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Your son is 5 turning 6 next year in October, correct? I would start him in Kindergarten and start fine and gross motor rehab. I am assuming that he has gross motor difficulties because most children with fine motor issues have a tendency for that. Spend 10-20 minutes a day on gross motor and 10-20 minutes a day on fine motor skills. Only intense intervention will solve this issue. (Kumon will not be able to help with OT and OT specialists are very expensive.)
Can he hop across a room, run in a zig zag, swing, kicking a ball into a goal, throwing a ball, walk a straight line, hop on one foot, ride a trike or bike? If he can't, start practicing tonight.
Fine motor- using Lego blocks to build things, Playing pick up sticks game, using clothespins that pinch, using a stress ball, finger painting, painting with a brush, making pony bead bracelets, coloring using markers, writing his name
using playdough to make balls, snakes, and pancakes
cutting a straight line, a wavy line, and then a zig zag line
The Proteacher website may help give more advice, or you are welcome to ask me for more information.
Check to see if your public school system has a "Bright Beginnings" type program where you can get your child tested and see if there are delays etc.
But if this was my kid, I would start with the pediatrician and start getting referrals for a neurologist (if you suspect ADHD since you said you were not surprised by that comment), a licensed psychologist that is certified in IQ/Behavorial testing. The latter is such an invaluable tool in learning how you child inputs things from discipline to learning at school. You will get answers and have a lot of ah ha moments as to why they are the way they are or how they process information. But be very careful in looking for this. There are a lot of scams and "special" testing etc. You are looking for a legitimate medical doctor that specializes in IQ and Behavorial testing. Not a counselor, a "ADHD" therapy firms etc. Here's more info on it:
I did the testing with my kid, and what a fantastic tool. I was able to be more effective in my parenting and schooling of her instead of doing a trial and error way or being frustrated since this seem to work for everyone else and what is wrong with her or ME moments! (I ran the gamut of emotions lol) My insurance covered it all.
I agree. We had the full two-day psychological evaluation done for our child at age 5. She was diagnosed with learning disabilities and is now getting the help she needs. It's better to get the testing early than to have the child continue to suffer and get further behind. The test was so insightful, we are considering doing it for our "normal" children!
wow' slight flash backs to my school child hood...were talking late 70s with me, my folks busted butt to send my brother to Catholic schools, and around the 4th grade teaches-Nun's were talking holding me back..Offered no real answers, just wasn't up to par, thus hold me back...
thanks to my pops, he was a building contractor and me and my brother worked along side pop's most weekends, so knew us well,
my 13 month older brother was an A student, yet i was failing, this made no sense to my father, he knew something was a miss, he knew on job sites i thought fast on my feet, even out side the box to get things done and he knew i was sharper with math than most...
So he took me down town (chicago) to have me tested, and after 1 hour they had easily figured out I wasn't dumb, I was-am Dyslexic...
Catholic Schools have no special ed (special needs today) so the hunt was on.. my folks found me a school that dealt with Dyslexia, thank god.. once they taught me how to Re think, I did very well in school..
with that said, If my father would have just left the failure label stick Im not sure how things would have turned out....
also, don't jump to drugging your kid= to many school shooters already, change his diet 7 ways to Sunday till you see what works.. diet in some children is everything...
I agree. We had the full two-day psychological evaluation done for our child at age 5. She was diagnosed with learning disabilities and is now getting the help she needs. It's better to get the testing early than to have the child continue to suffer and get further behind. The test was so insightful, we are considering doing it for our "normal" children!
right on, let me say... failing, falling behind is a child's nightmare...was mine, after a while you wish you were invisible, I even faked being Ill to get out of school, and if a teacher was to call on me in front of class,OMG....
lmao'' Know what'' my wife is a JR High special Ed (needs teacher) 11 years now.. We joke that while she was getting her Masters, I was her Case study....
I just wanted to mention that I am left handed, and lefties often have trouble with some of the fine motor skills you described because it is a right handed world! Not being able to cut well or physically write letters well also has very little to do with true academic achievement. I would be more concerned if the teacher said he could not follow directions or he was having trouble remembering letters and numbers or he is having trouble paying attention etc.
