Developmental concern...?

I have a 4 1/2 year old that concerns me. He has no "red flags", but just makes me question his ability to learn. He is starting kindergarten next year and I just don't know..... he can trace some letters. He doesn't recognize any numbers or letters. I can show him one number over and over, discuss it, have him try to trace it, show him again, then turn a new page, show him the same one and he won't remember it or even know if it's a number or a letter. We do worksheets and learn through fun with boardgames etc. I have 2 others that are not quite 3 yet and have to tell him numbers when we play Diego. He can't remember the season...even if we talk about spring, sing a song, discuss it, he'll immediately after have no idea what season it is.

It appears that his "problem" is retention. I know that they learn these things in kindergarten, but I've never sent one off not recognizing a single letter or number. Even colours are a struggle and shapes as well.

I've discussed things in the past with his parents, when he turned 4 and didn't know any colours. His parents weren't too worried...thought he may be colourblind, but now we know he isn't. They've just said they all develop differently, which I know is true....but this much?? I don't want to push it by bringing it up again, although it's been awhile.

What do I do? It's also so hard to discuss at pickup or dropoff due to the timing all the time. Do I call....send a letter...have them call. Or let him be???

Hi! I really think you will just have to let it be. You have brought it up with the parents before and they brushed it off. Pushing it will only cause anger. Some parents seriously don't want to believe something and will stay in denial until concerns arise at school.

I have a 4 year old boy with many red flags for aspergers. I have brought my concerns to Mom ( obviously without any label, I'm not an expert) and she laughed it off saying they know and hope he'll outgrow those behaviors.

You should just carry on with what you are doing the best you can.

It's frustrating for him to have to 2 1/2 year olds answer questions that he can't. And it's frustrating to work with him......I sure feel for teachers!

I agree with Wonderwiper...there is not much else you can do at this point. The teacher will raise the concerns for sure if there is no change when he starts school and parents will probably take it more seriously then. I feel your pain. I have a just turned 2 year old who is just starting to talk now...but it's more repeating words and he doesn't use many of them in a meaingful way to communicate...he can only point to 2-3 body parts...he often doesn't seem to understand at all when I ask him to do something...I will say "Put the book on the table" and he looks blankly....I repeat and the 18 month olds do it for him...or they point to their body parts when I ask him, but he cannot/will not. Parents are not realy concerned and think he will outgrow it and they may be right, but it is at least worth getting assessed in my opinion to be sure. It's really hard when we see things but parents do not take it seriously. That is one of the hard parts of this job because in the end, they make the decisions for their child, not us :(

gcj, you are obviously a wonderful caregiver who worries about the children but I have to agree that you have done your best. You have informed the parents of your concerns and you have told them that you have tried and tried to teach certain things to their child. Hopefully they have listened to you and when the JK teacher brings it up to them they can say that their caregiver did her best.

I don't sweat it to tell you the truth because I've had children leave here with the basic knowledge of #'s and letters, colours and shapes, ect. and some don't recognize them as well as I'd like but it will come in time. The JK & SK teachers know how to bring it out in them when they are ready and they all catch up. The important part is that you are exposing them regularly to the basic concepts but don't worry about it.

If it's cognitive, may I suggest the Pre school prep video line. I have a 3 year old that couldn't grasp colours 3weeks watching this video 20 minutes a day she knows her colours perfectly. My DD learned her upper and lower case letters from it. My now daycare group of 2 year olds are learning there sight words. I have a 2 year old that can say 90% of sight words with flash cards.
Check to see if you can get any at the library. I bought mine of amazon.ca.


http://www.preschoolprepco.com/