My son is 5 & still cannot count to 10 or recite his ABC's. I really wasn't worried about it until now, because I don't want him to fall too far behind & have a hard time when he starts kindergarten next year... Does anyone know of any preschools that help with this or other programs? He currently attends a preschool, but doesn't want to participate when its learning time, only likes play time...
Call your school district and ask for a pre k screening. Often they only conduct them a few times a year. They will evaluate all areas of development and make suggestions from there. Its free, well you pay for it with your tax dollars, so you might as well use it.
Talk to your doctor and ask for some referrals from him or her. There are all kinds of free resources available if you get the right help.
As April F. writes - you should be able to get a pre-k screening from your school district. Our district offers preschool to those qualifying per the screening.
There are plenty of resources in Chicago. But you will probably have to have him evaluated to determine the type of help he needs. There are some great schools available to help him. Stock and Beard on the north side and Vick on the South side. Maybe ask peditrician for evaluation recommendations.
Talk to your child's doctor. They may put you in touch with Child and Family Connections, or another like program. http://www.childandfamilyconnections.org/index.shtml
I'm not from your area, so I can't give a school recommendation. I just want to say that you should definitely talk to your son's teachers and to his pediatrician to see what steps you should take next. How is he otherwise? Does he interact well with his peers? Does he have the same language skills as other boys his age?
If he's already 5, you can't really delay kindergarten for another year. He'll have to go in the fall. So talk to his teachers and work out a plan to make sure he's ready.
That sounds strange that the preschool allows children to not participate during learning time. I have never heard of anything like that before. While learning the abc's and counting in preschool is great and pretty much the norm, it is more about learning how to follow directions, participate in groups and learning, play with other kids, share, etc. Maybe you might want to consider a more structured preschool program that incorporates both free time and required learning time, and one that engages the children. Also, another thing you can do yourself is go to your local library or purchase any/all of the Leapfrog videos. Our library has at least three or four of them. Maybe rent one every week and then start over when you are finished to reinforce. They were a tremendous help in teaching my son some of the basics and watching them was more fun than it was work!
Here is a link for more info on those:
http://shop.leapfrog.com/leapfrog/jump/Learning-DVDs/cate...
You might also want to sit your son down and ask him some open-ended questions about school. Maybe you can get to the root of the issue: Does he not like the teacher? Is it how learning is approached? Is it too boring to sit for long periods of time? Learning about how your child learns best will be an invaluable tool throughout his educational career! Good luck!
Have you talked in depth with his preschool teacher(s) about how he is in class? They might know that he understands more than you think -- I know of kids who could count to 10 etc. but would never "perform on command" for mom or dad, for instance. (It's a form of control: "Yeah, I know that but they can't make me say it.") Do the teachers think he has a real, diagnosable learning delay or do they think he just is five, still just having fun, and not ready yet? Do they recommend perhaps having him professionally evaluated or do they recommend just having him get into a good pre-K program next year instead of going to K? There is nothing wrong with postponing K for a year while he does a pre-K program at a good preschool. A bad experience in K can sour a child on learning for quite a while, and it's better for a child just to start K a year later than his birthday would have him start than to start "on time" and find the year is tough and tearful for him. Boys often need a little extra time to mature; consider whether he might do better in K if he starts it a year later.
Do everything listed below for sure including talking to your pediatrician immediately. And I mean, call today and make an appointment. I am quite shocked that this wasn't figured out by his preschool or pediatrician by now. Reciting ABC's and counting to 10 happens at age 2 and at least by 3. Kids are absolute sponges at that age and love learning.
