Need advise on 5 year old boy

[The half dozen]

I have a 5 year old boy(April B-day). He can not remember which words go with which numbers. He can count(1-20). He can recognize and tell me numbers 0-5, but can not tell me 6-10. He can even write them. If I point to a 6,7,8,9,10 he will just guess. I have been working with him since he was 4. He was like this with colors, and I think it will be like this with letters.

 

Normal development in everything else. Was walking at 9 months. Talks o.k. He's a busy boy.

 

Should I just wait longer? Any advise welcome.

 

Thanks,

 

Tammi

 

Mom to DS-13, DD-11, DD-7, DS-5,DD-3,DD-9months

[MicheleB]

Probably others will have helpful advice for you, but this sounds so much like my son (who is now 9.5). He went to public school kindergarten at age 5.5, and at the end of the year, he still couldn't name all the letters, numbers, their sounds, etc. He didn't know half of what he needed to. He didn't really know all his colors till probably age 6. He only memorized his phone number a little over a year ago.

 

I wish *then* I would have had an evaluation done. We have struggled for a few years here now, and while he's made some progress, he still has those some "Issues"... all related. And I think if I would have pushed the issue sooner it would have been helpful to him *and* me.

 

We're just now doing the evaluation process(es). I feel hopeful, at least for answers.

 

So I'm thinking if I were you, I might at least start the ball rolling. It seems to take forever to get into specialists, so if in the meantime you think your ds really takes off, no harm done. Otherwise, you'll at least be on a schedule somewhere and maybe get some answers.

[dalynnrmc]

Hi! I don't know what all you've tried, but what worked for my 5yo (May bday) was flash cards. Simple cards, with just the number on them. In fact, I made them myself with 3 colors of markers. ;) I just had him count the cards, and of course the card he could see showed the same number he was on in correspondance to his counting. So, as he counted 1, 2, 3, the numbers he saw on the cards were those numbers. We did this for about two and a half weeks, and after that he made his own set of cards, completely correctly, and can recognize his numbers anywhere now.

 

FWIW, my 4yo (just turned, August bday) can recognize 0-5 as well (seemingly because of this method), but gets hung up at 6-9 as well. Maybe it's that 6 and 9 are so close that it's confusing, so anything after 6 they block out until they can "get" the difference between those two digits? I dunno. Just a theory. LOL

 

Anyway, I wouldn't stress over it. Just keep going over it, using whatever method best speaks to your son's learning style, and he WILL get it eventually. Remember to talk about numbers in every-day stuff, too - numbers on the clock, when waiting for something (including dinner), on the prices at the grocery store, even the tv channels. ;) He'll get it!

[LauraL]

I wouldn't worry if he doesn't yet remember the actual "symbols" for the numbers--is he understanding the concepts of six, seven, eight, nine, and ten? If I remember correctly, Ruth Beechick talks about the conceptual understanding vs. understanding the symbolic representations of numbers "6, 7, 8, 9, 10" (don't have her book right now to check--loaned it out), and, at this age, the "symbolic" understanding isn't really necessary. (Somebody please correct me if I'm remembering this wrong.) With my young ones, we have done what my husband calls "spoon math"--the little ones always love to help set the table and can figure out how many spoons they need, even if they can't put a number on it. When they've put 5 spoons on the table, they can figure out how many more they need for the rest of the family if they identify each place setting with a specific person. You can do this with just about anything you are doing--passing out cookies to everyone, slicing an apple into multiple pieces, etc. Good luck!

[Remudamom]

Don't worry, it'll happen. He will get it when he's ready.