How can I help DS

[Rainbow1808]

So DS is starting reception in September. He is an end of August child. He’s been going to a school nursery and I got called in at the beginning of the year because he was falling behind the other children. She also said he doesn’t listen and fidgets if they are having story time etc. At home, I’ve been trying to help him with things like writing his name etc. I’d write his name, and he’d trace over it. He will do the first letter of his name fine, then just draw all over the other letters. Same with phonics, if I ask him questions, he’ll get the first couple of right, then he will turn silly and start getting them wrong on purpose. Reading, I’ll read him the first couple of pages and his attention will turn to something else. He can put his own coat and shoes on, take himself to the toilet, use a knife and fork etc. His speech is fine too. I am just really struggling to get him to listen to me and just do a bit of practising. Any tips on how to help him?

Have you considered deferring him?

Given that there might be more limited opportunities for settling in days etc this year it's probably not going to be the ideal year to start for the August borns (I have one too, older now though).

My advice (given what is possible stuck at home) would be to focus on his vocabulary (read to him, play games where you need to communicate, ask increasingly complex questions etc), fine motor skills (threading, sorting beads, buttoning, playdough, big kid lego etc) and number sense (count groups of things, put them in different positions and count them again etc). Don't worry about the academic skills (reading, writing), if you put the foundations there, school will sort the rest.

Wow OP, you have done and are doing fantastically well with all you have done with your DS! Your DS is way ahead of where my DD was when she started Reception last year and she was just fine and caught up reasonably well before Shutdown. I’d really not worry!
To help with concentration, maybe sit him in from of the Reception online learning videos (it caters really well for nursery aged children) from The Oak National Academy.
If he can sit through some or all of one of their 20 minute videos, he will be more than ok!

www.thenational.academy/online-classroom/reception/#schedule

@reefedsail I have considered it but not sure if it will do more harm than good. Thank you for the tips, I will definitely be trying some of those ideas.

@ChloeDecker Thank you! I’ll have a look through the videos! I suppose it hasn’t helped with being called into nursery, I’m an over thinker and it’s been playing on my mind for ages

Does he watch tv and films?
Do you read to him?
If he can sit and take in those things then his concentration is fine.

Let him draw and colour to get used to pencils.
Things like play doh and rolling and shaping biscuits to bake help with controlling his hands.
Keep reading to him so books are lovely rather than a chore.
Watch YouTube phonics clips and number songs

From all the literature I've read concentrating on a screan doesn't really count but concentrating on being read to etc certainly does. It sounds a bit like he's just a little immature - quite normal for a boy his age.

I wouldn't worry so much about the academic skills - most teachers say the most important aspect is being able to follow directions and sit still etc. TO a certain extent you just have to wait for these skills to develop (just as you have to wait for kids to learn to walk and talk at their own pace).

I think you can encourage him though by firstly giving him plenty of time to just play freely and run around but maybe a few times a day try to encourage him to focus his attentoon on something and see if you can gradually extend the length of time he focuses. Make sure you do this by chosing something he's interested in (whether it be art, having a book or comic read to him, doing a puzzle, playing a board game and taking turns) and make sure there's loads of positive praise when he manages to focus e.g. 'wow you waited so nicely for me to have my turn'. I would avoid being negative when he doesn't manage to sit still - some days will be better than others and the skills will come gradually.

He sounds a fairly typical nurserychild.

Two of my children couldn't do most of the things you mentioned when starting reception. One is august born too please don't worry.

I would recommend using a visual timetable with him and give clear information about how long each activity will last e.g. we are reading 5 pages and then (insert fun activity). A visual timetable can basically just be a simple drawing of what you are doing e.g. Writing, book, playing in the garden. You cross each one out as you have finished and he gets to see the last one is something fun.

My DD is nursery age although already 4. She attends well to things she wants to do e.g. she enjoys stories, but is quite resistant to doing the learning suggested by school e.g. practising letters. Nursery have given some ideas such as writing in paint/flour (not that we have any spare) to make it fun.

Speaking as an August baby myself I'd defer him. School is miserable when you are not ready for formal learning because you are so young. He' ll catch up of course, but by then he'll ready have an image of himself as someone who is not good at academic stuff.