Won't Be Ready for Kindergarten!!!! What!???!!!

Get a second opinion.

AND - if he is not ready when he's 6, would you even consider holding him back another year? That's crazy. If for some reason he doesn't know his shapes and letters at the start of Kindergarten, that's what school is for.

AND - if he needs extra help - bless us for living in a wonderful country where the school systems are (or at least here in MN they are) able and willing to provide special help for those kids who need it.

He'll be fine.

Yeah... I agree with you, she's making an assessment way too early. There's almost a full year before Kinder starts for him, that's way too much time to start jumping to conclusions now.

Does her opinion really even matter after all? I mean, no one had to 'sign off' on whether my five-year-old was ready for Kinder. She was five, and I registered her. That was it. You're his mother, you make the calls.

She shouldn't have made you feel like this, sorry :(

My son started Kindergarten last year and the skill levels of the kids in his classroom ranged from not knowing the alphabet yet to reading at a second grade level. All of the students passed and went on to first grade.
So, if I were you I'd go ahead and enroll him in Kindergarten and spend this year working on those letters, numbers and shapes. You don't have to carve out time to force him to do worksheets and flash cards. Work it into everyday activities like a trip to the supermarket.

I suggest that she is saying, IF he doesn't learn these things in the next year, he won't by ready for kindergarten. Perhaps she's just giving you a heads up so that you can work with him on those things. I don't know how she could make this prediction a year in advance unless testing has shown that he has learning disabilities that will prevent him from learning these things.

Good that you're going to have him tested. Perhaps she told you this so that you would get him tested? I wouldn't worry about what she says. However, I might ask her to expand on that statement to be sure that you understand her. You don't want to go thru the year thinking she meant one thing when she meant another.

I fully agree that it is way to early for her to be making these sorts of judgments. And your son does NOT need to know ANYTHING to get into kindergarten.

Sounds like this teacher doesn't want to put in any time or effort so she's preparing you for HER failure.

I'd just shine her on what a "whatever" attitude and go ahead and register him for kindergarten in January. I don't know about the laws in Illinois, but in CA, kids are REQUIRED to go to school when they are six.

This stuff drives me crazy. He's 5 years old. Pull him out of preschool and let the poor kid play.

I think I would give her the benefit of the doubt and just assume that she is trying to let you know that he *may* not be ready for Kindergarten next year. She isn't telling you this to be mean or to upset you. She is telling you what she has observed and letting you know that your child might need some extra help.

I'm not sure how qualified this particular preschool teacher is when it comes to children who need special education services. I know some preschools offer it. My daughter's preschool did not and her teacher was not educated in that area. So, had she needed extra services she would have had to move to a different preschool.

Now you know you need to be working with him at home and that he will be getting more one on one time at preschool so get him tested and see what they recommend and then reevaluate closer to next school year.

Buy a "Magna Doodle." Every night, pick 5 letters of the alphabet and one shape. Draw it, ask him what it is, erase. If he doesn't know, tell him. Repeat.

Do those 5 letters and one shape for about 30 minutes per night, even if he's doing other things. It's okay if he's a little distracted with toys...all he has to do is look up and tell you what it is. Change up the letters once he knows them several times all the way through without you telling him. At the end of the 30 minutes, show him a few letters he definitely knows so he doesn't get discouraged. End on a positive note.

This is how I taught both of my boys their letters and shapes. It works wonderfully.

i think its kinda crazy for her to tell u he wont be ready when its only October! id have to agree with you that i would feel that this teacher is writing him off to have said something like this so early on in the school year

You know....there are many "testing" procedures and things that are done to see where a child stands at a certain point during the year. It's not definitive, however. For instance, a child might not catch on with certain things in the beginning of the year and excel in the middle of the year.

Often, these things are just guideposts. Right now, your son might not seem ready for kindergarten and that's fine. He's not IN kindergarten. It just means there are some things to work on.

