Kindergarten Retention for Sensory Integration Disorder Kidlets!

I got a comment yesterday from someone who stumbled on my blog through google searching "retain kindergarten". I'm still surprised that I'm google search worth even if it is 12 pages into the search.

Anyhow this mom has a child who has Sensory Integration Disorder like my little Tayton. It's not often that I find other people who have ever heard of SI let alone are in my boat. So I thought I'd answer her question.

We had an advantage when it came to retaining Tate in kindy because we knew from the first day of kindergarten that he would be a two year kindy kid. He had already done two years in the same Pre-K class so it seemed natural to him. But when it came time for him to complete the first year of kindergarten and his classmates to go on to first grade we worried about how he would handle the news.

We talked to him about how much fun kindergarten is and how some kids have to go to first grade. Then we explained to him that some kids get to be in kindergarten for two years and he was one of the lucky ones. With Tayton's SI he does not handle change well at all so it was fine with him. He actually told us "I don't ever want to go to first, second, thrid or fourth grade, I just want to stay in kindergarten forever."

Maybe telling your son will be that simple. Maybe not. SI kids need so much more time to adjust to new ideas than other kids. The way that their brains process information is like a highway that's congested in some areas and deserted in others. Tayton is scared to death to start first grade so we are talking about it often and reassure him like crazy that it's what comes next.

We did tell Tayton too that some of his other classmates that were going on to first grade had already done two years of kindergarten so now it was his turn. And of course that was true. Taytons second year of kindergarten made a world of difference in him. He finally started socializing a little bit with his peers and blasted to the top of the reading charts. He started to talk to his teachers more and just matured overall. Kids are resilient he will adjust but the more time you give him to get used to the idea of kindergarten again the better off you'll be. Good luck! Let me know how it goes. You can always email me at my address on my "about me" page!