Reply to DS 4 Does Not Recognize All Letters and Numbers

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I hate this kind of preschool. Some kids thrive and the others start their academic career already feeling stupid even when they aren't. Kids pick it up. Trust me.

As a preschool teacher myself, I am telling you to not worry about it. The focus thing, the letters. Just wait, let him play and have fun. Make learning fun! Everyone's brain works on a different time table and his seems right on target. Of course he's not focusing on the teacher when she's quizzing him about letters--the other kids in the class are doing more interesting things. Does he make eye contact in general and have and display abnormal range of emotions? Can he sit during circle time? Is he kind to his friends? Worry about those things, the academics will come.[/quote]

I agree to ask about these other issues so you can get a bigger picture.  Not focusing during instruction on letters and numbers could be a focus issue but it could also be that he's just not ready and not interested.  If there are other areas of concern that come up in the bigger picture, I would look at testing since these speak to impulse control, executive function, and social communication problems.

If it's dyslexia that you're concerned about, 4 is going to be too early for a lot of tests that are usually used for diagnosis.  It is still within the realm of normal for a 4yo not to be able to take words apart and put them back together (fundamental phonemic development) for example.  I wouldn't be concerned about dyslexia this early unless there are other risk factors or signs.  Is there anybody else in your or your DH's immediate family with dyslexia?

Having been down this path, I will say that the recommendation will be to do explicit multi-sensory instruction as if you had received a dyslexia diagnosis and then request an evaluation in Kindergarten if you still have concerns.  Testing would ideally be after 6yo since that's the lower cutoff for many psycho-educational tests.  Also, if you go through your school first for an evaluation you'll be able to use the IEE process to have in depth testing paid for since your insurance won't cover education testing.

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