LEARNING LETTER RECOGNITION, WE NEED HELP!

[jendalton]

my 6 year old boy started kindergarden this year and the teacher sent the mid-marking period report home 2 days ago and said he is not meeting expectations! needless to say i was stunned seeing as how we started him at 6 and not 5 to make sure he had 1 more year of maturity under his belt!

he is having a problem with abc letter recognition so we've been working with him a little more and he knows about 7-9 letters. any ideas for fun ways for him to remember his letters?

the kid can take apart an engine and put back togther, explain why oxygen feeds fire and tell you the engineering explaination for why things work the way they do but apparently is not interested in bookwork!

thanks!

[DansMom]

My mom used to play the 'go fish' with alphabet cards game with us, and she said it was very effective (you mentioned this in your other post). Daniel really got interested in the alphabet through the Brainy Baby ABC video, but I'm thinking your son may be of an age where the content would seem infantile to him.

At his age, games are a good way to increase interest, and interest is half the battle. Also, he might like trying to type---finding the letters on the keyboard in order to type a word and seeing it on the screen. Fisherprice.com has some games on their website that might work for typing letters, and the Sesame Street site has some too.

If there is a literacy volunteer agency in your area, you might look into getting a tutor or getting ideas/materials from them. But he's just starting out---I would wait to see how the rest of the year goes. It's possible that just getting a little more focus on the alphabet at home will do the trick. Kids have a way of catching up when their interest gets engaged---and some kids perform best when they have a limited, focused curriculum.

Welcome to the board! I hope you will keep us posted as the year goes on.

[amynicole21]

This may be totally off base, but have you had his eyes checked? My boss's 6yo little boy just went to the eye doctor and couldn't even see the big E on the chart with one of his eyes.

Other than that, we got my daughter those foam bath letters from Toys R Us. She is only 2, but we play with them every night and I tell her a word that starts with that letter. She's able to remember about 75% of the letters at this point, and points them out on signs or in books sometimes.

I would also ask the school if there is someone that could do a little one-on-one work with him there. It may just be that he needs to have a bit more attention and focus in order to learn.

Good luck!

[TANNER'S MOM]

My child is in first grade now, and we did the letter thing last year. And we played lots of games. And I printed worksheet of the internet , things he could color. Plus we had a reward system, for every new letter he learned he got to pick something..like a trip to the libary...longer play time outside. I put all these inexpensive things in a bowl and when he learned a new letter, he got to draw something out. It may have been you get to pick what's for supper tomorrow night but he loved it. It really worked for us.

[kit_kats_mom]

You can also try the "keyboard elmo" game on http://www.sesamestreet.com if he likes computer games. It may be a little immature for him but K's learning her letters pretty well and she loves that game.

[MommyToAshley]

It sounds like your son is very bright, just not interested in learning the names of letters. All kids are different and have different interest. But, I think the key is to making learning his letters fun and not seem like work. Does he like books and puzzles? If so, maybe you could pick up some that deal with letters.

I was going to suggest the online game on Elmo's World too.
My daughter loves this game:
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet...ntentId=9495524
She has learned to name all of her letters, probably from this game, books and toys that deal with letters.
Here's a link to a whole list of games that might help:

http://www.parentingclub.com/entertainment/kids.php

We also do the sponge letters in the bathtub.

There's a lot of rave about the LeapFrog Fridge Magnetic Phonics Set You might check this toy out.

We just recently launched a new website that might give you some other ideas as well:
http://www.fun-educational-toys.com

I would try a variety of ideas and just expose him to letters during natural play and interaction.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted!

[jcc64]

My ongoing criticism with traditional educational methods is that only 1 or 2 types of intelligences are rewarded, particularly in the early years. And very often it is boys that don't fit the mold of what is considered academically successful. It sounds like your son is highly intelligent, maybe even bored in school, and it sounds like the teacher isn't making much of an effort to meet him halfway. Maybe he's more of a tactile learner (aka "hands-on"), but whatever the case it's obvious whatever method she's employing isn't working for him. It's incumbent on you to find the method that works best for him, and you've already received a lot of good suggestions here.

