroom, which would be a big bonus. And it's free.

[cdahlgrd]

I don't know about early entrance, but I do know that you can request a workup on her to test for physical and developmental delays and you can get OT services for her. And if she has SPD, then she might qualify for pre-K as well.

So yeah, talk to the principal and if you want her tested, then look up the process on their website and submit the request IN WRITING.

[KCMichigan]

We looked into it in our area and the school will not take 'underage' mid-K kids (ours were not 5 by the cut-off date and they do.not.make. exceptions). All areas and states vary by cut-off dates and allowances to those rules.

I would want to note that OT will not be offered through *most* school districts for SPD alone. Unless there is another diagnosis, usually SPD by itself will not allow for OT services. My DD has SPD and had OT for over a year for gross motor delays and SPD. When she no longer qualified for gross motor delays this year (she made too much growth!!), she was dropped from OT even though she still exhibits SPD issues. Our district will offer OT, but it has to be under a diagnosis other than SPD. ( for example CP or ASD). They do some sensory diet type activities, but the majority of the OT here deal w/ fine motor, handwriting, and self-care skills--the exception being with students that have an ASD dx, they have sensory groups and sensory play built into the day (these are primarily the self contained kids too), otherwise the OT offers consult to the K-12 teachers, but does little one on one work.

I would make an appointment to speak to the principal and take a list of concerns, questions, and discuss options for mid-year entry and/or what accommodations they make next Fall.

[TiredX2]

Will you be using the Bellevue public schools?

Here is their information on early kindergarten entrance:
http://www.bsd405.org/LinkClick.aspx...=1297&mid=4194

They supposedly only consider children who have their birthday before the end of November. My DD did early entrance (with a January birthday) in LWSD, but they have changed to only those kids with September & October birthdays being eligible for early entrance. I can't imagine a school simply allowing a newly 5 year old (who turns 5 in the spring) to randomly start Kindergarden with kids who have already been in class for 7 months.

Are you considering their gifted program? It doesn't start until 2nd grade, but if you are interested in it I would be concerned that it would be more difficult to get accepted if you were much younger. DD had no problems (and actually had another January birthday in her class who was early entrance) but Bellevue is *much* harder to get in, so I have heard.

[joensally]

Perhaps they just meant start investigating now? DS has SPD so we invested some timein the spring before he started investigating various local kindergartens we would have access to in search of a teacher who would be a good fit.

Because SPD is not in the DSM (thus not universally accepted), and because there are often such budget/resource pressures, it's not certain that OT for SPD would be made available - this would be a good question to ask. And ask specifically what would be available - a classroom observation and recommendations to the teacher, or any level of therapy.

Have you had a sit down with the current teacher, or have these comments been more in passing? It might be worth having a larger conversation with her.

Personally, I think it would be hard for a kid who struggles with self-regulation to join a class in the latter part of the year. Kindie is a lot about routines, and the other kids will have had months learning them. The age group can be pretty impatient with out of order behaviour so it could be difficult.

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by cdahlgrd

I don't know about early entrance, but I do know that you can request a workup on her to test for physical and developmental delays and you can get OT services for her. And if she has SPD, then she might qualify for pre-K as well.

She has been evaluated in the past and is schedule to be re-evaluated in a couple weeks, and was previously offered a place in their special needs preschool. For various reasons, including the crazy distance from our house (40 minutes round-trip) we did not place her there. At the time she was evaluated before, she had a great preschool teacher who was working well with her.

Originally Posted by KCMichigan

My DD has SPD and had OT for over a year for gross motor delays and SPD. When she no longer qualified for gross motor delays this year (she made too much growth!!), she was dropped from OT even though she still exhibits SPD issues. Our district will offer OT, but it has to be under a diagnosis other than SPD. ( for example CP or ASD). They do some sensory diet type activities, but the majority of the OT here deal w/ fine motor, handwriting, and self-care skills--the exception being with students that have an ASD dx, they have sensory groups and sensory play built into the day (these are primarily the self contained kids too), otherwise the OT offers consult to the K-12 teachers, but does little one on one work.

She's been offered OT though the district before, but not PT, even though her gross motor delays were fairly apparent. She doesn't have issues with fine motor (she is ahead in fine motor) or self-care (unless you count hating to brush her teeth, but she does it) so they must've been planning other sensory activities. I can't remember -- it's been about 2 years -- but they weren't too concerned about her actual diagnoses, just her deviation from "normal".

Originally Posted by TiredX2

Will you be using the Bellevue public schools?

We're in LWSD.

I can't imagine a school simply allowing a newly 5 year old (who turns 5 in the spring) to randomly start Kindergarden with kids who have already been in class for 7 months.

That was in initial reaction. But then, if a kid transferred, they'd "start" mid-year in a new class, so ... I don't know.

Are you considering their gifted program? It doesn't start until 2nd grade, but if you are interested in it I would be concerned that it would be more difficult to get accepted if you were much younger. DD had no problems (and actually had another January birthday in her class who was early entrance) but Bellevue is *much* harder to get in, so I have heard.