I think boys tend to have a harder time with being ready for things. That's just my observation. I have a daughter and a son. My daughter was in kindergarten at 4. She was ready. My son was not ready to start early. He had a little friend who was very academically intelligent, but he was held back in a kindergarten/first grade class as opposed to going on to a traditional first grade class. He was very smart, but emotionally, he wasn't ready to sit still and stand in line while waiting for things like the other kids, among other things. It was an emotional maturity issue. His parents were furious at first, but he just needed that extra year to catch up. In the second grade, he went on to a traditional class and is a top student in high school now.

I have friends who are teachers and they do care about their students and want them to succeed. If, given a barometer at the beginning of the year stating that your child isn't on track, that's when you work with the teachers to change that, if possible, by working at home or working along with the teacher.

I know this is upsetting for you, but better to hear it now than at the END of the school year. You have plenty of time to work on things. That's good news.

I, personally, wouldn't think that the teacher is "writing" your son off so soon. You will go through many, many years of hearing that there is room for improvement, especially if you have an academically competent child who might not be putting forth full effort.

In the very early years, kids are just testing the waters and learning the ropes and getting things figured out. It's pretty normal. They aren't all perfect little prodigies.

Talk with the teacher. Clarify what she meant. You have a long time to work on strenghtening any of your child's weaknesses. You also have a long time to work on his strengths and praise him for them.

I think things will be okay.

Best wishes.

Maybe the teacher is trying to tell you that she thinks your son needs to be evaluated. Or just trying to encourage you to work with him more.

He is 5 and itvit is almost november but he does not known all of his shapes?

Are we talking round square triangle rectangle, hexagon or are we talking hexagonal, rhombus?

How many letters does he know? Numbers?

When you work with him, how quickly does he catch on?

I am going to guess, the teacher was talking with you, but you were hearing it in a different way. I remember misunderstanding what a teacher was saying about our daughters comprehension.... I was thinking it was a very strongly worded conversation... But when I thought about it, she was just saying, if we did not work n this, she may miss out on a concept.

Do go back and get things clarified.. It sounds to me that she is saying, if he does not pick up the pace on his comprehension he may not be ready for kinder next year.

She is giving you a heads up and the truth about where your son is. Not in a negative way, but as a statement of truth.. The next step is to find out how she will be helping him and what do you and his father need to do to get son up to speed.

Remember you are all partners in your sons education, you being the most important partner... Read to him. Take him to parks, museums, events and make sure he is looking around and understanding what he is looking at and what it means... Also make sure to have his hearing and eyesight checked...

Hang in there mom, do not freak out.. I bet he is going to do great....

My goodness please take a breath.
Nobody is writing him off.
She gave you her professional opinion, which could be right or wrong. And yes, a year is a long way off, so of course there's no way to tell for sure.
Maybe she was just trying to prepare you, in case he ISN'T ready to start next year.
Can you imagine if she said nothing and then you find out next year he would need another year of preschool? You'd probably be furious for not being warned ahead of time.
Work WITH his teacher this year, together. That will benefit your son a whole lot more than being so defensive and angry.

What does she mean "a bit behind". How? In what?

I would go to the district's/county's evaluation team. Find out where he is, what interventions you can receive, and how to do an IEP if needed, etc. Don't be discouraged by this teacher. If she can't handle what the eval shows, then speak to the director about another class. Find out where you are and go from there. Don't let her give up on him. It's only October! Be his advocate. My sister was judged by her K teacher to be emotionally behind after a divorce and the K teacher didn't want her to be promoted. The new district said they'd give it a try and she did fine.

Giving her opinion that there's a concern is one thing, but the way it was presented was like "he's not going to make it" vs "I have concerns, here's a plan."

Preschool is really about socialization. not academics. the preschool where my kids went had maybe 20 minutes of letters numbers colors in the am... and then it was free choice, or snack or outside time.. preschoolers should be running and playing not stressing over letters at school.

however at home.. you can work with him... spend tiem on letters numbers colors and shapes.. READ READ READ to him.. go to the library and get books...

Starfall.com is a great website. leapfrog letter factory is great.

there is so much you can do in this year before school starts.. look for a good preschhool workbook and do a page a day with your child.

remember his attentions apan is only 5 or so minutes so make learnign time short.. you can get him ready for school..

