A good friend of mine is having a awful time getting her 4 1/2 year old daughter to recite her letters when ask whats letter is this.... She knows her ABCs perfect has for a couple of years but just does not seen to retain which letter is which She asked me but as soon as Alexis learned her ABC's I taught her which letter what which right away! and it came easy to Alexis with just flash cards She has tried letter a week but it did not seem to help Anyone have any ideas for her?? Thank you so much!
Could it be that the child is not ready for this yet? Some kids are not ready for reading at this age. My oldest child did not get this until closer to 5 regardless of what approach I took. On the otherhand she could absorb information about science and understand it, like water having 3 phases etc. At 4.5 I would find what the child is good at and work on that. Of perhaps they might approach this by teaching the sounds instead of the letter names at first. Or if the names and sounds are confusing the child, make sure they teach that letters have both a name and make a sound or two etc. 100 lessons is a pretty slow approach that works with letter sounds instead of names at the beginning.
Thank you! I know her daughter has been asking to learn to read so she wanted to get started on letters and its just draining them both!
Try more hands on letter approaches. Get the sponges shaped like letters - stamp with paint. Make letter shapes with pretzel dough. Write the letters in chocolate pudding (on wax paper of course). Match the letters. Memory game with the letters Letter bingo Some get it with the sight and some....like my ds2 well...they get it when they are ready. HTH
we used a system called the letter people, its a series of books (one per letter) and they have a funny little story to remember the sound each letter makes like H has horrible hair, B has beautiful buttons etc.... but there was also a serries of books that was put out by a book company that sent you 3 books at a time, and it was sesame street books they fit together and made a picture like a puzzle on the back....... Each book featured a letter, Like C is for cookie--with cookie monster. my kids loved those books to pieces!
First and foremost, she needs to figure out her daughters learning style. When it comes to reading readiness this is SOOOO important. All children have their own learning style. Is she a physical learner? If so, then she will most benefit with hands on learning such as making letters out of playdough. Is she an auditory learner? If so, then she would benefit from something like the Letter Factory video. Is she a visual learner? Then she will benefit from flashcards. If she is a physical learner and her mom is drilling her with flashcards she will NOT learn this way! Physical learners NEED hands on activities and are often the ones who struggle the most in schools because most schools do not cater to the physical learner. In my honest opinion, 4 1/2 is very ready to learn the alphabet. Most kids are even ready before then, it is usually just a matter of finding their learning style and go from there. If you don't find their learning style, then it wont help much and they will seem like they are not ready, when in fact, you just haven't found their niche. Reading starts with learning the letters. Actual "reading" will come later, but you must focus on the "reading readiness" before that can happen.
I told her the same thing she insists that Amanda is a auditory learner but I have been around her enough and what not she is definitely a physical learner but her mother says she knows her child :roll: if she does continue to teach her as she is an auditory learner even though she is not will Amanda adapt to that way of learning or will she always struggle? Thank you again everyone for all your advice and help!
No, it is something you are born with and part of our genetic makeup. She will continue to struggle until she caters to her learning style. There are many kids that can be catered to more than one style, or all styles, but if she struggles with what she is doing with her, she will probably continue to struggle until she caters to her needs. Especially if she IS a physical learner, usually physical learners struggle with the other two styles. Not all, but many, if not most.
Thank you Jenn for your help! So I am pretty much wasting my time trying to help her if she won't even understand her childs learning style!
Well, not really totally wasting your time. You are a great friend for caring this much about her. If you can convince her that her child's learning style is different than what she thinks, it would do a world of good. Perhaps you can get some information on learning styles for her. Or maybe think of a list of activities that she can do with her and see if she'd like to try them. Also, just a question, is she making it fun enough for her? Kids this age, and all kids, need to have fun while learning so their mind is engaged and interested. If she is interested in what she is learning then she'll retain the information better. Although my son did awesome with flashcards and loves them, I know not all kids would find them that interesting. You can also tell her that even though she "thinks" her learning style is auditory, it doesn't mean she has to stick to everything in that style. Maybe if she'd explore the other styles she'd find out on her own how she learns best. Usually when a child is auditory or visual, they still benefit a lot from physical hands on activity. It's just the physical learners that could have more of an issue grasping visual and auditory activities. So, if you tell you she can branch out, it will help her. But, if she only sticks to the auditory activities and she really is a physical learner, it will end up hindering her in the long run. I hope I'm explaining that ok. Not sure if I'm making sense or not. I hope you can convince your friend of what you're trying to explain to her.
Here are some activities you can have her try with her: *shaping letters from playdough *shaping letters from Wikki Sticks *Writing letters in coffee grounds *Make letters bags...put paint in a sealed ziplock bag, write letters and erase by squishing paint around *cut out letters from paper *make collages using foam sticky letters *read letter books (like the ones Amy suggested) *make alphabet buddies (letters made into people) *have a letter of the week and focus activities around that one letter *make sensory letters (different textured materials on letter cut outs) *practice writing letters in shaving cream *make up songs for each letter *make a letter book *find certain letters in magazines I think it would really benefit your friend by having her do a letter each week with her. A lot of physical learners need to focus on one at a time. Then suggest she do activities surrounding that letter of the week.
Thank you sooooo much! I am putting together a whole lesson plan for her for Amanda for the alphabet using mostly physical learning and i am trying to convince her let Amanda and Alexis school together a couple days a week I hear what u mean about fun I know my daughter needs fun and interest or forget it I really appreciate your thoughts and Ideas I just hope I can help them Amanda is so bright it makes me sad to think its being hindered in anyway!
My daughter had GREAT success with the ABC Magnets when she was that age! She just loved sticking them up and matching them (uppercase and lowercase). She basically knew all of them just from play before I even taught her how to write them or anything.
Both of my kids like the ABC magnets, too. They are all over the refrigerator (and occasionally all over the floor, too - grrrr...) Katie, who is 3, will bring me a letter and I tell her what it is, what sound it makes, and a word that she knows that starts with the letter. "It's a U! Uh-uh-uh.. Up!" That's how Joy, who is now 5, learned her letters, too, and she is reading at a second grade level right now.
Grrrrr... I'm not allowed to post url's yet! www . starfall . com My son loved that. AND Leap Frog's Letter Factory DVD was crucial.
