Already Behind in Head Start

I would not expect a 4 year old to know the months.. or the days.. in kinder they sing songs to learn the days months seasons..

head start is for social skills and also learning abc 123 .. and lots of other things..

I definitely not base a learning disability on whether or not she knows the months of the year! If you are concerned about any delays, she is old enough to be evaluated by the public school system.

I think that's absurd to label a child with a disability based on not knowing the months in Head Start!! Maybe they have a teaching disability! ...just my opinion! BTW Albert Einstien's teacher thought he had a learning disability.

You would be surprised how much these little ones are expected to learn so early now. My son is 4 1/2 and is also in head start. Yeah, its for socializing, but they are also preparing these kids for Kindergarten. My daughter is in K and BEFORE starting, she had to know all of her letters, letter sounds, numbers, days of the week and months. Also, head start is an awesome tool for observing and catching these "learning disabilities" early on. If they feel like your granddaughter is in need of extra help, they will do whatever they can to help her get it.
Every kid learns at their own pace though. Which is one reason I love head start. They tend to work with each child individually, as well as in a group.

I'm obviously just speaking from my own experiences. If you want a second opinion you could always ask her pediatrician.

Good luck! :)

I don't think that most four year olds know their months. They learn it in kindergarten. I'm not saying she doesn't have a learning disability, but if that's all you're basing it on, she should be fine. Can she understand other concepts of putting things in order? If you show her the numbers 5, 6, and 7, can she put those in order? If she is having general problems putting things in order, such as letters or numbers that she knows and recognizes well, there might be something going on. But if it's really just the months, she's fine.

How long has she been in head start? Have they been teaching them every day for the last 5 months and she still doesn't understand? Then yes, there might be a problem.

Is she new to head start and has never heard them before? If that's the case, then of course she doesn't know them and there is no problem.

My son learned a lot in pre-K, not just socializing.

Who told you she might have a learning disability because she doesn't know the months?!

There is a lot more to having a learning disability than simply not knowing the months of the year.

Head Start is for learning. Social skills are an important part of learning the whole school environment so don't downplay "socializing". A lot of Head Start is play-based, but through that play, children are learning about numbers, letters, math concepts, science concepts, pre-reading skills, pre-writing skills, and SO MUCH MORE!!

In terms of a learning disability - Head Start age is WAY TOO YOUNG to be diagnosing a LD. There are other "labels" that people might throw out there for children of this age, but they need to be struggling in more development areas as a whole (i.e. physical development, social development, language development, etc.). Knowing the months falls under cognitive development and there would need to be more problems present than simply not knowing the months.

Take some time to research Head Start, their curriculum, expectations, etc. and get to know what is expected of children at this age. I suspect there was a HUGE communication (lack there of) error among whomever was discussing this - between child's parent and you? Between child's parent and teacher? A child WILL NOT get a learning disability label simply for not knowing the months when they are 5 years old..........

Has anyone ever taught them to her? If not, then it should not come as a surprise, nor be worrisome, that she does not know them.

I didn't teach them to my kids by that age. So guess what? They didn't know them. If her head start class has been covering that material for the past 5 months and she still is clueless, then that would be something else altogether. So, does her head start teach it, or do they just expect the kids to know them on their own?

I wouldn't be too concerned about this.
Not knowing the months at this age doesn't equate a learning disability unless it's something that's been worked on and introduced to her repeatedly and she's still not picking it up.

Head Start is a prep for kindergarten and getting kids used to a bit of structure, socializing, sharing, routines, etc. Yes, they do want to teach kids about things. Head Start is more than just socializing and they do evaluate whether or not kids are ready for kindergarten. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

I'm not sure why the "months" thing has been equated to a learning disability. Is there more to the picture that you aren't aware of?

My daughter went through Head Start early and began kindergarten at 4. She was ready. But, I taught her a lot of things at home. She was reading, she knew the alphabet, she was verbally advanced. I didn't do anything special with her, she just absorbed everything like a sponge.

All kids learn things differently.

Take advantage of Head Start. They really do try to teach more than just "socializing". Hopefully your grand daughter has someone to work with her in things she might not be picking up easily so that she's prepared to start kindergarten. If she's not ready just yet, I wouldn't be so quick to assume she has a learning disability, but that's just my opinion not knowing the full scope of the situation.

A calendar, days of the week, just introduce those things.

Best wishes.

It isn't usually until a child is in Pre-K that they really reinforce all of the days of the week, months, home address, phone # & all which they usually go into kindergarten knowing. We used to sing them on the way to & from school, to the store, everywhere and to this day if someone asks what day it is, either of my daughters (9 or 14) will give you the whole song!

Try not to worry too much about things, I think that the schools, including Head Start all cover what is necessary for our children to learn at the age appropriate levels. Best of luck!

Head Start is an early intervention program for learning. It is a great resource for at-risk kids and their families.

Not knowing all the months at age 4 isn't unusual though, unless she's been taught and isn't retaining anything at all. What else were you told?

