Kindergarten Screening

How old is he? Just asking bc I am a kindergarten teacher. If he is a summer bday would you consider holding him back. One of the big things we tell parents whose kids are coming to kinder is that their child needs to be able to sit still for at least 20 minutes, can he do that? some kids also just don't want to work for their parents but they are willing to work for someone else.. have you tried hiring a tutor?

Kids have a developmental growth spurt in Kindergarten and First grade. I wouldn't worry about it. He will have a fun time in Kindergarten and will start having that mental growth spurt and by the end of First grade you should see a child that gets it. It is like the world suddenly opens up for them, they become sponges for knowledge and change from little kids to these wonderfully excited students.

Try different things. My son is def not a workbook kind of kid (but my dd is). So chalk and the driveway is our better place to work.... or the shower w those shower crayons. Same thing w flash cards... does not help my son out, but those spongey bath toys work great for him when we learned letter recognition.

Try thinking outside the box for different ways to teach him.

Good luck!

My daughter will not sit down with me to practice letters or numbers so I figured, okay. We will work with what we have. she is 3 yrs old and cannot recite the alphabet. And of course it made me feel like a failure with her. Now, we go outside and count, we draw with chalk, we talk about letters. As long as it is not something where she has to sit still, we have no problems. We even say a new letters when we blow bubbles--or count the bubbles we pop.

Don't worry so much. After all, that is why they tested him - so that they would know if and where he has some struggles and be able to help him and place him in appropriate programs.

I would read a lot to him and reward him for sitting still and listening. Also, ask questions along the way. Get him involved and reward him when he does well.

Also, be sure to be a part of his learning in September. Be in communication with the teachers, get to know them and what they are teaching him.

Holding him back won't help any - it will just prolong his learning.

Don't feel bad. Our son is 4 and he can say his ABC's and count to twenty, but he can't reconize any letters other than O. And will only point out the number 2 and 4. He won't sit still for anything. So I just take every opportunity to teach him his abc's and numbers. Like at the grocery store or if he points out number or letters on a car or sign. I try to make it fun. By this age our now 5 year was able to point, say, and pick out letters and numbers. Now if I can just get him to sit and practice his hand writing before he starts school come Sept. we'd be good. :)

I gave my son an appliance box & markers. That's how he practiced his name!

His BD is 5 days before the cutoff. He aced his KG screening scores, but required twice the normal time to complete the testing. Based on my own observations of him & after talking to some very wise older teachers, it was decided to wait until age 6 for KG for our son. Instead, he attended our school district's Bridges program....which worked wonderfully well for him!

Normally, the Bridges program is for children needing academic instruction. I found it interesting that the class consisted of 1 girl & the rest boys....& those boys were all academically ready for school - they just didn't have the maturity!

Is he struggling with fine motor b/c of strength or b/c of dexterity? Are you worried about his knowledge of letter/number identification or is it that you are worried about Handwriting? If you have enough concerns to want to get him into an OT you can locate one through a clinical setting. My son saw a clinical OT for 4 years which was referred to with a script from the doctor. Insurance paid for it, but of course that would depend on your insurance etc.

If he did not qualify for services then it must be a slight problem to keep an eye on, but not anything to get overly worked up about. When my son attended Kindergarten his past year I was a nervous wreck and convinced he was not ready. Over the year in Kindergarten he has absolutely blossomed into a new kid! I am so proud of him.

As far as if you concerned about his fine motor, it's always good to do exercises that will build his web space (the area between the first 2 fingers and the thumb). The web space muscles are the ones utilized for activities such as holding a pencil. You can exercise his web space with activities that require squeezing such as squirting a squirt bottle, a garlic press with play dough in it, etc. One activity I did with my son was we would write on a mirror with shaving cream and our fingers. We would write shapes, the alphabet, numbers etc. Then we would use the squirt bottle to rinse it and do it again. It practiced those skills, built web space, and it was fun!

There is also an awesome program called Handwriting Without Tears that was created by an OT after she saw her own child struggle with handwriting. It is AWESOME and I used it with my son. http://www.hwtears.com/hwt

Good luck! Your son is so lucky to have a mommy who wants to give him an extra start in his education!!!

Google "fine motor skills" and look at all the fun activities he can do without realizing he is getting "therapy"! Play Doh, mazes, picking up coins off a table & putting in a bank, throwing rocks into a stream, rolling dough into balls for cookies, pick up sticks game, etc.

I think boys fine motor typically lags a bit behind girls. He'll be OK.
They will work slowly and he's not going to be left in the dust.

Another idea: find a teacher's aide or elem teacher this summer to come over an hour or two per week and work on fine motor. I did that the summer after pre-K because my son's OT was not going to start until fall & I didn't want to waste the whole summer. It was AMAZING what she got him to do in 2 hours as opposed to me getting just resistance and refusal!

Hi N.

I teach pre-kindergarten, and I can tell you that kindergarten screening freaks the best of us out!!!! I spend all year getting kids ready, and sometimes they just don't test well. Also, when my son tested for kindergarten, he also tested low for fine motor. The poor kid couldn't hold his pencil correctly to save his life!!! He has a late May birthday and we did wait a year to send him. I never regretted that decision.

One thing we did the summer before school was to line up several pennies on a table and have him turn them all over, one at a time. He loved this and it helped strengthen those fine motor muscles. For a challenge we did dimes. Also, get lots of different markers, twistables, a huge box of crayons, colored chalk. A tabletop easel also helps pre-writing. If you feel he is ready, try computer sites like starfall.com or fisher price.com games. Also get some legos and moon dough and just let him play. Don't have structured learning time, because he will resist and think school is a negative thing.

I would try to find a pre-k program for him. Most boys are not ready for kindergarten until age 6. If you want to learn more about boys check out the book Boys Adrift By Leonard Sax. If you send him to kdg next year and he is not interested or ready, it could cause problems with his attitude later on about school. I have older kids and I have sen too many uninterested boys in middle and high school. If you can find some hands on camps about science or something he is really interested in. If he likes cars go to some car musuems. If he likes trains there are train museums. Tailor your child's interests to some great mini trips or even vacations.

kindergarten is really fun, and the teachers are used to dealing with kids all over the learning spectrum. they structure the classroom around different reading levels and have lots of movement, art, and activities integrated into the day to keep their attention. they also usually change projects every twenty minutes or so.

i would recommend half day kindergarten-- kiddos this young, especially with short attention spans-- need lots of free play time. i think readiness and skills come with time, interest, and maturity, not necessarily how many hours a day you work with them. even if your school has an all day kindergarten program, you as a parent can choose put your child in half day. talk to your principal if you want to do this. then in the afternoon you can have some one-on-one time to help where he needs an extra boost.

I think i'm in the minority on the age issue, (most people hold back) but my husband and son were both young in their class and i am very glad they didn't delay starting kindergarten. my husband considers it a bonus year of life!! he graduated from high school a year sooner, from college, started his career, etc... my son has learned sooooo much from his peers and teacher and LOVES going to school!