Nursery is concerned about 3.3 yo DS

[Maia290]

My DS's key worker has told me that DS is not progressing as most children at his age, as he is not able to count objects, not always gets the right colour when asked, he is not using the past tense correctly, so he might be delayed on speech.
He is very good though physically, as he can use scissors properly, he can cycle, climb...
Don't you think nursery is being too picky?

It is impossible to say, without knowing what he is actually able to do/say whether there might be a problem or not. If the nursery think there might be an issue it might be worth having a chat with your HV to see what they think. I wouldn't worry too much, but it is worth getting it looked into just in case. After all if there is no problem it won't do any harm, and if there is then early intervention can make a big difference.

The thing is they're doing the right thing by telling you. A child can be advanced in one area and need intervention in another, so the fact he can do the other things may be a red herring.

I notice they said "not progressing" rather than "not achieving" so maybe it's worth following up whether they mean "isn't hitting milestones" or "hasn't made as much progression as we would expect considering how he was when he entered". If it's the latter it could be that he had just had a spurt before starting and has just now had a period of not progressing as fast.
However it isn't an easy conversation for any key worker to have, and they won't do it lightly, so it is worth taking it further-SALT in this area can be a year wait so getting him on the list now is worth it, even if you feel he will have caught up by the time he reaches the top of the list, you can always then come off the list, whereas you can't join it at the top if he still needs it.

Does he talk? Does he use sentences? Did you have a 2 year EYFS progress check, how long ago, was that okay and can you see progress since that?

www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2012/03/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf
is a nice guide to what they expect at different ages, may be worth a look through. For example, using a variety of tenses is under the 30-50 month goals, so doesn't sound like an immediate worry. And of course it's normal for them to be ahead in some areas and behind in others, main thing is they do progress.

My 5 yr old is pretty bright (hem hem), couldn't use scissors at 3.5 and confused certain colours. Perhaps they're seeing some discrepancy between his intelligence and how he uses language? Or perhaps they're not seeing the progress they expected from when he entered nursery?

I'd ask for a meeting with nursery to get more detail on why they're concerned and how concerned they are (i.e. are they suggesting you contact H/GP, or just noting areas for development for them to work on with him next).

Thanks for all your responses. DS speaks fluently making long sentences, he can basically say everything he needs to say, but he makes some mistakes, such as using the past tense not correctly, he says (Yesterday I eat bread), instead of using 'ate'.
He also uses the third person incorrectly, such as 'He don't know', instead of using 'doesn't'.
We missed the 2.5 year old check up.
At nursery I was always told he was fine with his development.
Nursery actualy didn't mention that they are concerned, but this was my interpretation, as I was called in to have a chat with them.
Nursery said that we should help him at home.
I will now have a look at the link, thank you.

Sounds like a normal 3 yr old to me. I was expecting something much more serious for a keyworker to be talking about speech delay and not progressing as most children.

I would ask for another meeting with them to clarify what they are saying. If possible, ask them to refer to the EYFS that is in the linked document on this thread to highlight what areas they think he is not progressing in. If they ask you to work on things at home, you should ask them exactly what sorts of things they suggest you do with him to help him.

Thank you for your responses.
I called the Health Visitor, and she is coming next week to assess DS.
Although I think he is completely normal as looking at the EYFS link, I don't think he is behind at all. It says they are counting objects up to 10 from 40 to 60 months, so he is 39 months!
I couldn't find by what age they should know the colours.
We have started working on these things at home, as it will help him.

My son found colours very tricky as he couldn't "get" the fact that eg blue could be so many different shades. It came just before he turned r iirc. He also hated to be asked out old he was "don't ask me, it keeps changing" was his response!!!