Problem
Notes on Micheal:
This is a half day preschool. Michael is currently enrolled in the Pre-K class which meets five mornings a week from 9 a.m. to noon September to June. This is his first experience with preschool and is age-eligible for Kindergarten next Fall.
Michael has been in my preschool class since September. He is enjoys playing with others and has good social skills. He likes blocks, watercolors and playing in the kitchen. He enjoys puzzles and is attentive during story time. He follows directions and physically responds appropriately to both adults and classmates. Overall his skills are within the normal developmental expectations for his age except in two areas-his language and fine motor skills.
Although he has responded to me with clear single word answers, his sentences are generally garbled (unclear) and lacking structure. The best description I can give is that it is almost as if he had little control of his vocal/mouth muscles-movement. For example he may say "Mo woo ti" meaning my shoe is untied or needs tying. And the next time say "lease tie who"
He his substitution of consonant sounds is inconsistent and therefore more difficult to understand and correct.
His receptive language seems fine as he is physically responsive and functions well within the classroom. He however can not be understood by either adults or other children. He communicates generally by gestures, action or context. Often I ask him to confirm what he wants by guessing from context what he saying and asking him if that is right. He does try to communicate verbally and does not seem frustrated by his inability to be clearly understood. There are times when single words are formed and clear but those times are unpredictable and I have noticed no pattern except when he has repeated words in imitation of others. Repetition of complete phrases seems more difficult.
Although he enjoys blocks, legos, puzzles, watercolors and manipulatives of various kinds his fine motor control lags considerably behind what I generally see in five-year-olds. He does not the write letters of his name (although he can recognize his name) and has trouble drawing the basic forms like circles and lines. He does practice but is more interested in creating colors or in the movement of the writing instrument than in creating identifiable shapes or images. His fine motor skills though below average would be less of a concern to me if his language skills were more within the developmental range.
His gross motor skills are within normal developmental range. He runs, throws, jumps with ease. He takes care of his personal needs including such things as toilet needs, pouring his own juice, setting the table for snack, washing hands, feeding self. And his general social skills allow him to play comfortably with others.
Task
You joined the ABC preschool staff. You were told that school parent conferences were scheduled and you were asked to use the time to introduce yourself and talk to the parents about their child. Send an "email" by responding to this prompt and start the conversations with parents.