4.5 yr old does not recognize all her letters

[Anonymous]

Preschool Prep videos are great. My son only watched once or twice but they are well made and I think they teach better than the Leapfrog videos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She's 4.5 - calm down. The majority of children don't recognize their letters at this age and MANY parents overstate their children's abilities. If she still isn't recognizing her letters by the end of kindergarten then there's reason to be concerned.

Sincerely,

A pre-school teacher

Not in our school, my son's pre-k teacher said the whole room is reading.

Yeah I have trouble believing that most kids don't recognize letters at this age.

[Anonymous]

My four year old can recognize her letters bug is no where near being able to read. We've tried some sight words -- it's kind of frustrating for both of us and so I've dropped it. She was "behind" according to her pre-K teacher a few months ago (she did not know most of her letters at all), so we did some of the Kumon workbooks at home. They've helped a lot -- we do maybe 15 minutes a day and she really enjoys them.

[Anonymous]

I think the "problem" is that her preschool isn't teaching it to her. If preschool isn't teaching it to her and you aren't teaching it to her, then she's not going to learn it. It's not ingrained - it has to be taught.

Not saying she's behind - I don't think she is - but saying that if you want her to have this skill, you will probably be the one that has to work with her.

My daughter is 5.5 (and starting kindergarten this fall due to the mandatory age requirement) and I don't think she consistently knew all her letters a year ago. She's on track with the other kids we know, though, and your daughter likely is too.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the game focus and having letters in bath and on the fridge in that little song machine thing. Our kid is only two and just from us talking about and playing with the letters as toys she can recognize a lot of them. We're not tracking it or trying to teach her, I was just surprised that keeping them in the bath and talking about them she picked them up. They sell foam letters for just a couple dollars at target and on the web. when they get wet they'll stick to the tile in the tub and can be fun to play with, at least for toddlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First of all, your friends say that their kids can read. I kind of doubt that. Sounding out CVC words like cat isn't reading. Also, your child doesn't actually have a need to be reading when she has another year of preschool. Now if she was starting kindergarten this fall, I would say that maybe it is time for you to work with her. Get that annoying as hell Leap Frog Fridge Phonics thing. Get some of those Leap Frog DVDs from the library. Or maybe Meet the Letters. Don't stress her out about this. Also, get some bathtub letters too.

Here is why i am worried--she could have been starting Kindergarten this Fall if it were not for some arbitrary cut off date and if that were the case, she would not be ready. She's also fairly shy and not assertive so I am very worried about what Kindergarten is going to hold for her. So happy for her October birthday at this point. And we have all those toys--except not the DVDs (I'll check them out) but she's not into them. She likes to trace letters in her workbooks but she's not totally getting it. She's also very aware that she doesn't know them and I dont want her self esteem to plumet because of it so i try not to make it an issue. It's only on DCUM where i freak out

You need to stop focusing on her skill performance and start reading about childhood development. If you don't back off, you're going to be the one to harm her self esteem, and I'm you would never intentionally do that. Children entering Kindergarten are not expected to recognize and write all of the alphabet. If she recognizes some of the letters already, then she's doing great. Celebrate her accomplishments. I suspect that your daughter's preschool is introducing her class to the alphabet and letter recognition, but they're not drilling the kids and giving them worksheets which would be an inappropriate and ineffective strategy for engaging 4-yo children. What your daughter has learned so far has likely been derived from everyday exposure. For example, she's probably learned to recognize and pronounce the first letters of her classmates names because she sees and hears their names every day, and her teachers create interactive games to encourage sound and sight recognition. For example, "M is for our friend Mary. Can anyone think of another word that starts with the sound mm..mm..mm?" Most preschool teachers are amazing at making learning a fun and organic experience.

Kindergarten readiness is determined by a child's interest and readiness in learning, not a specific set of skills. Some of the common expectations for entering Kindergarten are listed in these articles:

http://school.familyeducation.com/kindergarten/school-readiness/38491.html

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/childrens-health/in-depth/kindergarten-readiness/art-20048432?pg=1

http://www.care.com/child-care-8-signs-that-your-child-is-ready-to-start-kindergarten-p1017-q18553871.html

[Anonymous]

11:41 again. Oh, and as PP mentioned, people exaggerate or flat out lie about their children's abilities. As a grown up, you should know this already.

