Hi Moms. I have a kindergartener who attended Montessori school and is now in public school. Every other day I get a note from his teacher that it takes him too long to complete his reading materials (eg. matching pics with sentences) and he is distracted. does not write his full name on the sheet. Just first 3 letters. My work is crazy and I try to revise his school materials over weekend. He says school is boring. I am worried that he is left behind and don’t know how to catch up. Any tips

My LO is too young for this, but did the teacher have any suggestions? Any counselors or extra help he can get after school hours to catch up?

I think you need to collect some more information. Here’s what I’ve done from being in your shoes:

1. Meet with the teacher in person. Ask for specific examples of what is expected of your son to meet the state standards by the end of the year. Ask if the teacher suspects behavioral issues, learning disorders, or other things she’s noticing. Ask her specifically how she is supporting your son in the classroom and what she would recommend you do at home to reinforce. Write everything down AND it is very helpful to have your spouse there in the meeting, for step 3.

2. Ask your kid for his perspective on what’s going on. How does he think he’s doing in class? What does he find boring? How is he getting along with his teacher and classmates? What’s he doing during recess and lunch and what are his favorite things? How does he think this school is different from his old school? Are there any areas where he might need more help or review at home? What are his favorite things about school?

3. Analyze these inputs and make a plan to explore root causes. This could range very broadly depending on the situation. I would really assess the situation considering the teacher herself / experience / level of professionalism, to the classroom or school setting, to your son himself and where he is academically and socioemotionally. Come up with some hypotheses to explore and be realistic with yourself about the time commitment to do these things. Decide on a few things you can start doing today, some more to explore and validate. This is where a second set of eyes and ears provides a helpful additional perspective.

Kindergarten can be a really hard adjustment, and there’s so many possibilities. He could be on the young side because most people redshirted. The teacher could be immature (emailing every other day seems a bit excessive). He could have a learning disability or ADHD. It’s worth listening to the different perspectives and engaging head on.

I’ll add, one of the things that really helped me is in classroom observation time. I asked the teacher if I could volunteer to see for myself. Group work is a great time so that you can observe other students, as well as your own when they rotate.

You mentioned Montessori school- do you think that’s the reason he is behind? There are so many people that think Montessori is the best of the best but maybe in independence and not with typical “school skills”. I also wonder if it’s because it was maybe such a big adjustment going from Montessori to “standard” school? I have my preschooler in a private preschool but we toured 2 Montessori and it was a tough decision so just curious to hear your thoughts.

Usually kids post Montessori are ahead of their peers and bored at classes. Montessori prepares them well but also it creates env-nt specific to each child’s needs. Schools do not cater for needs of a specific child and that’s why kids can struggle. If your child needs no distraction to focus or targeted instructions or smth else, i would talk to a teacher first. I realized too late my daughter needs small room to focus, it is hard for her to work listening to music with words that her teacher used or when someone is talking. We did 504 plan and it helped. She was older when we switched to 504 but we had similar issues when she was younger.

If you are in the US, ask in writing (email works) for him to be evaluated for an IEP. The law requires them to do it, and the request in writing starts a mandatory clock as to when they must complete it. But based on what the teacher is saying, he very well may not need services. K just started recently and he is learning what is expected and how to do it. Maybe he needs directions explained differently or directly to him. Perhaps he’s got a pencil grasp issue and writing is hurting his hand. There are so very many possibilities, and his teacher ought to be providing suggestions to help everyone uncover the issues (if there even are any beyond him being a little kid who is learning to do school).

I second also asking for an in person meeting with the teacher. Ideally bring dad or another trusted adult with you so there is another take on any offered suggestions and perhaps that will shake loose some actionable recommendations.

It is ludicrous that you are expected to correct any kindergarten work. If he’s struggling, teacher should communicate what he’s struggling with and suggest ways you can help. Then you can get creative and make it a fun thing for the two of you to work on together over the weekend. Such as, if he’s struggling with matching words to pictures, get a cookie recipe, write words down (sugar, flour, milk), help him read, ask him to match, celebrate by him getting to add the ingredient as he correctly matches. Emphasize a wrong answer is not bad and everyone makes mistakes and those are learning examples. When we make mistakes, we learn from them and try again. Then we celebrate sticking with it and how hard we tried/what we learned/fun we had along the way - and eating the cookies (or whatever).

Best of luck. But your child sounds just fine to me, and since you are engaged and game to help however you can (and in ways that actually make sense), your little one will thrive and be his best self, which is all any parent can really ask for. You’ve got this!

This is common because Montessori has less structure. It’ll probably take him some time to transition and adapt to the structure of conventional schooling. Can you ask the teacher to help with a transition plan? Knowing he didn’t come from traditional preschool type structures other kids might have?

Do you have doubts about conventional school? You could try a longer-term plan to transition to something more individualized then conventional schooling