So what you need to be ready for kindergarten is to be five years old. Sorry - but that really is it. And if he doesn't know his letters by then - so be it - they will teach them to him. Kids learn these things when they are ready. As long as you read to him, play with him, name the things you see, count the things you see, etc - he will learn them. In Scandinavia (which ranks ahead of us in education - however 'they' rank that), reading is not even taught until the children are 7. Same in the Waldorf/Steiner schools here. I think the worst thing you can do for your son would be to start forcing him to do worksheets or flash cards or other memorization drills that will take all the fun out of learning.

Also - kindergarten is not even mandatory in Illinois. Neither is preschool.

If it's purely academic, then it's time to buckle down and get him learning those things. Like you said, he's got a long time to learn them. Get going and prove that teacher wrong!

Dumb comment from his "teacher" I'd say. Is she credentialed?

Even if he is not ready right now, there is no telling where he'll be in a year. Any Mother knows how development works in little spurts and milestones. Just when you think your kids is evening out they make a big jump. This teacher has not idea what will happen and it sounds like she has no idea what is really necessary in order for a kids to start Kinder.

Below is a link to the skills he should master, very little "academic" stuff. You have a year, help him out a little at home. As long as he's socially ready I wouldn't worry about anything.

http://school.familyeducation.com/kindergarten/school-rea...

I would not rely only on the opinion of one teacher. And if other teachers and your pediatrician give the same evaluation, then the time to intervene is now. I would avoid sending him to K at 7 if possible. That being said, if he truly isn't ready, it will be a difficult year to send him too early.

If you're in District 15, call ECDEC and sign up for a screening. It can be a long wait. If he is far enough behind, they'll let you know. Kindergarten teachers primarily want students to read/recognize their name, be able to sit during circle time and follow directions. When my daughter was in kindergarten a few years ago, the goal was to be able to count to 35.

Also in District 15, some schools have extended day kindergarten for students who need an extra boost. They won't screen for that until spring, and it's not in every building. Call your school and ask them what they expect.

Keep in mind a lot can happen before kindergarten! It's only October! He's also probably not nearly as far behind as the preschool teacher is suggesting. Did she give you copies of what letters and numbers he does know? She should have done something to evaluate him before your conference.

Send me a message if I can help. I'm an assistant in a special kindergarten class and also a former preschool (private) and special ed teacher.

I did not read all of the responses. I do think Mary O is right when she says that the teacher might be telling you that he needs to be evaluated.

Unfortunately if your child is one of the only kids in her class that does not know his shapes or alphabet, she has to keep moving on. if she is teaching a letter a week, she needs to move to the next letter. If she has taught a few letters already and is on a new letter and then goes back to a letter that they already did, and he doesn't know it, that's a big red flag for her. I'm guessing that there are some kind of warning signs.

Preschool is usually only a couple hours a day and sometimes not even every day of the week. In that day there are several things built-in to the curriculum. Learning shapes and letters would be a small chunk of that day.

My best advice is to pick up a kindergarten or preschool workbook and start doing a page a day with him. Maybe if you sat down with him to do seat work, you might see, what she is seeing, academically.

I'm not sure what to make of this teacher's comment.

My son goes to a public charter school that is highly regarded but also very international and diverse. There, if kids get in (via lottery) and they meet the state cutoff for age, they're in. There are numerous kids who don't know shapes, colors, and numbers, who don't know what the alphabet even IS.

In the first half of the year, the K teachers do a lot of games and songs with the kids, so the ones who don't know the preschool basics will pick them up, and the ones who do will just think they're playing a fun game.

Your son sounds like a great kid, and academically, like half the kids in my son's K class last year. (I mean, he's at the point in preschool where they were in kindergarten.) It sounds like he'll do great next year!

In terms of the teacher, I'd recommend getting a second opinion.

