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Letter recognition


Maddie&EthansMom wrote: Ethan will be 4 in a week and he doesn't recognize his letters. Is this normal? For instance, when I write his name on a piece of paper and point to the letter to ask him to spell along with me he can't do it. He names off some random letter...usually it is "M". Maddie works with him constantly on this. Is this developmental? I don't want to push him too hard if it's developmental, but if it's something that he should be getting by this age I want him to know it. We just worked for a few minutes on his name and now he has forgotten everything I taught him. It's frustrating for me. He's been in preschool for 2 years and they go over this. I feel like he should at least have some recognition. Or at least know what his name starts with. The other issue is he is just lazy.

lisar replied: When Lexi was 4 she could reconize all of her letters. And the numbers 1-9. She could also write her first name. She started pre-school when she was 4 1/2. I dont know what the normal for kids are though. Raygen is only 2 so we are just trying now to teach her how to say them all in order.

kit_kats_mom replied: K knew all of her letters by 3. I have some great flash cards that come with a music cd. Each letter is an animal (freddy fish, alexander alligator etc) and the girls LOVED doing it every day. There are also teaching ideas on the back of each card for helping learn each letter and it's sound. Between those and the leapfrog letter factory video and fridge magnets, the girls have done well.

The flash cards are from the abeka preschool program. You can find them online. Not cheap but very worth it IMO.

if you go to abeka.com and log in as a guest, the items we have are the animal alphabet friends and the animal alphabet friends flashcards. They are both under Nursery School grade level

Our Lil' Family replied: LEAP FROG LETTER FACTORY.....dvd....get it! That's how Thomas learned his letters blush.gif

Maddie&EthansMom replied: I just handed him the pencil and said "Draw an "E" for mommy, like what your name starts with." And he drew the perfect upper case E! rolleyes.gif So, what's up with that? Are we approaching it wrong? Maybe when his teacher asks him he feels put on the spot and nervous/embarassed in front of the other kids??? I was the same way. Even if I knew the answer, if I was called on in class I said "I don't know" blush.gif

holley79 replied: Annika is starting to recognize letters and she is 2. She will see a letter on someone's shirt and point and say what it is. What does the pedi say?

Maddie&EthansMom replied: It's not in the developmental milestone until they complete kindergarten, but most kids in Ethan's class know how to spell their first and last names. For instance, they each have a name card and the teacher points to each letter in their name and the students call it out. Ethan can't do that. rolleyes.gif He just says "I don't know". But he recognizes his name as a whole. Just not what each individual letter is. He also knows his alphabet. And apparently if I tell him to write a certain letter for me he can do most of them. dunno.gif

holley79 replied: Maybe he just doesn't want to "recognize" them. He obviously can recognize them if he can write most you ask him to. dunno.gif

luvmykids replied: He sounds like Macie, she can do it if she wants to wink.gif She will ask me to spell her name and write it perfectly, name the letters in words, etc....but if I ask her to write the alphabet she can't rolleyes.gif

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:
Oh gosh, that was me! I would either start crying or sometimes have accidents. blush.gif

Well if it makes you feel any better, Wil is 3.5, four in August and he can't recognize any letters. He knows W for his name and can write his whole name, but that's about it. He can count to 10 perfectly, and can count objects on a page, but he doesn't recognize a number on a page. Wil started preschool last September, and of course you all know he has a speech delay, but the teacher has not once pointed out to me any concern about writing his letters. Every morning they have to trace their name before starting to play. He is still sortof doodling around his letters if someone doesn't help him. I am always a little embarassed when I see him do this because some of the older kids in the class, those who are closer to 5 can trace perfectly. But the teacher tells me not to worry, it's normal for his age.

mckayleesmom replied: Have you talked to his teacher to see if he does good in class?....I ask this because Mckaylee does really good for other people, but when I ask her to show me something or repeat something....she plays the dumb card.

My3LilMonkeys replied:
This is what I was going to say. Half the time when I work with Brooke she says 'I don't know' to everything. But if I sit here and listen to her play with the magnets, she's out there telling Madison 'This is number 5, this is A, etc.'. So it's not that she doesn't know them, she just doesn't really like to be put on the spot about it. What I'm doing with her is trying to make it more casual - instead of asking her what's this, what's that over and over I send her to find a book with a B in the title or ask her to find the number 8 on mommy's grocery receipt. She does much better with that.

sparkys2boys replied: It seems like a case of I know then but ain't telling you unless I want to! I would not worry to much if he can do it at home for you then he knows it. Keep working on them and in no time he will feel comfortable in doing it!

moped replied: When you say recognize his letters do you mean write them or know them just to see them? Jack knows all the letters to say and see them, but the only letter he can write down is J and that only came a few weeks ago.........I think he knows his letters but you know how they are with their mothers.......

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Yeah maybe he is just lazy. tongue.gif It sounds like he does know them, like you said. Andrew is 2 1/2 and is just starting to learn his letters... I haven't been very good about teaching letters and numbers. blush.gif I mangaged to teach him what A and B are, and he knows R M and Y because he likes to name the letters on my Army shirt. tongue.gif And he's starting to regognize more from watchin Word World and Super Why. I've been thinking about getting him some flash cards just because it's hard for me to sit down and do this stuff with him.

