6 Year Old Not Showing What He Knows in School

what do you mean 'not being evaluated properly'?
i suspect the professional educators at your school actually do know how to administer and evaluate the tests.
they're also used to parents who insist that all the tests and the professionals are wrong, and their little angels who consistently test poorly are actually misunderstood geniuses.
sometimes it's even true.
but there are also a lot of kids who <gasp> behave differently under different circumstances. and sitting in the kitchen with mom and some flash cards is very different from being in school and being tested.
it would be very nice if the evaluators would come into your kitchen and evaluate him there.
i doubt it will happen.
rather than assume they are screwing up, how about you talk to them about your concerns and work with them to help your kid show his true level of knowledge when he's there?
khairete
S.

I dont think he is not being evluated properly.

1. could he be anxious. scared of the teacher the school or all the crazinesss of the kinder classroom. if he can do these things at home but not at school he might be scared.

2. could he be bored. some kids are really above the curriculum they are teaching and find school boring. so they refuse to perform.

3. do not blame the teacher but definately schedule a conference and try to come up with a plan.

The format/visuals/teaching methods are different at school... than what he is used to... doing at home and with you.
Thus, perhaps, at school, he is thrown off, by it.
Versus at home, you have used those same....learning tools with him, repeatedly and routinely, and he has "mastered" that. At home.
Flash cards, are pretty much memorization.
But at school, they learn things, in a variety of ways. Not just in one, way. Many ways. Even when just learning numbers or simple addition, they do not teach it in only 1 way. They teach it in various manners using different tools.

He is used to, the routine at home and has this memorized.
Many kids, learn routines very well. When it is the same thing all the time. It is repetition.
But not at school.
The manner in which he is learning it at school, is different.

At my kids' school, they do not teach reading/math in straightforward ways or in rote memorization ways. They teach the same concept, in MANY different ways. Visually, verbally, with manipulatives, etc. and they teach these things, in a way that the child has to "derive" the answer... using deductive and inductive reasoning.
It is not just memorizing.
So, maybe that is what is throwing your son off about it all.

For example: When having tutors, they teach things in their own method. To the child. But, if the child is not learning math/reading in the same manner that it is taught at school... the child still may not, be able to grasp or do it... like in school. Because in school per the curriculum... the child has to be able to analyze/construct and work out the math or reading problems, as it is taught, in school. So sometimes there is this learning conflict between the two methods.
ie: my daughter had a Math Tutor when younger. BUT, the Tutor was a Teacher as well, who knows the school's system and curriculum and methods in which the students are taught, at my daughter's school. So she taught my daughter, according to those methods. Not her own methods.

This happen to my sister in kindergarten. Turned out she could not hear her teacher but knew the answers when she was sitting on my mother's lap.

My daughter reads, but she refuses to read to other people; instead, she reads to herself. (she did read her bday cards out-loud on her bday, shocking everyone in the room). Why does she want her reading to be a secret? Well, hubby and I think it has to do with fear of not being perfect. It's a performance anxiety thing.

Kids aren't performance animals. That is what school evaluations turn them into.

Some children freeze up during testing or when put on the spot. Does he like his teacher? Is he happy in school? What feedback is he giving you on his day? If he is intimidated he may not perform, or he may not be intimidated or feeling pressure and, just not test well and feel pressure during tests. I know in some situations children are allotted a certain amount of time to do their work, if he works slowly he may not be finishing his work. These are all questions I would ask in person, one on one with the teacher. I think you need to request an in person conference. Be openminded, and ask questions, and also ask what you can be doing at home to help him. I remember my son's first spelling test in school he got a 78 and he was so upset. He knew all of the words we practiced them all, but his test set up was incorrect, and he was marked wrong for that. He was only 6 and he was upset. The day of the second test he got a stomach ache, I got a call from the nurse so I picked him up When we got home he was fine, asked for something to eat, so I knew something was up. So I asked are you nervous. He said yes mom I don't know how to fold, number, and date the paper for the test. So I took a piece of paper, showed him how to fold it (she wanted it in three sections, how to number it, it how to date it, and I gave him the words. He got them all right. I took him right back to school and told the teacher what I thought the issue was and if she would test him then. She agreed, he took the test, got them all right and never had another issue. Sometimes it can be just as simple as that and it holds them up. Talk to the teacher, that's your best recourse right now. Good luck!!

Gosh so many possibilities. Good thing you are working on this.

I would meet with the teacher and have a meeting to discuss what she is seeing. Also see if they can have someone observe the classroom and your child to see what is going on.

When was his last hearing and eye tests? I needed glasses at one point in elementary school and had no idea children could actually see the chalkboard and overhead projections! I was completely amazed when I got my glasses. .

My husband has ADHD and is easily distracted by others and their activities, and sounds.. all sorts of things. But put him in a quiet office and he is super productive with a check list of tasks..

Our daughter is an excellent student, but likes and needs, music and other sounds to block out the distractions.. She studies best with music or Tv and her laptop.. all going at once.

I wish you were down here. I have a friend that is called into classrooms to observe children all of the time. She is there observe an see if they can figure out what is going on with a particular child. Her specialty is elementary school children. She was a kinder teacher for over 30 years.

It might not be that he's not being evaluated properly in school, it may be that he doesn't perform well when tested. Many children experience this.