My kindergarten teacher told my parents the same things when I was your sons age. Well...my parents pushed and they allowed me into kindergarten. I did extremely well! I then went on to college to get my bachelors degree in nursing. Trust your mama gut! :)

My son, now an adult, went to Kindergarten seemingly not knowing his letters at all. He went to preschool for two years and was a November child so was an older child in class. He could build legos and Knex and figure out how microwaves work, etc., he just had no interest in the sitting down and learning type things. His Preschool teacher told us he was fine that he would do it when he was ready. Sure enough within about a month of Kindergarten he could not only write everything, he knew how to read real books, etc. He just skipped the practice part I guess. His Kindergarten teacher told me that she saw that quite a bit with boys. He was and is very smart, just does things on his own timetable. I guess I would ask that teacher more questions.

So what does she suggest? It's not like you can keep him home another year when he's already going to be turning six right when the school year starts.

My son is in kindergarten this year. Most of the kids do know all their letters but there are 2-3 in his group (out of 12) who do not. The teacher is having parent volunteers spend extra time with them to help them catch up. I'm sure she's doing stuff too, but I just know as a volunteer that this is how some of our time is spent. She has not written them off; rather, she is doing what it takes to catch them up.

I agree with you - it is ludicrous that your son's preschool teacher is writing him off now in regards to academics, especially when all of his other skills are where they should be.

It's time for you to start working with him on your own at home. However, since you said he only wants to play and isn't interested in doing work, you need to make it fun. Do you read with him? You should be reading to him for a minimum of 15 minutes a day. Break it up into three five minute sessions if he can't sit for 15 straight minutes of reading. Do one book in the morning, one in the afternoon and another at night. Take him to the library and let him choose books that he thinks are fun or interesting. As you read, talk about the books - what does he see in the pictures, what colors does he see, find something that is a circle/square/triangle on the page. Ask him what happened in the story and what was his favorite part.

Buy the card game Uno to help him learn colors and numbers. My 5 year old son just got it last month and he LOVES it.

Don't do things like Flashcards and worksheets. He'll think it's boring.

Go the website www.starfall.com for great work with letters. he'll like it because it's on the computer and it's interactive, so he won't feel as much like he's studying.

I also sell Discovery Toys. We have a great game called Memo Spell that will help with learning letters. We also have a fishing game for the bathtub called Tub Stickups Letter Catch where he can fish for different letters. We have a fun game called Color Clowns that helps teach colors (color mixing, such as red and yellow make orange) and shapes. One of my favorites, Playful Patterns, lets him create different mosaics using all kinds of shapes and we nickname it "preschool in a box" because it helps children build their thinking, reading, math and motor skills. It's basically everything they need to help prep for kindergarten. You can view all of these and many more at http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao They would be great gifts for the holidays - he'll think it's just fun toys but really he'll be getting amazing educational products.

Good luck. Don't stress. He WILL be ready and he will succeed in kindergarten.

A teacher who spends the majority of her adult life in the classroom does have some good experiece to know what's what.

BUT from what you said this child should have been in the early education program since his 3rd birthday. One of my friends sons had a hearing problem and they started him the day after his 3rd birthday. It's the law that kids that have learning or a physical problem that will hinder them in school get to start school at 3. They don't have to wait until they are old enough for kindergarten.

You need to make sure you advocate for your son. If he was diagnosed with these issues and had the services you described he qualifies with no problem. He needs to be in school right now in the 4 year old program.

That's stupid. Our K4 teaches all that before kindergarten. You can teach him what he needs to know, but someone also needs to clue her in that she is supposed to do that too. OR, he can learn it in kindergarten...it's really not hard to catch up, most kids show up in kindergarten knowing hardly anything. They did to my kid's anyway, mine was the only one who went to K4. All the others were fresh out of pre-school and didn't know anything. If he hasn't been taught the stuff, he doesn't know the stuff. It's likely not medical.

Wow, it is way to early for her to say that! He has a ton of time to catch up on letters and such. Also, is she suggesting he should wait to start K at age 7? Unless there were HUGE concerns I dont think that would be in anyones best interest. I would make an apppointment with the preschool director and talk this through. If they can't get a plan together and rolling ASAP, I would start shopping for a new preschool.

