My son is just totally uninterested in learning letters and letter sounds. Over the last year we've worked on it and he knows a little less than half the alphabet. I am getting as frustrated as he is because I cannot find a way to make it fun and interesting to him. Anybody else have this problem? What did you do about it?
How old is your DS? Could it be his age? We used Leap Frog DVDs and my boys still really like them. An other thing we did is DH made us some wood pieces like you find on Handwriting Without Tears, (you could also use cereal boxes cut up) and we would make letters out of them and drive cars over them. Draw letters in salt on a cookie sheet. Use chalk outside. Use foam letters in the bathtub. Spell words on the fridge. Hope some of this helps.
If he's 3-5 years old, I wouldn't worry about it. If he's 6-8 years old, you could try the suggestions she gave above. He might just not be ready. Don't push.
My first was reading simple (see spot run kind) books BEFORE 3 years old. My second got less attention and work because we went through a job loss, consequent failed business, had two kids (not just one this time), and I had worked part time outside the home to catch us up.... but he started watching Super Why and other reading type programs on PBS. He started learning them and showing more interest (he was four now) because of the shows on PBC, and so then I was able to teach him them better from there. He is also color blind and I think that affected his ability to "see" the color pages we used in the preschool books and workbooks, so that may have impacted his interest a little early on. Then, my third, she's just all activity and willfulness. She's a screamer, head banger, fit thrower, etc... and MUST be the boss or she is angry. She's very hard to teach because nothing can be your idea. So basically, I just focused on the older two... until she started getting some discipline and maturity behind her. I also started noticing interest closer to age 4, so I've just been teaching her in play and reading to her for now. We won't start an official pre-k until probably after I get the bigger two secured in their start for the year so that she WANTS to do it like they are.. I'm going to incorporate educational shows, computer games, etc... with her table work and games we play. And I do want to do some "child led learning" but with her willfulness, sometimes it's better to teach her to obey and be willing to submit to the teacher(me)'s ideas, too. These are really long examples of how each kid is different, and I wouldn't make it necessary at a young age, or else they get a bad taste for it in their mouths. There are also kids that are a little bit of a perfectionist... and they won't do something until they can do it with confidence and "right"... these kids sometimes seem like late bloomers, too, but they do learn... just don't show they are learning until much later. If there are still plenty of struggles around age 6... yeah, I would have my technique and the child maybe (quietly) evaluated to see if there are issues. Never know what will impact their learning... like I said, my son was color blind, and I think that affected his learning early on... and not just about his colors either. Good luck, and have fun!
Have you checked out starfall.com? My kids learned their letters/phonics from that site. They loved it because each time you clicked on the picture with the sound, the picture did something different.
Have you tried taking a break? Not sure of his age, but IMHO, since we homeschool and I'm not teaching the masses, there is no NEED for my child to have to read fluently by the end of first grade. Because I can take the time to read aloud to him. I can take the time to read directions to him. Sometimes, just taking a break is good for mom and kid. Take a month off and regroup. Then try again. It might be a readiness issue, it might be the approach. Look into file folder games, educational shows, computer games (Starfall.com), hands on manipulatives (magnets), etc
With both my boys I just popped in the LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD every so often, and they both started asking to watch it. Before long (as in a week or 2), they had learned their letters and sounds. But as has been said, if your kid is still a pre-k age I wouldn't try to force it anyway. They will learn eventually.
I second the Leap Frog DVDs, as well as starfall.com But if he's under 4 or5 years old, I wouldn't bother pushing starfall. Just the Leap Frog DVDs.
My son learned by print outs of Alaphabet people. He would color them and make a book out of the "people" and learn their sounds. That worked for him. My daughter on the other hand, I don't even remember. LOL My son was my tuff one.
Abcmouse.com is a big hit in our house as well as starfall.com. Super why, word world, word girl and leap frog shows also helped out a lot. If you look on pinterest there are a lot of alphabet activities that are fun for the kids.
Sounds like he's just not ready. When it comes to reading, I'm of the "better late than early" mindset.
I would ask what would be his motivation to learn letters? And, maybe it is not that important that he learn letters? Bear with me. I started at meal times with singing the alphabet and signing the letters with my daughter when she was one year old. Later on I used alphabet cookies (Newman's Organics), signing the letter and she could see it on the cookie and then say it. I would only give her the cookie she identified correctly up to six of them. Her motivation was to get the cookie then, but learning letters alone...that did not a reader make. In retrospect, I am not convinced that she had to know her letters to read, which was my real goal and her real motivation. She loved books and would rather try to read a book than watch TV, probably because we read to her about two hours a day collectively and TV was not watched much at all. That is why I was excited when I discovered Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons which teaches a child to read without stressing letters and phonics first. I realized that she did not even have to know her ABC's to learn to read with that program and we skipped the tradition way of doing phonics for the most part. My daughter began reading second grade level books to other children her own age, who knew their letters well and even phonics, but could not read, when she was four. If the cookie thing does not work, why not skip the letters for now and see if he is interested in learning to read instead. If he is not ready for either, just read to him a lot and try again later. Although I was in "the sooner the better" camp and blessed with an early reader so that worked well for us both, I have since witnessed children learning to read later and it does not give them any less advantage in the long run. Throw out the standards, create an atmosphere of enjoyment in reading, look for what will motivate your own son to learn to read, and be patient.
While I also agree that later is much better for some (many?) children, I believe that MOST children need to know their letters before being able to read. (I say MOST, because my background is special ed, and I have taught children to read using a whole-word approach. But I would NEVER reccomend this method for the average child!!!) HOwever, I also believe that the average child picks up some "whole words" before they know thier letters. For example, take the STOP sign. A young child might know it says STOP, and might even recognize the word STOP if seeing it without the red sign behind it, but couldn't tell you the letters S-T-O-P. Or they might recognize the name of a store you frequent, or their name in print. And those are very important parts of being able to read. But being able to recognize letters and the sounds they make are absolutely essential to reading. But I also agree that creating an environment that encourages the LOVE OF LITERATURE is the biggest goal.
I should clarify a bit more. Using the methods presented in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons does teach letter recognition and sounds, but in association with words they are reading. It really is not a whole word approach nor a phonics first approach, but something uniquely in between. Many phonics programs start with some variation of the "a" in association with (picture of apple inserted here) approach, which does not really associate the "a" sound with a word that is being read. In other words, the focus is on the "a" sound not the letter "a" in a word as part of a sentence as in "Sam, I am" or later "Jake was walking." We do not really notice until we are teaching a child to read that "a" by itself has--um, I think, seven different sounds? I can think of only five right now though. It has been awhile since I had 100EZ Lessons in my hands, but I believe it teaches at least the most common four "a" sounds in easy to read words. I know that many people hate 100EZ Lessons, but what I am saying is if one approach is not working, then it may not be about being ready, it may be the approach itself is not motivating. Some children need to see the purpose for learning the letters.
Ah. That makes sense! I'm one who didn't like 100 Easy Lessons, but I think it was more because I was so use to doing my own thing to begin with. It was more me, not the lessons! But it does seem to be a "love it or hate it" type of curriculum! I do agree that if something isn't working, it could very well be the approach! When I took a phonetics class, I had a great deal of trouble because I pronounced TOT and TAUGHT exactly the same. And I also pronounce THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE slightly different. Sounds in English are SO bizarre!!!
