4 year old cannot recognize any letter

[Anonymous]

DC is exposed to English only since born, and he cannot recognize any letter at 4 year old. We noticed that problem long time ago, but he still cannot pick it up after daily exposures and practices. he goes to daycare since he was 2 year old, and they teach letters every single day.

There is no hearing or vision problem, and he definitely does not seem to have low IQ. We have tried many things, youtube, CD, books, coloring paper, toys and etc. We have a white board at home with all letters on them. He can sing abc songs, but he just cannot recognize any letter or any letter sounds.

[Anonymous]

Seems unusual. Is his pediatrician concerned?

Our kid was recognizing letters (A, B, C, a handful of others) before age 2.

[Anonymous]

I'd have him tested for dyslexia. Immediately. It's entirely possible he is dyslexic and the sooner you know the sooner you can start remediating, which will be a many-year thing.

not recognizing letters is a huge red flag when he's seen them and been ezposed for years. Most 4 year olds start recognizing letters, at least to be able to sort like ones together, even if they don't know the exact name of them.

Can he regognize his name vs his friends' names? I mean:

When 6 names are listed out can he point out his name? We used to have portfolios all lined up with kids' names printed on them and kids could find their book - that means they recognized what their name looks like, even if they couldn't tell you each letter (The name Nick looks different than Melissa, just like a chair looks different from a bed) They were doing this by 3 years old

And around then, or by 4 years old, many kids could pick out some names accurately, even if they weren't their names. So a child might show you Nick and Nathan when asked to show you Nathan (likely both started with an N)

I'd really, really, push to have testing done for dyslexia now.

I'd also have a specialist do an eye exam looking for tracking - he might have an eye tracking issue that wouldn't get picked up by a doctor because he "CAN" see, just not track along a page correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd have him tested for dyslexia. Immediately. It's entirely possible he is dyslexic and the sooner you know the sooner you can start remediating, which will be a many-year thing.

not recognizing letters is a huge red flag when he's seen them and been ezposed for years. Most 4 year olds start recognizing letters, at least to be able to sort like ones together, even if they don't know the exact name of them.

Can he regognize his name vs his friends' names? I mean:

When 6 names are listed out can he point out his name? We used to have portfolios all lined up with kids' names printed on them and kids could find their book - that means they recognized what their name looks like, even if they couldn't tell you each letter (The name Nick looks different than Melissa, just like a chair looks different from a bed) They were doing this by 3 years old

And around then, or by 4 years old, many kids could pick out some names accurately, even if they weren't their names. So a child might show you Nick and Nathan when asked to show you Nathan (likely both started with an N)

I'd really, really, push to have testing done for dyslexia now.

I'd also have a specialist do an eye exam looking for tracking - he might have an eye tracking issue that wouldn't get picked up by a doctor because he "CAN" see, just not track along a page correctly.

Not the op but what exactly is testing for dyslexia, as in where would you even go? My son is also 4, almost 5 and he can only really recognize the letters in his name. He can write them with a bit of nudging (but can mostly do it on his own from memory). That being said we don't push it at all and he goes to a verrry reggio emilia school that doesn't push letter of the day or letters that much, though starting more exposure this year. We've started doing more at home for this reason but nothing like op describes really. ANyway husband has dyslexia so it's always been on my radar that it could be an issue for my kid but didn't think I could test for it this early really.

[Anonymous]

Ah, I love these reading panic threads. I didn’t learn to read until I was 7 or 8 (second grade). According to my mother, I wasn’t interested and they didn’t push it. Fast forward 10 years, got perfect scores on the reading and writing sections of the SAT with no prep. Always in advanced reading classes. Early literacy just doesn’t matter. Other countries don’t stress about this the way we do.

[Anonymous]

I agree- he needs a dyslexia evaluation which you would start with your pediatrician for.

Can he rhyme if you prompt him like "car, bar, far, can you think of another rhyming word?"

Can he memorize rote sequences such as days of the week or the alphabet?

These are not definitive symptoms of dyslexia, but do have correlation especially in the younger kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ah, I love these reading panic threads. I didn’t learn to read until I was 7 or 8 (second grade). According to my mother, I wasn’t interested and they didn’t push it. Fast forward 10 years, got perfect scores on the reading and writing sections of the SAT with no prep. Always in advanced reading classes. Early literacy just doesn’t matter. Other countries don’t stress about this the way we do.

Other countries also did use the non working whole word reading curriculum which set back a many grades of kids and passed them on as reading when they couldn't actually read by 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ah, I love these reading panic threads. I didn’t learn to read until I was 7 or 8 (second grade). According to my mother, I wasn’t interested and they didn’t push it. Fast forward 10 years, got perfect scores on the reading and writing sections of the SAT with no prep. Always in advanced reading classes. Early literacy just doesn’t matter. Other countries don’t stress about this the way we do.

OP is not concerned that their child cannot read. They are concerned that the child cannot recognize letters after a couple of years of frequent exposure. Most 4 year olds with exposure to letters can recognize some by that age. Maybe they are just not interested, or maybe they are experiencing a challenge that can be addressed early. While it is stressful as a parent to worry about these issues, early intervention is better in the long term.

[Anonymous]

Schedule an appointment with a developmental pediatrician for sure. In the meantime, other than exposure, are you doing meaningful daily practice for learning and retention? If not, I would get on that. Flash cards, pointing to letters on signs, lots of reading, playing together with alphabet magnets, and I’d download a learning app. I like Endless Alphabet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ah, I love these reading panic threads. I didn’t learn to read until I was 7 or 8 (second grade). According to my mother, I wasn’t interested and they didn’t push it. Fast forward 10 years, got perfect scores on the reading and writing sections of the SAT with no prep. Always in advanced reading classes. Early literacy just doesn’t matter. Other countries don’t stress about this the way we do.

OP is not concerned that their child cannot read. They are concerned that the child cannot recognize letters after a couple of years of frequent exposure. Most 4 year olds with exposure to letters can recognize some by that age. Maybe they are just not interested, or maybe they are experiencing a challenge that can be addressed early. While it is stressful as a parent to worry about these issues, early intervention is better in the long term.

You know that children learn the sounds before they learn the letters, right? This is basic pedagogy - ask your child's PreK teacher. If they don't know this, then there is your issue.

[Anonymous]

He’s stil very young but I would be proactive and get it checked out.

[Anonymous]

Can they recognize colors and shapes? Can they follow 2/3!
step directions?

[Anonymous]

Is this a bilingual household?

[Anonymous]

Is anyone worried about this? Have you had their vision checked?

[Anonymous]

I think it’s reasonable to be concerned but also wouldn’t freak out. I’d talk to his preschool teacher first and ask her what she thinks or if she has concerned. I’d also take him to the pediatrician and get vision and hearing checked. They will do this at the 5 year check up but I would not wait because it’s a bit of a red flag.

Also, what kind of school is he at. Some schools emphasize acquisition of letters and numbers more in their PK curriculum than others. My kid did a Reggio Emilia program but it was attached to an elementary and therefore did more kindergarten readiness than many RE programs. They didn’t get into phonics but incorporated lots of counting and letter and sound recognition into games, stories, and routines. In a setting like that, I’d be worried that limited letter recognition was a sign of the child not being able to hear what was going on, or having trouble tracking it.

But I know some montessori programs that simply don’t do K readiness. They either assume parents will take it on, or they expect the child to continue in Montessori which has a different approach for reading and math than traditional schools.

So a key question is: how much exposure is he getting to letters and letter sounds?