Do not listen to her. They told me that with my son in March. I decided to send him and he went on to test into an advanced reading group with only 6 kids out of 150 in first grade.

First, I think it's too early to tell what he'll be like in 10 months. Second, you son will start kindergarten and turn 6 right away, right? So he has to start! Maybe find a new preschool????

that doesnt make sense considering most kids are already a year younget then him in the grade. my daughter turned 6 in september and is in 1st. even if hes not ready he should be placed in K and in classes deisgned for kids with learning challenges.

Maybe she is concerned and uneducated?

emmy knew her letters and shapes at 1. Could write her name at 2. It does seem he might need to be evaluated but I still would think theyd put him in K

He would be ready to start K at 6 years old. If he is having difficulties with learning certain skills the school will be able to provide the support he needs. A full year is along time, you can always get some workbooks to work at home. If you have concerns and have somewhere to get him tested it might give you a head start.

Wow I would have some serious concerns about the teacher. I agree that I think this is way too soon to be making this judgement. I would either look for another preschool, have a second evaluation done or ask the teacher what you can work on outside of school to get him caught up. Best of luck. I think you should go with your gut on this.

Ya know how some kids learn to walk early and some later? Well kids develop differently mentally as well. Pushing him doesn't necessarily help if he just isn't ready. Kind of like potty training. I also had a son who was born in late September. We sent him when he was six. My thinking was that if I wait until he is just a bit older he may enjoy school and not have to struggle to get everything learned.

Does your child need to know all those academic things when he starts kindergarten? What is the expectation for your district? My children went to play-based preschools, and while they incorporated acamedics into the curriculum it was not a focus. My youngest who just started kindergarten this fall did not know all his letters, numbers, shapes, etc. as we didn't focus on it. We felt it wasn't important for him at his age that it would come later. We focused on the social-emotional skills. He is doing great in kindergarten, and I haven't heard from his teacher at all that he is behind. He is quickly learning all those things as he is now ready, and he has a great teacher. I would suggest finding out what the expectations are for entering kindergarten near you.

That is ridiculous! I can see her suggesting he might be a bit behind at this point and suggesting some things to work on at home, but to say he won't be ready is totally uncalled for!
It's the preschool teacher's job to get the children ready for kindergarten so she better work with him or she may not have a job next year!

Dont stress too much yet, wait and see how he does through the year. Do what you are already doing with and for him and if at the end of the year they still dont think he will be ready, just listen. My son had alot of the same issues as yours, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational, low musle tone, When he was tested for K the teacher said he could go but it may be a truggle for him but if we held him back in transitional K he might get bored. We put him in K and he struggled, it was hard watch him, we did what we could to help but he ended up needing another year of K, if I had to do it all over again I would have held off putting him in K. Good luck to you.

Holy cow. It is Oct 2012. Kind starts Sept 2013! I would wait until the new year before you test. Give him a bit more time. Does his teacher have a crystal ball that she allows her to see your son won't be ready. Sheesh!

Okay:
Per my son... HE had a Speech Therapist too for speech delay until he was 3 years old. And he is now the most talkative one in our family! AND he has an astounding vocabulary and is SO expressive!

He went to Preschool at 4 years old. HE was not interested in "learning" or "academics" yet. But if I really nagged him about it, he would actually sit and do some workbooks etc. Once he was in Preschool, well he showed more interest. Some kids knew more than him. So what. The Teachers were NOT concerned... he is a boy, boys are about gross motor and large motor movements etc. They are kinesthetic.
But I was NOT concerned nor were the Teachers.
AND I also talked to the Teachers at our elementary school (where my daughter was already in school at), and they said he will be FINE! They told me DO NOT WORRY! And he was perfectly fine as far as social skills etc.

My son is born late. BUT, at 4 he went to Kindergarten and he turned 5 shortly after. AND he was FINE! Once he was in Kindergarten, his skills and ability and "academics" really sky rocketed and he was READY and fine! He had NO problem. He did fine.