Q. What is Head Start?
A. Head Start is a Federal program for preschool children from low-income families. The Head Start program is operated by local non-profit organizations in almost every county in the country. Children who attend Head Start participate in a variety of educational activities. They also receive free medical and dental care, have healthy meals and snacks, and enjoy playing indoors and outdoors in a safe setting. Head Start helps all children succeed. Services are offered to meet the special needs of children with disabilities. Most children in Head Start are between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. Services are also available to infants and toddlers in selected sites."

Head Start is about both socializing as well as learning. The intent for many is to make sure kids are exposed to a structured learning environment they may/may not have at home, so they don't find themselves behind in kindergarten. Some kids come to kindergarten without ever having a structured classroom/learning environment, so Head Start is a way to acclimate them before they're getting graded, tested, and placed in different learning tracks.

Having said that, I wouldn't focus too much on her knowing everything under the sun. If she's able to comprehend what they're teaching her, I think she's in good shape. If she were having a lot of difficulty knowing and/or recognizing letters, numbers, etc. then I might think differently.

I wouldn't be too concerned that your grandchild doesn't know months in relation to time right now. Most kids don't have to worry about the days of the week, months of the year, etc., so beyond reciting them, there isn't a huge reason for them to know that tomorrow is Friday and next month is February. There is a difference between knowing the months and knowing when they are.

I wouldn't expect a 4-5 year old to know all the month's either. My son is 4 and is in his second year of preschool, he doesn't know all the months or days of the week in order...he can name some. He's working hard on things like counting, letters, writing, and of course socializing! I think it's more kindergarten that they really start knowing months/days.

As both a former classroom teacher and a current Head Start classroom aide I know that teachers cannot "Label" any child with a disability. If asked or questioned by the parents, they can give a suggestion on what they think, but any good teacher will tell the parent to contact the school counselor or psychologist and explain their concerns. A good parent is a great advocate for their child.

More than likely with your granddaughter the teacher gave not knowing her months as one example of a possible learning disability. We are around our kids 4 days a week for approximately 3 1/2 hours so we get a good amount of time to observe the kids. In fact we are supposed to do observations in the kids constantly. For example, how are their social skills, do they know the front, back, spine of a book, can they tell what an author does, can they do a simple scientific investigation etc.

Yes, I did say scientific investigation....it's not as complicated as you think. For example, I just asked a kid at my Head Start what a doctor does, what do they do when they are sick, why do they give shots etc. We've also observed our kids using a simple scale...all those are scientific studies.

Head Start does a lot of things for the kids and yes, a lot of it is socialization, but there is so much more. A good majority of their time is in centers, where they get to choose which center they want to play in. Our program has a writing, scientific/manipulative/puzzle, block, computer, listening, dramatic play, art, library, and movement center. We can learn so much just by watching the kids.

My supervisor, the teacher, has noticed that one of our kids possibly has a speech delay of some sort as we have a very difficult time understanding him and he doesn't enunciate his words like he should. She will then talk to the school district's ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) teacher and see what she says.

I hope this gives you some clarification......but if you are worried talk to the school...you can never be too proactive!

Head Start is not just for social skills. They test them and teach them as well. They make srue that they are ready for Kindergarten or get them extra help or possible diagnosis as well. When my oldest daughter went she was diagnosed with a speech delay and immediately given an IEP Inividual Education plan) to get the extra help she needed. She was in speech therapy for a long time.
One of my children is in Head start now. They talk about the days of the week, the date and the month every day. They should be able to say that it is January after being told it for 4 days a week more than one time. However, I am sure that when your grandchilds teacher said something concerning a possible disability she was not just basing it on not knowing the month.
(just a side note from other peoples comments) I know people who have disabilities, but are brilliant. One thing is not necessarily connected to the other. People with learning disabilities may just learn differently, it does not mean they can't learn.
If your grandchild's teacher is concerned look into it.

In Head Start they start the day out every day in circle time. They start with stuff like Good morning, today is January 10, 2013. The weather outside is cool and damp.

They do this each and every day. They play games to learn the months of the year, they learn songs about all sorts of things. The recite this stuff daily. If she doesn't even get it right after several attempts then she may have something going on.

Head Start is NOT just for socialization. That would be like saying that Kindergarten is just for getting used to getting up in the morning and going to someplace that is not home.

They have a serious curriculum. If she's in the Pre-K program that is the one for 4 year olds then she is on the same curriculum that she would be on in a regular Pre-K program in the local school.

The 3 year old program is a bit different but they still work on writing their names, sight words, colors, eating well and table manners, all the stuff that they would need to start the same as kids from family's that are more affluent. They work hard on skills for these kids and by the time they enter kindergarten kids from Head Start are usually up to the same level as kids from more affluent homes. Head Start is for Low Income families and it's goal is to provide basically the same skills a child would have learned if they had gone to several years of child care or had a pre-school class that a parent would have paid for their child to attend.

It's to make sure the kids that are from families that don't have a lot of extra money are not behind the other students when they start school formally.

She will learn that in kindergarten or first grade - can't remember which. Don't listen to the head start folks. Send your GD to school when she's supposed to go to kindergarten and forget what the head start people are saying. These days they act like they are supposed to be ready for algebra by the time they hit kindergarten. Ridiculous!

One way I found to help my GD remember things like the months of the year, was to turn it into a song. Kids love to sing and they memorize the words to a song much faster than trying to remember some boring recitation!