OP, I missed something when I was read. You did say that he is at a Montessori school, right? Well, my son was kicked out of a Montessori school at 3 after a month. They said special needs on the refund. He is now 8 and has no special needs. His teacher was horrible. The pediatrician told us to change school and see before we seek out an evaluation. The new school was day and night. But our situation is a bit different, my son excels at the academic stuff when he was kicked out. He just acted out because he did not connect with the teacher, a big understatement.

Op, I went through the same thing with my DS when he was that age. What I eventually found out was that his pre-K teacher expected a lot from her kids and he just didn't fit into her mold. She caused quite a stir in our house for way too long because we were so worried. She constantly complained about DS, told us that he likely had Oppositional Behavior Disorder, and that she would never recommend him for early entrance to K (his bday missed the cutoff by 12 days) because of his behavior and because he was academically behind his peers. Turns out she was wrong. He just wasn't interested yet. Interest in learning what someone else wants you to learn is huge when it comes to just getting starting on academics. I wouldn't be too worried until your child turns 5 or so. By the way, we moved to another state and DS did start K earlier than MCPS would have allowed. He is doing fine. He's on track with his peers academically and his teacher says that she enjoys having him in class. We didn't pressure him to learn and we didn't spend countless hours preparing him for school either. It just clicked when he was ready.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is ths world coming to? This thread makes me so sad for your children.

This is totally within the range of normal. You have a long road ahead of you and this isn't even a blip.

Based on what evidence? Your opinion?

If the OP makes an appointment with a developmental pediatrician, her kid will be nearly 5 b/c they take a while to schedule. There many studies that show that Kindergarten aged children struggling with phonemic or symbolic recognition will have reading/math problems down the line:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26525072
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17979867

Why are you on the SN forum if you have zero understanding of SN?

No, based on research & experience. I have a PhD in a child development field, have spent 15 years administering valid & reliable assessments with young children this age. I have worked with children from infancy through third grade, and have worked with over 1000 children in this age group. I can reference ASQ, PPVT, TOPEL, ELLCO, PALS, Creative Curriculum, NAEYC, DC, and VA standards, norms, and expectations.

Again where's the evidence that shows what the range of normal is for a 4 year old when it comes to letter and number recognition?

your kid is fine; your preschool isn't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the only issue is that he recognizes MOST letters but not ALL letters and occasionally gets one wrong, this is insane. Of course that is completely normal.

OP here. He recognizes half the letters and numbers 1-5. Sometimes we'll review a set of numbers or letters and I'll go back to one and he'll get it wrong even though he got it right the first time. Another example, we stayed at a hotel for a week and he was in charge of pressing the button for our floor each time we got in. Sometimes he would get it and other times, even at the end of the week, he would say, which one is 5? It was hard to believe after repeating the same number multiple times a day that it still didn't click.

In addition, the teacher states that he is looking all around when she tries to get him to focus and that she thinks something is not clicking when they go over a concept, set of letters, counting, etc - this is a Montessori classroom. His vocabulary is great when it comes to expressing himself or conversations. He is also really good at puzzles, using scissors, following instructions, etc.

When are the teachers evaluating him, that he's looking all over the place? My kid is sometimes taken from playing with friends in a certain classroom center and was getting anxious that he'd lose his place at that center so he'd get all anxious and totally not pay attention to the evaluation at hand. Gave the teachers all sorts of wrong responses or "I don't know" in hopes he'd get back to playing!

My son is turning 5 in May and only now seems to have really solidified letter recognition. It was often just random before what he'd recognize. At some point he started counting everything under the sun, and is starting to recognize numbers 1-10 now - bigger isn't happening yet. So - I wouldn't worry too much yet but keep an eye on it! If your kid is doing other things that are at an appropriate level, they may be fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is ths world coming to? This thread makes me so sad for your children.

This is totally within the range of normal. You have a long road ahead of you and this isn't even a blip.

Based on what evidence? Your opinion?