So your DD did early entrance and got into the gifted program?

Originally Posted by joensally

Perhaps they just meant start investigating now? DS has SPD so we invested some time in the spring before he started investigating various local kindergartens we would have access to in search of a teacher who would be a good fit.

When she was evaluated previously, they did not seem to care much what the diagnoses was, just that she was a certain amount behind "normal" in a certain number of areas. She qualified for 1/2 hour of OT per week in their special needs preschool. She did not qualify for PT because her gross motor delays weren't large enough.

Have you had a sit down with the current teacher, or have these comments been more in passing? It might be worth having a larger conversation with her.

DD's current teacher told us to our faces in p/t conference that she thought DD's behavior issues were a result of not enough attention at home. Since I have previously sat down with her teacher and the directress and talked about SPD, we felt this was not a good sign for the rest of the year.

[KCMichigan]

I would look into all your options.

Preschool is different than K-12.

My DD got OT through the schools for sensory stuff (with another dx), but age 3-K it just needed to deviate from the 'norm' to get OT. Once she transitioned into K age---she no longer qualified since then they compared it to affecting 'academics' starting in K. Since she is academically 'on par' OT was no longer offered.


Most areas the qualifications change once they hit K and it tends to depend on if it impacts academics. They may offer you a 504 starting in K if she has some behavioral quirks or gross motor needs, but if she on par with academics--it is highly unlikely they will transition her IEP to K. IEPs in preschool are not dependent on academics, rather 'any' area of delay can qualify a student (gross motor, social, etc).

I would absolutely look into it. We continued with private OT for a bit as well.

I also would hesitate putting an academically advanced, but socially/sensory child in a new school setting in the middle of the year. Her sensory needs may keep the school from considering her for mid-year entry.

Or you could try early entry (mid year) with the understanding that they may request her to do a full year next year.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by Aufilia

So your DD did early entrance and got into the gifted program?

"Kinda" lol. We had her tested for early entrance as a 4.5 year old. She passed but we decided that she was not ready for a kindergarten class (academically more than ready + socially way not ready = not ready). We ended up homeschooling for a couple years than applying for the Quest program. Because she had been identified as ready for Kinder two years earlier, they had her test for 2nd grade instead of 1st. She got in with no problems. There was another child in her class who had done Montessori for kinder and 1st and was three weeks younger than her and also tested into 2nd grade. Now they are both in junior high.

They used to say that *anyone* could test, but that generally only kids who were September of October birthdays "ever" passed .

If you are in LWSD, I'm really not seeing a local school putting her in a kindergarten class, though officially it *is* the principals decision. Is your goal to have her in full time Quest (as a 1st grader) next year? If so, I would consider one of the following options:

1) Contact the Family Learning Center--- the homeschooling support group for LWSD:
http://www.lwsd.org/school/flc/Pages/default.aspx
I do not know their current policies, but they used to be much more... flexible... in accepting kindergartners early, even those who did not pass the entire early entrance exam.

2) Consider yourself a homeschooler and simply sign her up for the Quest test. That said, the application for elementary students was last Friday at 4pm, so you would need to hurry (and beg)!

Hmmm, just looked into the quest site and it says under homeschooling "Students must be five years of age by December 1, 2010, per the Kindergarten Early Entrance requirements." I am unclear how old your DD is--- does she make that?

This is DD's 6th year in Quest and DS' 3rd, so if you have any questions feel free to PM me. There is also the part-time program.

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by TiredX2

She got in with no problems. There was another child in her class who had done Montessori for kinder and 1st and was three weeks younger than her and also tested into 2nd grade. Now they are both in junior high.

They used to say that *anyone* could test, but that generally only kids who were September of October birthdays "ever" passed .

Right. When we moved into LWSD, we had thought that we might consider having her test. But then sometime recently they changed the rules. Eh. She'd've made it in academically. Not sure what behavior stuff they look for.

If you are in LWSD, I'm really not seeing a local school putting her in a kindergarten class, though officially it *is* the principals decision. Is your goal to have her in full time Quest (as a 1st grader) next year? If so, I would consider one of the following options:

I'm thinking we'll probably have her do K next year regardless; so even if by some chance she were able to enter K mid-year she'd probably do K again next year, though maybe not at the local school. We have been looking at private schools. Originally I'd hoped to keep her in Montessori for a couple more years but the Montessori elementaries we looked at did not offer financial aid. After looking at gazillions of schools I've found 2 schools that do offer actual financial aid and seem like they might otherwise be good places for her, so we're planning to apply to both and see what happens. Money is a huge factor, and then there's the SPD to consider.

The Family Learning Center would not let us enroll her there this year--tired it. They told us they follow the same age policies at the rest of the district and don't allow early entrance unless you pass the early entrance test. They look like an awesome program. Another option I've considered would be to enroll her in a private K/perschool K program next year for the socialization, and simultaneously in FLC for the academics.

She will not be 5 until January.