So, that is my story.
I REALLY think, that your son's Preschool Teacher is really.... not right.
I mean, there is ONE YEAR more, until your son goes to Kindergarten.
A TON of things, and changes occurs in a child over 1 year.
I would not worry.

My son is now in 1st grade and is 6 now. And he is still fine, all around. Socially and academically and he is, per his Teacher, as really good student.

MANY MANY Preschoolers, are not writing their name yet etc. My son wasn't. He didn't even care about writing yet, when he was 4 and in Preschool. No biggie.

A lot of preschool teachers are idiots in my opinion. They said the same thing about my younger son that he wouldn't be ready for Kindergarten, because he can't color inside the lines. I told his teacher...I am not worried about his coloring skills since that is not a prerequiste for college. He was just smarter than his teacher, but I didn't listen. Today he is a straight A student in 5th grade. I don't think teachers in preschool do not have the education as regular school teachers. I would buy flash cards of the ABC's and numbers and teach him yourself, because I noticed teachers can't teach as well when I was a child. Maybe it's because I have a higher education than most teachers. I noticed that I had to teach my child instead of them....that's why I think teachers shouldn't get paid as much...plus they get summer vacations off. I work as a chemist 10-12 hour a week job so I can't understand why they think their job is so hard...and yes I do teach children on weekends. I also noticed my older son's teacher teaches science with a bachelor degree in Journelism....Really? I need to try for these jobs. I told my son to ask me if he had questions in science, because I think I am more qualified than his teachers.

Ok so my four almost five year old is in pre-k twice a week, so scheduled to start KG at the same time and only five months younger than your son. Last night we had parent teacher conference.

She said she was shocked he knew all his shapes, colors, numbers through 1-10. She was shocked he knew them...not that he should know all 100%.

I would get a second opinion and a third. Does your school district have a parents as teachers group? They come in and evaluate the preschoolers...

That does seem odd since he has a full year to learn much of those things... Go for the eval and take it from there. It seems like she is being a bit harsh... I'm sure it will all work out well. I also happen to believe it is more about the social than academic development at this age anyway - so he's over 1/2 way there!!!

Updated

That does seem odd since he has a full year to learn much of those things... Go for the eval and take it from there. It seems like she is being a bit harsh... I'm sure it will all work out well. I also happen to believe it is more about the social than academic development at this age anyway - so he's over 1/2 way there!!!

I would go back and clarify. What are the specific indicators that lead her to believe that he will not be ready? Then focus on that. While I think it is very important to get feedback on the children, remeber that you are the mom and you know your child best.

For the record, they do teach shapes, letters and numbers, etc. in Kindergarten. I went to conferences the other day and I was blown away by the writing work that some of these kids did! I thought our son was okay but I panicked because we hadn't been practicing that. But the teacher said he is doing well and thriving. Some parents send their kids to fancy preschools that put a strong emphasis on academics -- which I personally disagree with. At this age, they learn a lot from (and need to) play! (read: Your Child's Growing Mind -- great resource!). Lastly, go to your local library or go buy some of the Leap Frog videos. Pop them in while you're making dinner and make your way through the series. You'd be amazed at how much they can learn from those DVD's.

There will be lots of ups and downs in your child's school career. Try not to freak out at the first suggestion of trouble, especially if you don't see a problem. It upsets me when we as parents have this ADD suggestion thrown around so easily. Lots of luck to you!!!!! :)

One of our sons had to wait until he was 6 to go to kindergarten just because of his birthday being 12 days over the cut off date. It didn't hurt him and he knew his letters, numbers, etc. He had no issues at all and I had a friend whose son was born the day before mine and he had to wait because of the birthday. I think with boys it's not bad to let them have that year and not that they're not smart but just girls are so verbal, etc. I would work with him at home though. Make it a game and he should be more than ready when he starts school.

You should be MAD! The teacher should be telling you HER plan on how she is going to teach the whole class these ACADEMIC things for the coming year. Not telling you he won't make it! Ask her what stratigies she is planning to use with your son to help bring him up to where he should be, so that you can reinforce it at home to help him more.

