Question: My 8-year-old second-grader is not up to par on his reading skills. His reading grade has gone up to a C this grading period. His math skills are average. He has great social skills. His teacher wants to retain him based on poor handwriting skills and a lack of confidence in his ability to read. I am tired of arguing with the teacher about holding my son back. What can I do? - For Promotion
Answer: Are you sure that you totally understand the reasons this teacher wants your son to repeat second grade? Poor handwriting skills and a lack of confidence in one's ability to read are not usually the only reasons a teacher wants a child to repeat a grade. You must clearly understand what difficulties your son has that make the teacher even consider retention.
Whatever problems your son has, retention is not likely to solve them. Many years of research have shown retention to be ineffective in helping children improve the skills that caused them to be retained in the first place. Most children do not "catch up." Furthermore, although some retained students do better at first, these children often fall behind again in later grades.
The negative effects of retention usually outweigh any positive effects. Students who are held back tend to get into trouble, dislike school and feel badly about themselves more often than children who go on to the next grade. The weakened self-esteem that comes with retention plays a role in how well children will cope in the future.
Considerable time is left in this school year for you and the teacher to help your son improve the weaknesses that his teacher has pinpointed. Schedule a conference at once to resolve how you both are going to start helping him.
Please investigate the possibilities of getting additional help from a tutor, learning center, summer school, library program, summer learning camp or a remedial program at a college. Start reading aloud nightly with your son to bolster his confidence in his ability to read, and give him many opportunities to work on his handwriting. By starting to work now and throughout the summer with your son, you should be able to prepare him to handle third grade, unless his difficulties are more serious than you have indicated.