As for the fine motor skills, buy him some left handed scissors, avoid pads or notebooks with spirals or seams on the left, and ensure he has a seat that allows him to turn in the opposite angle of the right handed students when he is writing or coloring. These sorts of steps help left handed students. I had relatively poor fine motor skills in school as well, but I was a very strong student. Just because I kid cannot cut paper in a straight line does not mean he is destined for academic difficulty.
I just wanted to mention that I am left handed, and lefties often have trouble with some of the fine motor skills you described because it is a right handed world! Not being able to cut well or physically write letters well also has very little to do with true academic achievement. I would be more concerned if the teacher said he could not follow directions or he was having trouble remembering letters and numbers or he is having trouble paying attention etc.
As for the fine motor skills, buy him some left handed scissors, avoid pads or notebooks with spirals or seams on the left, and ensure he has a seat that allows him to turn in the opposite angle of the right handed students when he is writing or coloring. These sorts of steps help left handed students. I had relatively poor fine motor skills in school as well, but I was a very strong student. [b]Just because I kid cannot cut paper in a straight line does not mean he is destined for academic difficulty.
I really don't think fine motor skills are a reason to hold a student back a year. If he knows a few letters and sounds, identifies his name, and attempts writing he should go on the kinder. You have a long time to get him ready. Ten months is a long time in a child's life for development. Do not put off his fine motor practice, though.
I was born right around the cutoff date and my parents chose to hold me back in pre-school rather than send me to kindergarten. In hindsight, it was a fantastic decision. They couldn't have possibly known at the time, but the group of friends I made in my second pre-school year were all very smart and very good students, so they were a great influence on me. We actually competed with each other to get good grades, and we valued doing well in school. If anyone slipped up, they felt social pressure to do better. This was a rare thing--most kids didn't care, but we did.
If I had gone a year ahead, I would have been one of the youngest in my grade, and the group of friends I would have been with would not have been great influences. Being younger and less mature, I would have been impressionable and may not have pushed myself to do well if none of my friends cared about grades.
Part of the success of my parents' decision was luck, but I think it did help that I was older and more mature than most of my classmates.
That's just how it worked out for me. Hope this helps.
That is not the situation for this child, as I understand it. He is already five, will be 5yr 10mos next August when school starts in CO, probably closer to 5y 11m.
"Child Find" is the organization in Colorado that does the preschool testing for kids up to age 6. It runs through the school district. I'd get involved with them ASAP, b/c they only take kids up to the 6th birthday.
I wonder if the issue here is that you are dealing with private school (which may not be equipped to deal with any learning differences or provide sp ed testing) and their only option may be to suggest holding him back? Some private schools are geared towards students with disabilities and only accept those sorts of learners. Others (many others) do not provide any sort of special accommodations or variations in teaching. So if it is one of the latter, I would encourage you to get in contact with your child's public school ASAP and arrange to have testing done. I would also contact a developmental ped. and arrange an evaluation.
If he's bright and ready to learn and only being held back because of ADD symptoms, I don't see how being held back a year with no other interventions is going to make a lick of difference. He's just going to be a year older with the same issues. Talking to the doctor about whether anything is going on and whether there's anything that can be done about it would seem like a first step.
And seriously, get in contact with his public school. Private schools are required to do nothing. Public schools are required to evaluate, and if needed, provide services at no cost.
My daughter started kindergarten knowing her letters, numbers, knowing how to write her name. She came out of kindergarten *not* even being able to write her name anymore. Neither could most of the kids in the class. Of course, the teacher wanted all the kids in the class labeled learning disabled, and was holding these conferences like the one you describe, back-to-back.
Two years later, my daughter can not only read on her own, she add/subtract/multiply/divide, and conjugate verbs in Ancient Greek.
Every kid gets a bad teacher now and then, who wants to blame her own failures on the kids. My advice is, ride out the bad teachers, and just make sure they don't do anything that can follow your kid into future years (no labels, no meds, no notes in the file for next year's teacher). If you keep track of your child's progress, you can judge the situation yourself and keep him or her on track. If your kid seems to be struggling, you can see that yourself, and you will know whether or not it is reasonable to repeat a grade. Just trust yourself.
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