Get him some games that teach basics. Letters, colors, shapes, numbers ect.. I picked some up at Best Buy a few years ago for my granddaughter for about $10. They are on a disk and are a point and click game.

Also get him involved in activities that will improve his hand eye coordination. Martial Arts and dance are both good for over all conditioning and usually fun for kids. But things like basketball, having to aim and toss a ball into the basket, will help him learn to control his muscles. You can do something similar at home take unmatched socks and put some dried beans or rice in them knot them and use an ice cream pail and have a contest between you and him to see how many each of you can get into the bucket.

Maybe this is the teacher's (clumsy? uncool? effective?) way of agitating the parents of her kids into a mode where they are actively preparing their kids for Kindergarten? It sounds sorta strategic, because really, how can she know how much he can learn in a year?

Just keep doing what you're doing - he sounds like a wonderful kid!

just read a post on huffpost ( i will inbox you) about lots of benefits for children missing their school mark.

who cares what she says. get him ready. you can do it! talk to him all the time, point out colors, shapes, numbers and letters. he'll get there.

i'd keep an eye on the teacher if you really think she's 'written him off', since i'd worry about her attitude towards him, but other than that, let it slide, just put in a little extra effort. sounds like you need to anyway, and you're aware of it.

She may be telling you now so that you're aware of the concerns and it's not a surprise in the Spring.
Did she give you specific things that are expected for him to be considered "ready"? It should include both academic and social readiness areas: knows his shapes, knows his numbers, letters, can spell his name, but also: can sit still and listen to a story, can listen and follow directions, can hold a pencil, can keep hands to himself, etc.
I think reaching out to your early intervention resources is a good one. They may be able to put you in touch with school district resources that can help with readiness, or provide you specific things you can do to help your son "catch up".

Have you really sat down with the teacher -- when you are calm, not angry, and when you're able to be a bit more objective -- and asked her to explain what she means?

She may not mean "He won't learn his ABCs this year." She may be seeing maturity issues instead. And of course a kid can mature a lot in the coming preschool year, so those may all change too. But unless you really delve into the specifics with her, you won't know. Set up a meeting with her without your son there and at a time when you and she don't have other places to be -- so you have the time you need. Get specific examples of what she is talking about. Ask her why those specific examples demonstrate issues serious enough that she already believes he may not be on track for K in a full year's time. She may find, as she discusses this with you, that SHE is thinking differently about him as she mulls it over with your input. Give her a chance. From the post, it sounds as if there was no discussion, only a statement by her without any backing to it -- yet.

I know you're very angry right now, but can you cool down enough to ask, "OK, might there be things going on here that I need to know about?" and to be calm and non-judgmental with her enough that she can explain her thinking to you?

I agree that with a full school year still ahead of him, it's awfully early for her to make such judgements. Take your meeting with her as a time to tell her that you think so, and to ask that she and you get together regularly throughout the year -- not just at parent-teacher conference time-- to look at his progress together.

It may be the case that she is hedging her bets and fears that she may not be able to reach him for some reason, so she's lowering your expectations from the start. That would be more about her than about him, but does not necessarily mean she's a dreadful person or awful teacher; however, you would want to be sure she doesn't label and pigeonhole your son as "not going to K" and thus doesn't work with him as much as with kids she thinks are moving on.

Again, I'm not saying she's right, but do listen to her. Is she experienced? Or new or new-ish to teaching preschool? Does she have long experience with kids this age so that she might see things a parent doesn't? Or does she possibly tend to label kids early in the year? (Other parents of past students can fill you in, if you know some.)

Go back and clarify rather than being angry, and work with her wherever possible, noting of course that you expect your son to get her full attention.

As for maturity -- if, by the end of the year, he has all the ABC and 123s nailed but has maturity issues, he would indeed not be ready for K. Kinder requires kids to be ready to do things in a group, move from one activitiy to another without resistance or meltdown, share, listen to an adult who's not mom or dad -- and preschool helps them learn these things. He may be doing them already, which would be excellent! But those are the key things to watch for in terms of K readiness, not just counting and letters.