Our Lil' Family replied:
I LOVE these shows! I have several on one dvd and I let him watch them whenever he asks! They are SO educational!

moped replied:
I need to see if I can find Super Why

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I love them too. I've been taping Word World off PBS - I didn't even think they were on DVD yet but I saw them at Babies R Us last week. They didn't have Super Why though... I'm going to start taping that too so I'll have them when we cancel our cable. tongue.gif

Our Lil' Family replied:
My friend DVR'd them and put them on a DVD for me for a trip I made in November! wink.gif

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Those are great shows!! thumb.gif Ethan loves them.

I'm going to splurge and buy him a vsmile or leapfrog for his birthday. tongue.gif

momofone replied: there's alot of good activity books I used to do with my DD .

Boo&BugsMom replied:
What kind of learner is he? Hands on, visual, auditory? He may be more of a hands on learner. Usually kids who tend to "forget" or have a hard time picking things up quickly are more hands on learners. Try doing some more hands on activities with him. Example: glue noodles to form letter N's on paper. It may also help him to learn the letter sounds and names of the letters at the same time. Some kids pick it up easier when they are also taught the sounds they make. It is common for boys to be much slower at picking this up than girls, and it is common for kids to not know their letters at this age yet, BUT it is very important for him to start learning them now that he is 4, IMO. You can guide him and teach him without pushing.

I also suggest getting the LeapFrog videos. Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory are usually big hits. I had a girl who was really struggling with her letter recognition, and as soon as she watched these multiple times, she picked it up instantly. They do a great job at teaching those concepts!

If you want more hands on activity ideas, let me know. biggrin.gif If he is struggling to learn his letters at this point, I would not go the "workbook" route. Kids who tend to learn the concept later do not get enough educationally from them, IMO. Workbooks are good for visual learners, but not hands on learners. It's important to understand HOW he learns.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Ok...yep...he sounds more like the hands on learner. wink.gif

Also, the concepts of writing and letter recognition are totally two separate milestones. Writing usually comes after the letter recognition. Not always, but usually. I would start with the letters in his name. Work on tracing it first and talk about each letter in his name and do activities for those letters. Once he gets the hand of tracing, then move to free hand. Then move to letters that coinside with things he is interested in...T for truck or Thomas, E for eggs, etc. biggrin.gif ALSO....teach him how to write his name "properly"...first capital letter then the rest lowercase. A lot of parents and preschool teachers unfortunately teach their children to write in all caps, but then when they get to K they have to relearn it all over again which sets the child back actually. wink.gif Yes, caps are much easier to write, but when it comes to the name, it's important to teach it to them the correct way to begin with. smile.gif hug.gif

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: I like Jennie's noodle suggestion, I'm going to do that!! And I may splurge and get those Leap Frog dvd's like you all are talking about. thumb.gif Good post!

Boo&BugsMom replied:
You can also do the same thing with M for marshmallows, B for beads or buttons, C for corn (or P for popcorn), S for string, F for feathers...the list goes on! biggrin.gif Just draw an outline of the letters on the paper and glue away! thumb.gif

Oh...they also make these great things called Magic Nuudles www.magicnuudles.com They are awesome to use for hands on stuff, and even crafts. You can either dip them in water, or just lick'em and stick'em. thumb.gif

Kentuckychick replied:
My first question would have to be whether or not the letters at school are in uppercase or lowercase? You said that when you asked he drew the uppercase letter... I know with Connor we didn't think much about the lowercase letters until recently when we realized he has known all of his uppercase letters since he was 2 and only knows a couple lowercase ones.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: They do both uppercase and lowercase. They also do the things you suggested Jennie with the letter and the feathers, noodles, etc. I really dont' understand why he wouldn't know it by now. They do all of these things at school and he attends 3 days a week/5 hrs a day. It's not just playtime at his school. The teacher he got this year is actually one of the more academically minded ones and she pushes them pretty hard. unsure.gif I'm thinking he's just not getting it yet. I know he will eventually catch on. I've been lazy about working with him at home, I'll admit. blush.gif I'm not the best when it comes to that. sleep.gif But, I've been working with him more lately, just reiterating what they are doing at school and making extra effort during the day to go over things with him. I should have been doing this all along. I feel like a failure and his teacher didn't help make me feel better.

I am going to get the LeapFrog DVD's and the Vsmile video game. I think he'd really like that since he seems to be into "video games". thumb.gif

Boo&BugsMom replied: Oh Aimee, please don't beat yourself up and call yourself a failure. hug.gif He will get it. Just keep plugging away and he'll catch on. Some parents wouldn't even be asking the questions you are, and that shows you have his best interests at heart and that you're a proud, concerned, and loving mom. hug.gif

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
Thank you, Jennie. You're so sweet. I appreciate all of your suggestions and encouragement. hug.gif

kimberley replied: please don't worry. i hate to say this, but boys are slower than girls in all my experience babysitting, working in daycares and being a mom to both. eventually it just "clicks" and they are fine. i almost wonder if they do understand it at the same time but don't know how to apply it.

kaleigh knows some letters already because we have the leap frog fridge alphabet thing. she is always putting letters in and pushing it so she picks up the repetitiveness of "this is E, it makes the e sound".

you are doing great, don't question that. ur one of the best moms i know!! hug.gif hug.gif


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