Letter and Number Recognition - Need What Works Best

[Anonymous]

OP here. At first I too felt that it was weird that the preschool was 'expecting' the 3 year olds to identify all the letters and the numbers 1-10 by the end of K3. I'd decided to just continue reading to my daughter, occasionally doing flashcards/videos and let natural learning take its course. Then, the progress reports and teacher conferences came and I started to feel pressured to do more. Thanks to the parents who offered suggestions and thanks also to those of you who are expressing some concern about these expectations. This lets me know that I am not the only one who initially thought this was a little weird and little much in terms of developmental expectation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It worries me that a parent of any preschooler feels the need to tutor him. That is what is meant by "kill and drill". Most children do learn letters and numbers through natural exposure (books, signs, print in the environment like newspapers and food labels) and that is great. The problem with sitting and drilling is that the children can absorb and repeat anything but without context there is no real retention. Children learn best in preschool through investigation and play that is facilitated by a caring adult. Please consider this rather than taking a chance at squashing your child's love of learning by drilling.

OP didn't ask what the best boot camp was to enroll her child. She asked "Any tips for helping her out?" Please answer that question instead of making up an imaginary new persona.

[Anonymous]

11:01-The point here is that OP should not need tips for doing something that is not developmentally appropriate. Please read the great research - based book, "Einstein Never Used Flashcards".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:01-The point here is that OP should not need tips for doing something that is not developmentally appropriate. Please read the great research - based book, "Einstein Never Used Flashcards".

It is not developmentally appropriate to read books to a 3.5 year old? Or to have dinner time conversation with a 3.5 year old? Or to allow a 3.5 year old to use a Melissa & Doug Alphabet Puzzle? What about letting the child manipulate foam letters while taking a bath? All of these are things that we could suggest to OP rather than pasting a canned rant about "kill and drill" any time someone on the board asks how best to support their child.

And I have in fact read Einstein Never Used Flashcards, which includes a list of 40 exercises that support language and math literacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11:01-The point here is that OP should not need tips for doing something that is not developmentally appropriate. Please read the great research - based book, "Einstein Never Used Flashcards".

It is not developmentally appropriate to read books to a 3.5 year old? Or to have dinner time conversation with a 3.5 year old? Or to allow a 3.5 year old to use a Melissa & Doug Alphabet Puzzle? What about letting the child manipulate foam letters while taking a bath? All of these are things that we could suggest to OP rather than pasting a canned rant about "kill and drill" any time someone on the board asks how best to support their child.

And I have in fact read Einstein Never Used Flashcards, which includes a list of 40 exercises that support language and math literacy.

OP here. I have not read Einstein Never Used Flashcards, but will now. Definitely interested in taking a look at the 40 exercises to support language and math literacy.

[Anonymous]

I haven't pushed letters or numbers on my son (now almost 3.5 yrs old) but he did have a strong interest in numbers and counting last year so he learned to count to 20 by walking/counting steps and counting stuff, as well as various 1-10 count books.

He also was interested in letters because someone gave him one of those foam letter/number puzzles that we put on the floor of his room. He would ask me what the letters were and I'd tell him words that started with those letters. He knew most of the alphabet by the time he turned 3 (and a few words that started with those letters) by playing with his foam letters

Also, I bought some letter magnets for the fridge that he loves to play with and now he asks me to spell words with him on the fridge. he can spell and read some 3-letter words now. Again, I never pushed it but my son loves to be read to so he naturally gravitated to learning letters and numbers.

The daycare has a "letter of the week" for art projects making stuff that starts with those letters. That is a fun way to teach your child!

[Anonymous]

Flash cards from a huge set sold at Costco

This are great and they slide open to show animals and other objects, so multi-purpose....

[Anonymous]

This preschool sounds terrible.

[Anonymous]

pre-k teacher here who's done a lot of reading on this subject. there are lots of ways to teach letter recognition that aren't developmentally inappropriate. still, this expectation that three year olds should be identifying letters in isolation _is_ inappropriate. what's waaaaay more important at this stage is that children are interested in reading, playing, interacting. asking all the time "what letter is this?" makes reading really boring and/or anxiety-provoking -- both things we want to avoid if we want to create curious learners.

with my students now and with my future child (due this fall), i do/will do meaningful activities involving names and meaningful print. like, "there's a letter E just like in your name!" write names on everything (which you should be doing anyways if your child is going to daycare or school!) and purposely point them out frequently. avoid the temptation to test all the time by asking "what letter is this?"

[Anonymous]

No doubt the "school" in question is a daycare. You would be surprised to learn some of the developmentally inappropriate stuff that goes on in some of those places. Even daycares like Bright Horizons have some crazy practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No doubt the "school" in question is a daycare. You would be surprised to learn some of the developmentally inappropriate stuff that goes on in some of those places. Even daycares like Bright Horizons have some crazy practices.

You can not be serious. We're not talking about a spelling bee in which kids who don't know an r from an l get a loser sticker put on their forehead and paraded down the hallway. After two years of letter & number exposure, the school would like to note which students are starting to recognize them. You make it sound like they're actually harming the kids. This is a non-issue. Doing something ineffective is not the same as doing something bad. Relax.

[Anonymous]

This is crazy. So developmentally inappropriate for 3yos.

[Anonymous]

12:05- it appears that you are purposely misconstruing my points regarding drilling. There are certainly many ways to introduce letters and numbers to young children. As another poster pointed out, it is the testing that is stressful and not appropriate at this age. Any school that is doing this is not using developmentally appropriate practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No doubt the "school" in question is a daycare. You would be surprised to learn some of the developmentally inappropriate stuff that goes on in some of those places. Even daycares like Bright Horizons have some crazy practices.

You can not be serious. We're not talking about a spelling bee in which kids who don't know an r from an l get a loser sticker put on their forehead and paraded down the hallway. After two years of letter & number exposure, the school would like to note which students are starting to recognize them. You make it sound like they're actually harming the kids. This is a non-issue. Doing something ineffective is not the same as doing something bad. Relax.

Of course I'm serious. I wouldn't say it is I wasn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12:05- it appears that you are purposely misconstruing my points regarding drilling. There are certainly many ways to introduce letters and numbers to young children. As another poster pointed out, it is the testing that is stressful and not appropriate at this age. Any school that is doing this is not using developmentally appropriate practice.

Nobody was suggesting drilling. And nobody is suggesting testing. You have a thing that you like to say, so you are convincing yourself it is relevant here. It is not.