Hi imperfect mums,
Just wanted to know how anyone who was in a similar situation dealt with it successfully.
So a bit of a background, my son turned 5 in January and started Kindergarten/Prep. Today I attended his mid-year parent-teacher interview and was saddened to know that he doesn't really pay attention in class. His teacher informed me that he prefers to stare out the window instead of sitting and participating in classwork. He is on par with the rest of class in reading, but much further behind in writing. I've known this, and tried to get him writing to no avail (he just cries), and his teacher confirmed that he displays the same behaviour in class when presented with writing tasks. On a lighter note, he is at a year 1 level in counting and numeracy. His teacher said that he works best one-on-one, but obviously the teacher can't do that. She said when he is to participate in group work, he just switches off. I asked the teacher what I could do at home to better help him cope, and she said not much, and that he will grow out of it. I'm not happy to just leave it at that. I'm afraid that during that time his literacy may lag too far behind for him to catch up.
Any advice? I honestly don't mind him repeating if that means his future schooling won't be affected. Is it already too late? What options are available?
13 Replies
He is only 5 and youve described a small childs typical behaviour. You cant force 'learning' before theyre ready. Plenty of studies show that literacy is pushed too early and by age 8or 9 ish all the kids are on the same level regardless of the age they began. I agree with the teacher, give him time. Let him enjoy school, thats far more important and sounds like something thats also on the line. Encourage him to play and enjoy, focus on his friendships, games and things he picks up. His interest and connection to school is more important than any specific learning. He will be able to focus and do things other than free play for longer periods as he grows up a bit more.
I totally agree, they push them way too hard nowadays. He will be fine :) maybe do a little writing practice at home to build his confidence but don't worry too much.
His teacher knows it too. She wouldn't want you to be stressed tonight about his whole academic future over this. Keep it in proportion, hes a little one in his first year of big school. Embrace his playful little personality.
Our preppies teacher said they very very rarely keep children back nowadays, even with a "developmental delay" diagnosis (we are in a state school).
yes I have been told they don't often keep children back a year, there is little benefit to it, and it puts them at a social disadvantage.
As a teacher based on that report hes the same as many other five year old in prep. Holding back wouldn't even be a consideration anyway, he will do fine.
Get his eyes checked. My son had the same issues but worse. It was due to eye strain because he's long sighted and his eyes were not working together as a team. With glasses and therapy he's improving. When he doesn't wear his glasses at the end of the day he has meltdowns because he's tiered from straining on writing tasks and won't finish.
To add I also agree children are not built to sit at this age but there is a fine line. It's easy to use it as an excuse and miss important issues. My son struggled through his first year and I just thought he was alittle immature for school and would catch up. When he was still struggling on level 2 readers start of this year I realised he was not concentrating on the books and was easily distracted. He's gone up to level 6 within 5 weeks He also didn't run well and his eyes would look the wrong way which meant his body followed his eyes. Now he runs straight and focused. While people say not to compare to other kids if all the kids are able to concentrate through a task then it's worth getting him checked even with an ot if his eyes are fine.
I agree with the other posters. They usually do monitor them quite well in the early stages and they also provide catch up programs if they fall behind. I also agree it might be a good idea to get his eyes tested. Some kids do struggle in the first year at school, a lot is expected of such tiny people. He clearly has the capacity to learn or he wouldn't be doing well in other areas. It's hard I know, but try to relax.
5 year olds are not built to sit still and pay attention or participate in tedious writing tasks. School is an adjustment for most kids and some kids are just not ready for formal learning at 5, we expect so much from our little people.
I really believe we need more play based learning in prep!
He will be fine though, his first 6 months of school is no indication of how his entire schooling experience is going to go.
From my observations, when my son was in prep there was kids reading novels and writing pages of journal entries, there was kids who couldn't even write their names yet and it took all year to learn their golden words and everything between.
What I've observed now they're all in year 5 - you'd never be able to pick the ones who could read novels, you'd never be able to pick the ones who couldn't write their names. They all still have their strengths and weaknesses but there's not such a huge disparity now!
They really do just learn at their own pace.
Don't stress - my sister had a diagnosed global developmental delay when she was young and now she is a doctor!
Maybe she an occupational therapist to work on his fine motor skills?
Do you think he would write if you have him a tablet and stylus? He may take better to this approach rather than the pencil and paper. There should be apps out there that allow him to trace over letter. As far as an IEP goes the school probably won't do that as they need to be behind in all areas for them to consider that option. Schools don't generally put prep kids on an IEP either as they are just starting their education. They also don't like children repeating due to social issues so will generally put them on an IEP and keep them with their age group. Depending on how far behind he is they may be able to put him in an intervention class that he can attend a few times a week that is targeted to help him with literacy.
I wish I could help more but this is all I have to offer you. I'm studying to be a teacher and just attended a meeting about IEPs last week, that is where I have based my info from.
Explore possibilities using technology to assist his literacy, kids love using technology and as long as kids use technology in moderation it's a great tool.
Good luck