School Isuess

One more idea: try looking at the calendar every day and discuss the numbers and days of the week. My son is also in Kindergarten and he brought home the "apple bag" today (just one extra activity making its rounds). He was supposed to take the 31 laminated numbers and put them in order just like the calendar for March. It would help with number organization and days of the week. Good luck!

Is the reading/alphabet okay? I am wondering if it is the symbols that are giving him problems.

There are lots of counting games (we have a Thomas the tank engine counting game). I wouldn't make it a big pressure although I am sure you are feeling it. You could point out numbers when you see them (grocery store for instance). If I think of anything else, I will post.

My kids learned their numbers by playing with a foam number mat -- you can get them at toy stores. We play by putting the numbers in order and walking on the numbers and counting up to 9 and then counting down to 0 to blast off, which means jumping and then running as fast as they can! Then you can also play games of jumping onto the 1, skipping the 2 and jumping onto the 3, etc. Mostly they learn because they take apart the numbers and put them back together again (I will tell you sometimes the putting back together again sometimes requires a little coaxing, but it's worth it!). By putting them back together again he'll learn about the number sequence. After he catches onto his numbers you can use this for introducing odd and even numbers (by jumping over every other number). This is a real number line and can also be used for addition and subtraction concepts (you're on the 3, go 2 steps forward, you're on the 5!) I think gross motor, active games are the most engaging and have some of the biggest bang for your buck.

Ask the school to have him tested for learning disabilities. This may be nothing but on the chance it is some sort of LD, then you need to get it diagnosed and dealt with now. The sooner the better. If the school is a public school, they have to test your child....BUT....some schools jump right to it and others don't. You may have to push them. Then you also need to talk to your pediatrician and tell him/her exactly what is going on and ask for his opinion on the next step. You may also want to contact a child psychiatrist to have him evaluated since the schools can take so long and some schools simply do a better job than others.
I hate to make this sound manic, but when my son started first grade he started having behavior issues that escalated quickly and he was headed down the "failing first grade" track. We put him in therapy and sought help for what we should be doing differently,,,,needless to say, we were lost and kinda freaking out. Long story short, it took 7 months but we finally got a diagnosis of ADHD. The school never did evaluate him. We did go the medication route and he is a new child. Still the great, silly kid he always was but without the aggression and trouble. He can now focus and is doing great. It was a crazy 7 months since Autism, Aspergers, ADD, ADHD were all discussed. I just didn't know what was going on. Anyway, getting him evaluated is the first step and if you don't feel that the school can or will help, then definitely go to an outside source.
Mt Washington in Baltimore is an amazing Pediatric Hospital that specializes in developmental disorders, etc. So does Kennedy Kreiger which is also in Baltimore and part of Johns Hopkins, but it can take almost 2 years to get in for an appointment there.
Good luck and please feel free to contact me directly should you have any questions or just want to talk. My son is in 2nd grade so it was only a year ago that all this happened for us.

J.

get those foam numbers that go in the tub and ask him to find certain ones that are stuck to the shower walls. he has to stay in the tub and this makes it fun. this should teach recognition. then you can even get the bath crayons/markers and have him write on the tub walls his numbers which will teach him to write them.

Try hanging numbers around the house - like a game...and try the rewards system - so have a jar of candy and tell him to pick the number or write the number that corresponds with the amount of candy and for each right answer he will get a piece or win the prize or get a special privilege. Kids definitely work for treats!!

i recommend kumon workbooks. you can find them at barnes and noble. they cost 6.95. start with a basic one in math which is numbers 1-30 (i believe). it has different kinds of exercises, related to those numbers. he needs to learn them.
i used kumon workbooks, and then took to websites and printing stuff online, and giving them to my children for them to complete.
good luck

Sounds like he memorized what you wanted to hear. He has not conected what the numbers mean. For Math issues, I use M&M's, Jelly Beans, Skittles or other small candy. Draw on notecards from 1 to 10. Pick random numbers between 1 and ten and have him put the candies on the correct card. For example, ask him what three means, then have him count out 3 candies, then find the correct card to associate it with. After he has all 10 correct, let him have the candies for a reward.

After playing for a few days, change it up and have him write out the number on the card it belongs to. I sometimes help by placing dots in the shape of the number to help with pencil control. After a few times of that, don't give him clues and see how he does. It will take a few weeks, a big bag of candy, and you have to make time to play each day.

I used this method with explaining base ten also. Using a small container that overflows after ten candies,expalin it belongs to the next tube if you want to get any more candy (ten's place) and the counting begins again.

I still remember in Kindergarten when my light bulb went off after I found out the letter "LMNOP" was 5 different letters, I always thougt it was one really long sounding letter like W (you do squish it all together when you sing the song!).

Good luck. I was always successful with my daycare kids and my own using the above method. All of them are in Advanced Math now.

We've had great success with Handwriting without Tears - a program that many schools use in special education, and others are adapting for their kindergartners to keep up with the No Child Left Behind requirements. (Just google it) My son wasn't interested in sitting down to write, but he was happy enough building letters and numbers with blocks. My kids are also enjoying LetterTracer - a letter/number tracing game and Teach Me Kindergarten, both on my iPhone.

I've made treasure hunts where my son had to follow clues (write numbers, do 5 jumping jacks, read numbers, etc) at each step. He found this so exciting he'd turn around and send me on one created by him.

Have you discussed this with his teacher and is she concerned? I would start there. She may have some suggestions, and if this is a concern, most schools have resources that can help. Our school has an educator that pulls kids out of class for extra help. My daughter is in kindergarten and although she can recognize most numbers, when writing them she will get them mixed up, 21 instead of 12, or the 2 will be backwards, things like that. Her teachers are unconcerned, and say that it is common and in first grade it will start to straighten out. So I would suggest having a word with the school on this one to find out how big of an issue it is. Otherwise, you have had some great suggestions here, make it fun.

Make it a game. Get shaving cream and spray it on your table. Let him draw the numbers with his finger in the cream. Another activity is make cookies. Get some dough. Roll it into a "snake." Have him make the cookies in the shapes of numbers, then let him eat them. That's a start. Begin giving him some form of an allowance. Make him count him money before he can spend it. You can even go so far as to make a chart and have him write how much money (dollar amount) on the chart. Usually, it has to be relevant to a child or "fun" before they care.

That is only a start to some ideas you can do. Hope this helps.

PS I taught elementary for 3 years- special education- so I have plenty of ideas for the "difficult" learner...