My son failed the first grade.?

Question

All year long his teacher told me he was doing ok,and said not to worry about anything.I even told her that I wanted to get him a tutor,but she said that it would confuse him.A month before school was out she send home a packet for me to fill out,apperantly she wanted to get him tested to see if he had a learning disability.Why wait a month before school is out?I'v been talking to a friend and she suggested that I fight this. Im confused on what to do.Should I bring this up to the district or should I just leave it alone and let him get stuck in the first grade again?

Answer 1

boys develop slower.  this might be a blessing for your child, so don't show disappointment.  consider a different type of school like private or charter that can work better with your child's specific needs.  keep your opinions about his failure to yourself.

Answer 2

I would bring it up to someone at the school especially if you were told that he was doing fine and even suggested tutoring and got told you dont need it. That just doesnt sound right to me.

Answer 3

oh no no no fight this.... This happen to my brother except he's was a senior this year. he couldnt walk with his class 2 weeks ago because all year the councelar told my mom he was on track and for him to take the art classes he needed at the start of the year and the night classes (in college) at the end. so he did that..... come to find out the college credits dont come in til the summer but we know he passed he just couldnt walk without it being on paper my mom was SUPPPPPER pissed and went to the district with me and we raised h**l to the point that they might ask the concelar to resign from the school cause apperently it happened to 3 other students.... to be honest some teachers are lazy and dont care you need to complain.

Answer 4

I would soooooo fight that! You clearly asked this TEACHER about your child and then she goes and fails him! I would so be out at the districts office telling every listening ear there what happened! Your son could be affected by that for the rest of his life because of the lack of communication his teacher had with you! It's not your son's fault and he should not be the one affected by this. Please talk to them.. even if they dont listen atleast you tried for your sons sake! She may be flunkin all kinds of students and you may be that ONE parent who says something and stops the viscious cycle she is probably spreading to more kids all over! Peace & God Bless!

Answer 5

Take it up with school district def... My b/f son had the same kinda problem in preschool they said he did good then the end they said they didnt know if he was ready well they passed him an then for kindegarten they said he was doing good then beginning to middle of school year they told us he needed tutoring an he was put in it an it help dramatically!! an then they were sure if he still was ready for 1st but they are passing him he did very good compared to if he hadnt had tutoring but i think thats wrong bc u tolf them u suggested tutoring an they denied you not right at all id me jacked off.

Answer 6

You just answered your own question.  Obviously you are concerned about this, so why not discuss this with the principal or district?

Answer 7

Did you sign the paperwork about the testing for learning disability? If not, I'd wonder if she was "punishing" you for not having your child tested, and I'd be writing angry letters to the principal and superintendant, as the school cannot force you to do such testing.

If he's really behind, though, it's tricky to figure out where to place him.  There is some research that holding kids back doesn't help them in the long run and actually may turn them off from school altogether.  On the other hand, if your son is very behind, you don't want him spending all of second grade stressed out and thinking he's not good enough to do the work.

I'd go talk to the principal, explain the situation, ask for specifics on what your child needs to know to go to second grade, and get him help over the summer so he knows it.  If you think it's remotely possible that he might have a learning disability, I'd get him tested (though perhaps not through the school ... the whole thing with the school sounds odd and I'd be wondering if their testing was biased or not); certainly if he does need help, he should get it.

If he does end up in first grade again, I'd definitely insist that he get a different teacher.

Answer 8

Fight it! From what the teachers told me in our district - the teacher has to warn you if your child is in danger of being held back.

We were warned so we a the opportunity to work with him more - of course he passed.

You did not have that opportunity that is unfair - Fight it!

Answer 9

First of all, it's clear that the communication between your son's teacher and you has been seriously lacking.  If this came as a surprise to you at the end of the year, then his teacher has not done her job in informing you.

I will say that sometimes it does take a while to decide if a child should be tested for disabilities.  As teachers, we try all sorts of different approaches when things aren't working with a student.  Especially with kids who are well-behaved otherwise, it can be harder to spot signs of a disability.  

Now, I'm confused about being tested and failing first grade.  Normally if a child DOES have a learning disability, retention is NOT the answer.  If a child doesn't have a learning disability, then that usually means there wasn't enough of a discrepancy between IQ and performance.  In layman's terms, that means the child's IQ is usually too low.  If a child's IQ is really low, then it's usually not a good idea to retain him then either, because he's performing to the best of his ability.  Retention wouldn't help.  I'm unclear as to what your son's school has decided and WHY they decided it.  

You DO have a right to appeal a principal's decision for retention.  I will say, however, that when a child is retained, at least in my school, that it's rare and really is the best decision for the child.  It doesn't happen often (because of the reasons I stated above, plus the fact that studies show it's not usually helpful anyway), so when it does happen, there's usually a good reason behind it.  It's your job to find out what that reason is.  Set up a meeting with anyone involved this summer and let them know that you're confused about what happened.  Tell them what you told us- you were told he was doing okay all year, you asked about tutoring but were told it wasn't necessary, you were sent a testing packet just a month before school was out, and now they want him to be retained.  Ask them to fill in the gaps for you, and go from there.

Answer 10

no way, bring it up to the district

that lady is a butthead. she should

have let you know ahead of time.

your son is not the one to blame for

this, you specifically asked if you

could get him extra help, so i would

deffinitely take it up to the district.

Answer 11

Talk to the school about it! It's pretty careless that they wait such a long time to help him!

Answer 12

take it to the school and file a complaint. It's not fair and seems so immoral from what you've described!

The teacher was probably overlooking your son's capabilities and began to lose concentration and ignored him. This has become kinda an epidemic in america apparently. I read an article about this somewhere and it seems strange to me but this more so in the younger grades.

take it to the principal because it isn't right.....

and boys only develop slower then girls physically!!!