Preschooler with no interest in letters -- problem?

[Anonymous]

My four, nearly five year old has no interest in learning the alphabet. He used to write the first letter of his name, but he's stopped doing even that. His preschool teacher told me she was worried that he no longer writes any letters. She said at the very least he has to write his name for kindergarten.

DC is very aware of what's going on around him, interested in everything, notices anything new or different, has a great sense of direction, amazing memory, can figure out all sorts of fairly sophisticated puzzles and games that are meant for kids older than he (as long as they don't require reading). He's also very athletic, has great manual dexterity (puts together tiny legos into all sorts of imaginative structures and vehicles). He's quite social and has lots of friends.

I don't think he has any sort of learning problem and I don't want to push him, lest I turn him off of learning. I think he'll write when he's ready, as my older child did. But it is nagging at me that his teacher is worried about this, and I fear I've failed him for not teaching him to read when he was two and very very interested in books.

Has anyone faced this situation? Do you think it will simply resolve itself, or must I intervene? My older child knew all the letters and letter sounds at the beginning of kindergarten, most likely because I spent time reading alphabet books and doing alphabet puzzles with him. My younger child has no interest in alphabet books or alphabet puzzles. He likes action and "big boy" things like his older brother. I think pushing early reading on kids who aren't interested or ready can stifle their imaginations, but I don't want his teachers to think he's behind in kindergarten simply because of this.

[Anonymous]

Will he be going to a public K class next year? If so, check online w/ the county's website which often lists what they expect out of kids coming into K. I have a sense that they don't expect them to know their letters but maybe be able to write their name. If you can't find out this info, call your local school and ask. I wouldn't worry too much about writing the letters (except for his name since he will be writing that a lot) but ask if he needs to be able to recognize them (uppercase and lowercase, the sounds they make, etc). My son learned them very quickly just from watching the Leap Frog Letters DVD and having them on the fridge. Maybe enlist your older child to help. Maybe he can think of some cool ways of introducing letters to him. We just checked an alphabet book out of the library called Nascar ABCs or something like that. My son loves me to read it to him b/c it is all about cars. Maybe get him a Leapster as I have heard they have some learning games.

[Anonymous]

Nope. Not a problem. If you force it, you will make your kid hate reading.

[Anonymous]

Kindergarten is the great equalizer. Kids come into K with such a wide variety of skills. Some have been reading for a year; some have never seen a written alphabet. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'd continue to read to him daily, about 15 minutes a day if he'll sit still, so that he continues to link seeing words on a page with a fun story. But other than that, I wouldn't push it either.

[zumbamama]

One time I labeled everything in the house. In big fat letters, I typed SINK, BED, CHAIR, DOOR, PIANO and taped it to all those objects. It helped DS gain an interest and it stuck. I don't know if it would work on every kid, but it's a way to teach without any pressure.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the supportive replies. I worry because my older child wasn't reading by first grade, and his (really stupid) first grade teacher thought he was slow and treated him that way. As a result he hated school. We switched schools, he had a wonderful teacher who recognized that he's very bright, he started reading within weeks and was two grades ahead by the end of first grade. I don't want my younger DS to be treated as though he's slow for the same reason my older child was.