[Anonymous]

Doomed to life of mediocrity. Secretarial school at best, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She's 4.5 - calm down. The majority of children don't recognize their letters at this age and MANY parents overstate their children's abilities. If she still isn't recognizing her letters by the end of kindergarten then there's reason to be concerned.

Sincerely,

A pre-school teacher

Not in our school, my son's pre-k teacher said the whole room is reading.

Yeah I have trouble believing that most kids don't recognize letters at this age.

I find it very hard to beleive that an entire pre-k class is already reading. My son is 4.5 and I only know a handful of kids who can already read.

At the same time I also find it hard to believe the pre- k teacher who says the majority of kids don't recognize their letters at this age.

[Anonymous]

Read aloud to her every day.

Play games about the letters like a letter hunt in the grocery store or make a B lunch - blueberries and bagels with butter. During the B lunch think of all the B words you both know.

Play board games with letters like Dr. Seuss ABC Game. See if you can paint the whole alphabet or make her name out of play-doh.

Make it fun.

[Anonymous]

The Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD was loved by all my kids and seemed to help them make the connection with letters.

What exactly does your preschool do if they aren't teaching the alphabet? I thought all preschools did that in some way or the other, even if it isn't through worksheets.

As PPs mentioned, you should relax. The first part of K is about teaching the alphabet, so your DD won't be behind (even assuming she doesn't learn the alphabet over the next year).

[Anonymous]

My DD is in K now, and now almost the end of the school year, DD still gets some letters backwards when DD writes. DD can read very well, but the writing is not there.

DD has an August bday. I sent DD to K 1.5 weeks after DD turned 5.

A couple of months before DD turned 5, DD didn't read, maybe recognized a few words, but that was it. My DS started reading at 3.5 very well. But I still didn't stress about DD because I KNOW most entering K cannot read that well. After a few months of K, DD was reading like crazy. So, don't worry. It's amazing how quickly kids learn things when the time is right.

Both kids LOVED Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book! Very cute and silly rhyming words for each letter. We made it like a song, and both could "sing" the song. I think it helped them learned the alphabet. My DH and I can still quote the book after several years. LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She's 4.5 - calm down. The majority of children don't recognize their letters at this age and MANY parents overstate their children's abilities. If she still isn't recognizing her letters by the end of kindergarten then there's reason to be concerned.

Sincerely,

A pre-school teacher

Not in our school, my son's pre-k teacher said the whole room is reading.

Yeah I have trouble believing that most kids don't recognize letters at this age.

I find it very hard to beleive that an entire pre-k class is already reading. My son is 4.5 and I only know a handful of kids who can already read.

At the same time I also find it hard to believe the pre- k teacher who says the majority of kids don't recognize their letters at this age.

I am the PP who wrote that. The teacher admits that this class is unusually advanced. She did not think the next class (the current 3s) will be able to do as much as this current class did as they look noticeably less mature.

Your son is 4.5 and I assume in the 3's class. A lot of the pre-k kids are 5 and older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She's 4.5 - calm down. The majority of children don't recognize their letters at this age and MANY parents overstate their children's abilities. If she still isn't recognizing her letters by the end of kindergarten then there's reason to be concerned.

Sincerely,

A pre-school teacher

Not in our school, my son's pre-k teacher said the whole room is reading.

Yeah I have trouble believing that most kids don't recognize letters at this age.

I find it very hard to beleive that an entire pre-k class is already reading. My son is 4.5 and I only know a handful of kids who can already read.

At the same time I also find it hard to believe the pre- k teacher who says the majority of kids don't recognize their letters at this age.

I'm the "I have trouble believing" poster. To clarify, I do not think most 4.5 year olds are reading but I do think most recognize all their letters.

[Anonymous]

At that age some kids are reading chapter books and others don't recognize their own name. They all catch up eventually.

P.S. I read before three and my toddler thinks all letters are "O". Not worried about it.