Hopefully you're talking with his teacher, if not, don't merely rely on notices, when you receive one ask for a face-to-face meeting with his teacher to discuss the situation. Convey what he is capable of at home and share how you determine this. Possibly with your insight his teacher may be able to take a different approach when testing him, possibly not as they have certain standards to meet, including forms of testing. But keeping the communication flowing is still the best course, I've found. 9 out of 10 times the situation changed immediately.

Also talk to your son and ask him about counting and how far he counts in school. Show him two digit numbers he recognizes and ask if he tells the teacher what they are. He doesn't realize they're trying to find out what he knows, he may shut down from shyness, embarrassment or sincerely get flustered and feeling he's being put on the spot and shuts down.

If you can figure out what is going on between talking to him and his teacher you can help him and help his teacher to help him, too. Because especially, as you say, it could be a bigger problem later on in class placements. Parents and teachers need to work together.

I wonder if he is a bit reticent to do this for his teacher. There could be a lot of reasons - he might be shy around other kids who do this easily. He could feel pressured by the teacher and be stressed by her expectations. She may make him feel like he is not as smart as the other kids. None of this may make sense to an adult, but it may make perfect sense to him.

If I were you, I'd keep working with him in common sense ways - NOT worksheets. Have him do stuff with you and talk about the math of it. Make math a game, all the time! Use manipulatives to help him understand the concepts. Worksheets are NOT what will help him understand math. He'll get depressingly enough of that in school. Instead, make math appeal to him at home by making it fun.

What you may consider is having him privately evaluated once he gets through 1st grade. I wouldn't do it before because I think that you can work with him now, especially this summer, and with a new teacher in first grade, get a better sense of how he gets on in school.

Make this summer fun with the learning, mom! First grade is hard work. You want him to like learning as he walks in that new class!!

Dawn

I think you may find, as I have, that when the class sizes get larger (my daughter's class has 28 kids, several of them with special needs like ADHD, Aspberger's, etc), the teachers really have no idea what the kids do or don't know. If your child doesn't easily fit into the same routine that all the other kids are doing, not only will the child NOT get any concessions for having a different learning style, you will be notified that your child doesn't understand the skill. That may not even be true, but that's what happens. It never stops.

Long story short, I have a child who has an A in math, and often tells her big sister the answers on big sis' algebra homework, yet her teacher honestly believes she needs to repeat 3rd grade because my daughter cries all the time in math class. I did some digging, and as near as I can tell, my daughter is literally bored to tears in math. Why doesn't her teacher know this? Because there are 28 other kids, some of them drooling all over their math worksheets or shoving their erasers up their noses, or whatever, so the teacher turns around, sees my bored kid, and instead of thinking, "Hmm, how can I engage this kid?" she thinks, "She has no idea how to do this work."

All I can tell you is, you may want to look around for either a charter school or private school that may provide a learning style that better suits your child. We are going back to private school next year, where the class sizes are smaller, and where we have some assurance of the teaching style and learning environment.

Is it possible he is nervous or unfocused in school? We went through this with my 7 year old when she started first grade. I have always thought she could do a lot better at home than what her report card shows.

We went through this last year as well. She was in figure skating class and had a private coach. When she didn't pass her class, the coach was so angry (with the class coach) because she knew she was ready to move on. The two coaches talked and the class coach said she needed to be able to perform for everyone and she wouldn't do the things she needed for her test. I feel the class coach was right, even though I wanted to see her move up.

Now we have seen this in hockey, where she goes to goalie clinics and classes and she will get in a game and stare into the lights. We tease with her and ask her how many lights are up there. It is hard to watch her do this.

Recently we had a talk with her about working to her full potential. We told her if she wants to do all these activities she can, but she has to work for it. If she wants to read chapter books, she can, but she will have to work for it. I told her she will have to change her attitude and work hard and show the world she can do it. That talk has cleared up a lot!

We remind her everyday, write your neatest, always start at the left edge of the paper, keep to yourself in class, remember your skills, remember what coach Mark showed you...she is doing great. She has worked hard on the ice and from what I can see she is improving in her school work. At home she has been learning 100 sight words at a time and is almost ready for a chapter book. She can read it, but still gets stuck too many times.

Don't be afraid to email the teacher and ask how you can assist him to help at home. The teacher should welcome this, as they like the home support.

I would try to video him without his knowledge and let the teacher see it for herself.

It's VERY typical for kids to show what they know at home more than school. Especially if the child is not a very confident outgoing type. He sounds like my son, the problem could go away as he matures and is more accustomed to school. Now that he's in 2nd gr it is much better. My son takes a LONG time to warm up to any activity which made school hard for him, you don't get 30 minutes to warm up to math class!! Keep working with him at home because he needs to feel extremely confident about the material before he will show what he knows at school. It wont hurt him if the work at school is easier than he can handle, it will help his confidence.Just keep working with him at home on his level so he continues to learn. Of course dont allow him to be help back. Do not give permission for an official evaluation for learning disorders as he clearly does not test well.
My son went from needing special help in math in first grade to getting 96 to 100s on his math tests in 2nd gr. Dont worry about the future yet!

This sounds so much like my little sister! She was this age. Her teacher would tell my mom that she could only count to twenty. But she had been counting to twenty since two! She would say that she had difficulty with loads of things she could effortlessly do at home.he teacher was thinking she had regressed. My mom went over the teacher to the counselor who gave her a one on one skills assessment. She tested in second grade level in math , and third grade level in reading and general knowledge. She wasn't being stimulated in the kindergarten room, so the counselor worked with the teacher to give her extra activities and curriculum. It helped a lot.