[raysnroof]

May I recommend a full reading program? If you are not Christian, you can skip the rest of the post. The bible-based program we have used on all of our very different children is called 1-2-3READ! It was written by Rebecca Avery, a public school teacher and a home school mom. It starts with reading readiness, which your son is beyond, but takes a child clear to a second grade reading level. It is a multi-sensory approach so it will not only meet the needs of your obviously tactile son, but it will encourage him in the learning styles he is not as good at. This type of teaching is also known to be the most effective because it uses all the modalities at once. Don't you think he would have fun making a hand puppet of a camel, glueing the letter "c" to it, and singing a song about it instead of just pointing to an abstract form we give some useless name to? (You have to think from this kids' point of veiw.) Also, this program goes from teaching both the letter name and its sound to teaching phonics rules in song. The child will be able to read the bible when he is finished with this program. If you don't mind that focus, this may be the answer for all of you. It isn't hundreds of dollars, either! You can purchase it through the Alpha Omega publishing company or get it cheaper from www.rainbowresource.com Even my dyslexic son learned to read with this program. Its lots of fun for the child.

Sharon in KS

[atlantamomof2]

My daughter, Maggie is 4 1/2 and she loves playing BINGO. It's a great way to reinforce letter rocognition as well as letter sounds. There are many different versions of the game out there. When you pick a letter card have your child say the name of the letter or if it's your turn you say it. One way to keep from frustrating him might be to say the letter for him if he hesitates at all and just have him repeat it. This works well with Maggie when we're doing sight word flash cards (we're Home Schooling). I hold up a card and if she doesn't say it right away I say it and use it in a sentence. She has actually just begun making up her own sentences using the word too. We do this in the car when we're out and about. Anyway, back to the BINGO game...then after you say the letter he will have to find it on his card and put a circle on it and if you get four in a row you get to yell "Bingo!!" That's Maggie's favorite part, of course. I hope this helps. Games truly are a wonderful teaching tool. You could also, while in the car, look at signs and point out letters to him and name them. A good one is using signs and logos of things he likes, like places to eat and stores. You could play a game with him to see how many "M"s, etc. he can spot while riding in the car. I hope you have luck with the many ideas people have posted!

Valerie, Maggie(04-10-00), Joshua(12-24-03)

[honehe]

Hi,

Small children will learn to write pretty much on thei own if their left to it.

They start of by scribbling
The begin to destinguish scribble pictures and scribble writing
They begin to add shapes that are almost letters
The add letters to pictures - often in no real order
They begin to tell you what the letters say
The begin to write small words etc.

Your child will probably catch up easily. To help him you could try drawing letters in sand, or writing with him with big marker pens - these are easier to hold and write with. You could also get him to write with different coloured pens - this uses both sides of the brain and speed up learning.

[JAYMESMOM]

The makers of Leap Frog made a video/DVD that goes thru the whole alphabet at the letter factory and with the sounds they make. My friend uses it with her daughter and it has really helped.

[mammag]

I really liked Phonics Jr. because it came with an alphabet Bingo which you could make yourself. You start out saying the letter and showing the card. Have them say the letter as they look for it on their card. Once they are getting good at that, let them start trying it w/out seeing the card. The next progression is just saying the sound the letter makes and they look for the letter that makes that sound. This helped Cade in reading a lot!

[ferocity302]

for some great websites where you can print out fun games and crafts to help him along here are a few:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html Crafts and worksheet pages

http://www.fastq.com/~jbpratt/education/links/free.html lists of resources on web

I hope this helps!

[LovinMyGirls]

Take some index cards and a white crayon..write the letters of the alphabet (one per card) both upper and lowercase and hide some around your house. Have your child "hunt" for them..have him bring them back-let him use water color paint to paint over the card and expose the letter..then work on what letter it is and some words that start with that letter.

[My3LilMonkeys]

Well this might be a little too simplified for him because I do it with my 2 year old but what about the alphabet magnets that you put on your refridgerator? We (well me at this point) draw a cat and hang it on the fridge using the C, hang a picture of my daughter Brooke on the fridge using the B, etc.

ETA: Oops I just noticed how old this was!

This post has been edited by brookeandmadisonsmom on Feb 19 2006, 08:15 AM

[blue72]

If he likes books, try the ABC book by Dr. Suess.