Seeking a Preschool or Advice for Speech Delayed Twins

I don't think what you are being told is true. My twin boys are also very speech delayed and Carroll ISD is telling me that they are not required to start Kinder until they are six. They could repeat PPCD for one more year. That would make mine pretty old so I haven't made a decision on it yet but I think if you push they would have to offer PPCD again for next year.

Just because they go to kindergarten does not mean their special education ends! They will get evaluated again before starting and they will get an get another IEP if they need it. Do you think no one in elementary school needs help? If they haven't seen a neurodevelopmental pediatrician yet, take them as a diagnosis is a pretty power tool to assure that they get help at school. Your son might need additional outside help as well.

Why won't you be able to get them help through the school system? The schools are legally responsible for providing services to children with IEPs. If you chose a private kindergarten, they would still have to provide speech. Look into this further with your district. If they're telling you they can no longer service your child, there is something wrong.

Can you find a private K for them and still get the speech services? I would check what is available in your area. Also can they repeat K in public school if needed (maybe once in the special needs K and once in regular)? I would see if you can meet with someone from the school and get a clear idea on what the options are.

Plenty of pre-K's take speech delayed children! I would definitely red shirt your kiddos with their history. You have the right to do that in Kindergarten so that they start at just having turned 6. Many parents do that with their kids that are typically developing too (consider their ages in junior high as those hormones set in, first driver's license,etc etc etc).

Good luck and don't think that you won't be able to help them. BTW, is the school district threatening to end PPCD if you don't put them in K this year or are they willing to extend until next year as you red shirt the twins?

Dear M.,

Check with your local preschools, you can enroll them in pre-k or kindergarten and then have them take kindergarten in public school. Best wishes and God bless!

If you want some options for preschools that might meet your children's needs, I'd give this group a call. They are a resource and referal service for child care including preschools. The specialist uses a list of all registered and licensed child care, after school and camps. From there you tell her what you want/need and she works to find it. It is a non profit, they don't care who you choose and they are a service to help parents. I think there is a $10 charge for the level of search you would want, but a drop in the bucket if you find a great place for your twins! link below - good luck!
http://campfirefw.org/CampFire/Families/FindChildCare/Sea...

My boys (former preemies) turn 5 in late spring and I am sending them to K on time. One is speech delayed, one isn't. One reason is that my speech delayed son can continue to get classroom based help in public K.

I don't know your area so I can't recommend specific schools. Where I live, many children who are on the cusp like that go to kindergarten at a private preschool (like Montessori or a religious school) and then repeat kinder at the public school.

My son has a speech delay and at the point of your kids last year was still hard to understand. He just turned 5 as the school year started. We debated whether to start him in kindergarten because he was and still is immature. Our school system and many others allow a parent to hold a child back for maturity reasons. The speech therapist at the school and his preschool teacher both urged us to send him. The first half of the year was like playing catch up for him. But he was just tested and actually was one of the highest in the group. He is pulled out for speech therapy once a week. Your school will probably do the same. I actually hoped that he would be pulled out for special education because my aunt is kindergarten teacher and said that the kids that get pulled out actually do the best because they have such individualized attention. If you do decide to wait, I wouldn't be afraid of sending them to a normal preschool. Most teachers there will quickly learn to understand your kids.

My son is 4 and he has been in speech therapy for 2 yrs. first it was private speech class (because I was told since we have insurance it would not be covered by the school system NOT TRUE). I'm not sure why you won't be able to get help from the school district?

Our school district has tested my son (on his bday) because I was worried he would be in special Ed. because of his delay. And two days of testing later he is right where he needs to be. My advice you be to talk to your Pedi and see what they say, ours really help point us in the right direction.

good luck

I would rather put the kids in the public school. The kids will mature a lot during the kindergarten and 1st grade years. I have seen it over and over again. I think letting them be with kids their own age instead of younger kids would also encourage them to spread their wings a bit and grow.

I know there are times when kids need to stay behind but those kids at least got a chance to succeed before they were expected to fail outright.