If the OP makes an appointment with a developmental pediatrician, her kid will be nearly 5 b/c they take a while to schedule. There many studies that show that Kindergarten aged children struggling with phonemic or symbolic recognition will have reading/math problems down the line:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26525072
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17979867

Why are you on the SN forum if you have zero understanding of SN?

No, based on research & experience. I have a PhD in a child development field, have spent 15 years administering valid & reliable assessments with young children this age. I have worked with children from infancy through third grade, and have worked with over 1000 children in this age group. I can reference ASQ, PPVT, TOPEL, ELLCO, PALS, Creative Curriculum, NAEYC, DC, and VA standards, norms, and expectations.

NP here. I don't know how you feel about TV, but there are two TV shows that are great for teaching letter and number recognition and your child might just need a different teaching methodology to get it. For math, Team Umizoomi is fabulous from Nick Jr. You can get the first two seasons free on Amazon Instant Video. For letter recognition and early literacy skills, Super Why! from PBS is fantastic. I forget where my children go to watch it on demand, but there is a PBS Kids app in Roku, so they may go there. We also have Netflix and Amazon, so it might be one of them, too.

OP, the way I'm reading your post is that both you and the school are drilling the numbers and letters into your child without making the process of learning an interactive, fun game. Both of these shows are interactive, with the audience being asked questions throughout, catchy theme songs both children and parents will sing, and really great colors to keep kids engaged.

I honestly wouldn't worry too much about recognizing all the letters and numbers prior to kindergarten if your child has all the other skills you list. I agree with the previous poster that you can contact Child Find and set up an evaluation through MCPS to see if he would qualify for an IEP. There's absolutely no reason to drive all over place, take loads of time off of work, spend lots of money, and sit on wait lists for 6+ months for appointments over this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I certainly would not go to stixrud at this age. But a developmental pediatrician at Children's or KK would not hurt since they are most likely covered by your insurance.

It's this reason why there is a six month wait to see a DP. "Can't hurt! It's covered by insurance!"

What is your point? If I have a teacher told me to get my child an evaluation, I would do it. At least run it by his own pediatrician first. The lack of supply of developmental pediatrician is the system's failure. There is a reason why insurance covers developmental pediatricians.

Anonymous wrote:I certainly would not go to stixrud at this age. But a developmental pediatrician at Children's or KK would not hurt since they are most likely covered by your insurance.

It's this reason why there is a six month wait to see a DP. "Can't hurt! It's covered by insurance!"

I certainly would not go to stixrud at this age. But a developmental pediatrician at Children's or KK would not hurt since they are most likely covered by your insurance.

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

Just get an eval, op. people can't tell you if it's normal or not. I'm guessing she sees some other stuff. fwiw, my son was similar at 4, but by 4.5 knew all his letters and numbers upper and lower and could count with object correspondence and he has severe ADHD, fine motor issues, speech issues, and a possible cognitive delay. Point being, who knows. But if they suggest an eval, get one.

It seems to me that this preschool is putting too much emphasis and pressure on your 4 year old. I would switch preschools. You might think this is great that they are trying, but what they are doing is telling your kid that he can't do something, and he might develop dislike for school and it might translate to anxiety very quickly. If you are not suspecting any learning disability, and you know your kid, I wouldn't worry about it.

Anonymous wrote:If the only issue is that he recognizes MOST letters but not ALL letters and occasionally gets one wrong, this is insane. Of course that is completely normal.

OP here. He recognizes half the letters and numbers 1-5. Sometimes we'll review a set of numbers or letters and I'll go back to one and he'll get it wrong even though he got it right the first time. Another example, we stayed at a hotel for a week and he was in charge of pressing the button for our floor each time we got in. Sometimes he would get it and other times, even at the end of the week, he would say, which one is 5? It was hard to believe after repeating the same number multiple times a day that it still didn't click.

In addition, the teacher states that he is looking all around when she tries to get him to focus and that she thinks something is not clicking when they go over a concept, set of letters, counting, etc - this is a Montessori classroom. His vocabulary is great when it comes to expressing himself or conversations. He is also really good at puzzles, using scissors, following instructions, etc.