5 Year Old in Pre-K(long Post)

You should check out this blog entry:
http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/?p=265

I was struggling with what to do with my 3 1/2 year old for school next year (she'll be 4). After reading some of the material in this I decided I will just keep her home until she is 6 and teach her myself. I agree with Donna - 5 is way too young to be in a full day of school - they need to run and primarily learn through experiences and free discovery until age 6/7. The ability to memorize letters does not translate to understanding language. I think people push their young children into a full day way too soon for daycare purposes. I don't think it serves the child. Your son is probably just not ready and that doesn't mean he will be "behind" later. I wouldn't keep him where the teachers label him as "behind." If there is truly a developmental question that is for a doctor to diagnose - not a teacher. Anyway - he sounds like a normal 5 year old boy to me. I would change his school if that is the only option. Or stay home with him or put him with a caretaker who will let him be a kid and learn the way kids learn. I think today people put so much emphasis on "getting ahead." I'm not sure the pressure to get ahead results in anything in the end. I never went to preschool for a single day and started school at 6. It didn't stop me from completing graduate school.

I have a five year old, who, deep down, i think has ADHD, but it is something i refuse to pursue. ADHD is something very prevalent in this country and nowhere else in the world. while here a child is ADHD somewhere else that child would be 'happy,' 'hyper,' 'full of life.'
my daughter has problems concentrating. i know that because i kept her home as a 4 year old, knowing how she was i thought i'd get her ahead of K curriculum. we were also fortunate to have a very patient compassionate teacher (kindergarten) who loves my daughter to pieces. i think a willing teacher and parents who work at home with the child is the combination for success.
get him some kumon workbooks (barnes and noble, they cost about 6.95). get one at a time. get the upper case letters workbook first and do a schedule, two pages a day for him to do at home. then the next day a break from the workbook but little tests throughout the day, like do you remember how to write A? and stuff like that. be patient with him. calm voice and attitude is what gets my daughter concentrating. fussiness and rushing into getting things done is when she loses control over her concentration.
you will get him up to speed. even if he has to repeat kindergarten is not the end of the world. repetition is the best way to go at a young age. he will catch up. notes like that from the teacher do not help. instead, schedule a conference with the teacher and say you have presented me with problems, let's try find a solution to help my son. the evaluation, if he is behind, will get you free help from the school. hang in there and start with little steps. and do not worry mama. they all learn how to write their names eventually :)

First don't panic ADD/ADHD is not the end of the world. I have it and I also have 3 college degees. Second it sounds like you've taken some steps in the right direction. I would wait for the evaluation and then look at your options. At this point he's not terribly behind and it could just be a developmental delay. Whatever is going on think of it this way, you're catching it early which gives you time and options. Hang in there

It sounds as though you have a very loving, hyperactive (ADHD) child. I am glad that you are getting him an evaluation. However, all of the things you are saying about him seem to indicate that he does have some type of hyperactivity and attention deficits. Do not worry about this too much. He does not sound like a child who will be difficult to work with. There are many things you can do to increase his attention span. First of all, make sure you keep him on a schedule at home. Make time to work with him each day. You can go to an internet site called ESL writingwizard.com to make up papers for him to trace his name, or any other words on. He needs structure and he needs time to be creative. Enjoy your time with him. It goes so fast. The public school will do evaluations of your child for free. Contact the local public elementary school to request a play based assessment of your child. If you have paperwork from the evaluations, that will be very helpful for the school district. The public school will tell you if your child needs various types of therapy, or not. It does not seem to me that he has serious delays. You have not indicated this, so the evaluation for ADHD will be helpful to bring with you. Good luck. Let me know how this progresses. I am a pre-k /inclusion teacher and have worked with all types of children for many years. I wish you the best of luck. Judy K.

I know you think ADHD is over diagnosed (so do I) but I had to get my son diagnosed so he could get extra help at school. If he is in a public school the diagnosis might help him getting extra help with his work. My son gets pulled out of class for about a half hour each day to get one on one time with a teacher. It is easier for him to do the work this way and helps him focus on what he is doing. Without the ADHD diagnosis he wouldn't be able to get extra help. I do not have him on any medication it is just on paper for extra help. It will stay with him through school but if he ever needs any help he will get it.

We are military currently in Texas. My oldest is in first grade and they are just now learning to write on the lines. K was learning letters. Those who did not attend any type of schooling previously were very sloppy, backwards, etc in their penmanship.
I personally think they shouldn't be expected to sit and focus a full school day at that age (5). they need to burn off energy because they have a ton of it!!! Just make sure he gets plenty of exercise and playing at home. He is probably normal, but if you have any doubts, get the evaluation. I too think adhd is overdiagnosed. They are kids.
Good luck!

Pay close attention to his diet and eliminate ALL dyes and processed sugar. If he DOES have ADHD, this WILL make a difference! Diet plays a big part in this. Make sure he's getting plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and protein.

Try getting the LEARNING LEAP FROG system that helps kids learn letter recognition, writing letters - upper and lower case, phonics, writing letters, and small words. This is a GREAT system. I strongly believe that's why Abbie is is second grade but well through 3rd grade in terms of reading and spelling. (Just got her test scores back).

Make time EACH night to work on those and get him to FOCUS on it...even if it's 10 minutes at a time. When parents take the time to work on those thing and help them, as a former teacher, I can tell you......it makes a WORLD of difference!!

Set that aside as "special time" w/ mom and/or dad each night. Talk about how much you look forward to the time, enjoy the time, etc. He will learn to look forward to it too and you'll see his progress.

If you can't afford this, develop your own system for letter recognition, phonics, etc. Get magnetic letters and work with those. Get lines paper and draw fragmented lines w/ the letters so he can practice writing them.

Once he's done that, then start w/ small words, etc. When you're driving and you see Wal-Mart, what letter does that begin with? What sound does that make? Make a game of it.

I've done this with letters, math (counting stop lights to someplace and subtracting coming home, etc.) FYI- Abbie's great at math, too and loves it. Again, I'm saying this because I feel very strongly that all of the "games" and working with her made that much difference!

We found the book "Ritalin Is Not The Answer: A Drug-Free, Practical Program for Children Diagnosed with ADD or ADHD" by David B. Stein, to be a life aver with our oldest son. There is also an interactive workbook to use for making person action plans and contracts with the child.
I recommend reading this before deciding whether or not to use medications.