OT: struggling in kindergarten

[karliebug]

Wow, if he has had 4 years of preschool and still doesn't know his letters/sounds I would see that as a huge red flag. If he has a learning disability, repeating a grade is not going to help. After all, he can't spend 2 years in each grade. I would meet with the school and request a formal evaluation pronto.

 

[tripplanner]

My son was diagnosed with learning disabilities in first grade. His kindergarten teacher was the first to tell me that he wasn't "getting" certain things. We tried lots of things at home during that kindergarten year to help him and spent a lot of money on reading programs that didn't solve the problem, but it was a first year first grade teacher that had the insight to tell me that she thought it my be a learning disability. We had him privately tested and found that he had learning disabilities across the board. His IQ was extremely high, but his performance was way low. It's the best thing we ever did for him. From this we were able to get an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) where he was pulled out of the classroom for extra help with a resource teacher for a short time each day. This worked wonders for him. He is now in High School. He stills has learning disablitlies, but knows what they are and has been able to use his strengths to overcome many of his issues. He's learned many strategies and recognizes how he learns best. He's in all honors classes and makes A's and B's. He's actually a year younger than my oldest and is in some of her honor classes.

Your son may not have any of these issues, but it's best to have a face to face meeting with his teacher and get her take on the situation. We privately tested instead of having the school do it, because they had to go through many "steps and evaluations" to get to that point. I'm so glad we did it. It wasn't easy, but well worth it.

 

[java]

Here's a great website
http://www.starfall.com/

 

[Reagan&Co.]

Thank you again!! I want the honesty. DS has always had low adaptive skills. He did get referred to the school SLP (for articulation), and I did ask her if an auditory discrimination problem could be the problem (he often repeats back his own version of a word, ex. prank will be repeated back as frank). He did go to the audiologist last month and his hearing is excellent.
The SLP said "I wouldn't say that at this point". And I know the auditory stuff can go undiagnosed. So, I will go see the teacher Monday and try to get a better feel for what she thinks is going on.
I will keep you all updated! And again, thank you for all your replies and suggestions. I see the red flag, too. I just didn't know what to do about it, so I appreciate the help.

 

[squirrel]

OP, thank you for posting this question!

I just found out that my niece is behind in Kindergarten with the same problems it seems as your son.

I went to the library today and had the DVD mentioned above sent from another library to our local library.

My niece is getting extra help at her school-it's a private school.

 

[J'aime Paris]

At the school where I'm an aide, we use Jolly Phonics. It teaches the 42 most used sounds in the English language, not just the alphabet. This gives kids the tools they need to begin reading, writing and understanding our language. It is taught with the inclusion of visual cues, which is invaluable to children with special needs. I HIGHLY recommend checking out this website. www.jollylearning.co.uk/

 

[kimmylaj]

as a preschool teacher for 10 years, i just want to chime in. i work in a developmentally appropriate setting ( socialization , learning thru play, no homework, no desk time) that being said most kids by the age of 5 have a basic understanding of some letters and sounds. i often speak to parents about children having difficulty in one area or another, i used to be hesitant to recommend evaluation for special ed services for fear that parents would feel bad, but after putting the best interest of the child first i often speak up, earlier rather than later. it never hurts to get an evaluation of skills. one of two things will happen... you will find out your child needs extra help and they will receive it through an individualized education plan or it will deem no services necessary and you will have a clear mind knowing you just have a leo the late bloomer on your hands. so after a very long post, when you meet with the teacher i would say to her, "do you feel an evaluation would be helpful in determining if he needs extra help", she will probably be thrilled with such a proactive parent who wants the best for her son. and you will have a clear head knowing that you have the answer.
good luck and sorry i was so long