Working With A Possible Learning Disability?

[PitterPatter]

I have a couple extremely slow learners. They have been in and out of daycare for a year. I try my best to teach what I can but they don't get it. What I managed to get the 3yr old and 4 1/2 yr old taught goes away by the time they come back. (DCM can't keep a job and has been out a few times for health matters) I started working harder on basics as if they were new toddlers and dropped the worksheet curriculum I made up and just started doing basic letter of the week. I thought I had 'A' down after 2 weeks but it's gone after starting B. I hold the letter up and they shrug shoulders and when I tell them just take a guess say what you think the letter may be. Again shrug. I will say the sound and apple... 1 blurts out B! (they know A B and C but don't recognise which is which) They don't know all the colors either. Numbers forget it. Shapes they know 2 of. Please help me I don't know how to teach children that may have a learning disability and I don't dare mention my thoughts to DCM but they should know something by now! ALL of my other children picked up at a much faster pace some slow some quick but never THIS slow. Any ideas on how to teach them? DCM does NOTHING at home with them she says she's tired at the end of the day and just lets them play in their room. I have had kids like that before with no reinforcement from home and they still learned faster.

Same with potty they don't tell me they just sit in it sometimes I ask and they even lie and say no. Ages 3 and 4.1/2. DCM isn't very bright. DCD has told me many times he has to "excuse her like a child sometimes because she doesn't get things."

I adore the kids they are good kids but I am really feeling like a failure here. Help please?

[daycare]

Let the academics go and just stress self help. Read read read and read again to them. Then sing sing sing...

All children are different and will learn only when they are past the play stages. Of course they will always play, but until they are mature enough to do more than that just do as I suggested...

My son is 4 and he still stumbles on letters and numbers. He just barley started to pick up the academics.

But he can build almost anything and draw amazing pictures. He loves dramatic play and anything pretend play.

I gave up on trying to force it on him.

Children learn through play. Design games that provide opportunities to learn.

[itlw8]

back to basic is not drilling on letters. If you want to teach letters start with important ones What is important your own name. Label things with their name so they can recognize their name.

Play is the best way to learn and use real objects to teach not worksheets and flash cards.

How.... well .... get the yellow ball... I have 1 yellow block can you give me 2 red blocks? I like the red you used in your pictures. Read read read you need to ready many times duing the day and get parents to read daily also

If you feel there is a real problem have dcd to get them evaluated at 3 they qualify for help from the public school district. Head Start for at risk children or early childhood special ed.

[Countrygal]

Have you heard of play therapy? There are a lot of resources on the web that may be of help, both in understanding and in how to approach this situation. Basically, it's learning through experiencing. Kind of like simple science experiments, only in every phase of life....

I think with perseverence they will advance if you use hands-on activities and programs - sensory tubs, sand/rice trays, lots of clay and play dough and paint and even mud pies! Ramps and speed tests with matchbox cars, build a simple electrical circuit, whatever you can think of - the sky is, literally, the limit (look for pictures in clouds) Simple, basic cooking and science experiments. Teach them about the senses, sound, music, plants, animals, character traits. Stretch your thinking beyond the ABC's and 123's. Sometimes what these children need are experiences to get their minds thinking! It surely can't hurt and can only help them! Wishing you all the best. Thank you for caring enough about them to keep trying!

[Lilbutterflie]

Try not to stress too much about it; and be satisfied in that you know are working with them and doing your best. Sometimes when I notice that I am getting stressed out b/c a daycare child isn't picking up whatever I am trying to teach; I have to let it go and it always ends up resolving itself over time.

Teaching through play is the absolute best way to go with your age group. Teaching through curriculum and worksheets works with some; but not all.

Pinterest has some amazing ideas for letter activities, check it out! For example, make a sensory bin full of sand or rice; and place those magnetic letters all throughout for them to find. The first few times doing this activity, call out the letters excitedly as they find them. Then eventually you can make a game out of it and have them call out the letters as they find them.

Another great activity I like to play with mine is drawing a parking lot on a white board; writing one letter in each parking lot space. Have them each pick their own car to "drive"; and ask them "drive" their car into the "A" space. It's much easier for them to recognize a letter when you tell them it's name as opposed to asking them what that letter is called; which is why this game works really well and helps you gain insight into how many letters they actually know.

[PitterPatter]

Originally Posted by itlw8

back to basic is not drilling on letters. If you want to teach letters start with important ones What is important your own name. Label things with their name so they can recognize their name.

Play is the best way to learn and use real objects to teach not worksheets and flash cards.

How.... well .... get the yellow ball... I have 1 yellow block can you give me 2 red blocks? I like the red you used in your pictures. Read read read you need to ready many times duing the day and get parents to read daily also

If you feel there is a real problem have dcd to get them evaluated at 3 they qualify for help from the public school district. Head Start for at risk children or early childhood special ed.

Thanks for the ideas everyone! I will try a few new things as suggested but as far as the simple things like "can you give me the yellow block?" I have done that all along from the beginning. I even painted squares on the patio this past summer just for these 2 children. I would jump on the red square and shout RED then jump to yellow and shout YELLOW etc... and made a game but they still don't get it after months. They just shout out color names but don't recognise the true color. Even when we take walks I point out colors and shapes trying to make it fun and educational at the same time. "Look the sky is blue, the cloud is white" "I love the green grass" "That tire is a circle" etc. That's why I turned to flash cards.

As for head start I tried to get them enrolled in it and DCM keeps stalling. I told her again just last week they are doing new interviews and she could even get them into 1 that helps with potty training. She says she doesnt have time to meet with them. I hate calling DCD because DCM gets mad when I go over her head but she doesn't give him the newsletters or the bills diaper notes etc. She forgets everything so sometimes I have to call then he gives the run around but that's another story.

Originally Posted by Countrygal

Have you heard of play therapy? There are a lot of resources on the web that may be of help, both in understanding and in how to approach this situation. Basically, it's learning through experiencing. Kind of like simple science experiments, only in every phase of life....

I think with perseverence they will advance if you use hands-on activities and programs - sensory tubs, sand/rice trays, lots of clay and play dough and paint and even mud pies! Ramps and speed tests with matchbox cars, build a simple electrical circuit, whatever you can think of - the sky is, literally, the limit (look for pictures in clouds) Simple, basic cooking and science experiments. Teach them about the senses, sound, music, plants, animals, character traits. Stretch your thinking beyond the ABC's and 123's. Sometimes what these children need are experiences to get their minds thinking! It surely can't hurt and can only help them! Wishing you all the best. Thank you for caring enough about them to keep trying!

I have 3 sensory tubs all rice maybe I will try sand, we have a sand box but it's put away for winter as it is an outdoor station. 1 changes with the holiday/season. 1 is textures. 1 is colors and shapes and the magnetic albhabet (i took the numbers out thinking that was confusing them but it didn't help).

We do simple science experiments about once a week. Their favorite for color is the magic milk but even then they haven't picked it up. I just keep going for a year now and I was just feeling like a failure. Never had encountered slow learning before.

I will try a few new ideas suggested here like the car idea haven't tried that yet either! Thanks for all the help ladies!! Have a great day!