ABC Help

Hi! Target has some great toys that are only 10-15 dollars. One looks like a laptop, and the other just a little carrying case. They have phonics. My 2 yr old is already starting to say letters!

Hi T....Hooked on Phonics has helped my son tremendously...they have different packets you can buy for exactly what you need. I know they can be pricy but their prices have gone down tremendously...Take a peek!

I recommend you buy some modelling clay and create the alphabet out of clay (let her make the letters using the flash cards as her guide). You can also have her 'draw' the letters in sand (put a small amount of sand in a plastic shoe/storage box and use a plastic knife or spoon to draw with). You could also put some shaving cream in a container and let her 'draw' in that with her fingers. You can also play games in your day-to-day activities - making dinner, driving down the road, reading books, etc. - pick one letter (start with A if you want!) and make a game of picking out all objects that start with that letter. Oh, you could also give her a highlighter and a magazine or newspaper and ask her to highlight the letters ("find all the A's" or "find all the T's"). Does she have refrigerator magnets?

Okay, that's all I've got for now. Don't worry too much and don't pressure her - it's not like she's going to head off to college still not recognizing her letters, right? She'll get it in her own time, just keep it fun!

Have you had her vision checked? If she can verbally recognize the letters, but not visually, it can be a vision issue. My son has a similar problem and we found out that he has a processing problem. He also has some other memory issues. Sometimes you need to go to a specialist to get some issues diagnosed. My regular eye doctor did not do the in- depth testing that the opthomoligist did. My son is almost 8 and still has some visual recognition issues. (We have not been able to get the eye therapy he needs becuase our insurance does not cover it and it is very expensive. Once we get my son's IEP written he should get some help through an occupational therapist.)

try making it into a song.. if NOTHING works, or she can't "name" other objects, all kids learn differently, so don't get to stressed about it.
M.

Hi! Try Fridge phonics alphabet from Leapfrog. My daughter knows her alphabet when she turn one year and a half and now she is two(January 8) she on the lower case alphabet. I hope this help her.
God Bless.

Chi

My 5 year old was also having trouble with her ABC. When we began she only knew 3 letters, now, 2 weeks later, she knows 16. We sat down every night and went over the letters. We used workbooks, flashcards, and magnetic letters. We also used www. sesameworkshop.com. This has many great games that helps teach them the ABC. There is one called keyboard-o-rama. Elmo does a fun little thing while your child pushes the keys on the keyboard.
Good luck.

T.,
I have to tell you that difficulty naming letters from the alphabet at this point may be an early indication of a future reading disability. It doesn't mean she will have one 100%, so dont get alarmed, but you need to be aware of that. There is a great website called ReadingRockets.com, that has a lot of information about reading difficulties and how to best help your child. Remember, she will probably be going through a Kindergarten readiness screening soon, and this way you might just be one step ahead. I'm including a link from the site for a quick and easy screening you can do with your daughter, which actually says its intended for 4 year olds, but this way, you will know if she really is having some difficulty, and there are plenty of research based recommendations to help. And dont let anyone tell you "leave her alone, she'll get there on her own", because the faster you address this, the easier you will make things for her going forward. Here's the link and good luck:

http://www.readingrockets.org/families/recognizesigns/get...

I have a catapiller made by leapfrog that has 4 settings on it. It has a foot for every letter of the alphabet with the letter written on it. In the first setting, when you press a foot, it will say the letter. the second setting says the sound. The third and fourth are probably young for your daughter, as they say the color and play music, but my 11 month old is starting to be able to pick out a few letters on the catapiller. Maybe this would help her.

T.,
I seriously wouldn't worry about it to much. All kids learn at their own pace. We never thought my oldest would learn his letters or how to read. It seemed to all just click for him one day, and he reads everything in sight. Just have a little patience, she'll get it.

Is your daughter in Kindergarten or preschool? My 6 year old has had the same problem but it is getting better. I worked with her using flash cards, books and everything and she didn't want/wouldn't try to learn them at home. Some days she did great, other days she didn't do so well. When she started Kindergarten they have a song the kids sing and that has really helped her with the letter sounds, writing the letters and recognizing the letters. If you want the song I can see if I can find it and sent it to you.

Hi T.,
I had the same problem with my son, and ended up having him repeat Grade K over it- yes he still won't quit being mad about it and he is 13!

I don't know if they still sell it, but I ended up ordering Hooked on Phonics and it was just like magic- he got up to speed quickly and had fun doing it.

The audio CD's were a waste of time (he got very bored) but the workbooks and computer games were a big success. I know you can find it on ebay, and I wish I still had mine because I'd give it to you; but I gave it to my husband's cousin who has the same problem with his daughter.

Good luck!

Jen B

Hi T.!
I taught 5 year olds before having my son, so hopefully this helps. Some children are tactile learners, as opposed to visual. An activity that I used to offer in my classroom was either a small box of sand or a large ziploc bag full of colored hair gel. Your daughter can then trace the letters into the sand or gel. Being able to feel the shape of the letter while saying the name and sound may be a big help to her. I found this activity to be very successful, fun, and inexpensive. Best of Luck!

Hi T., I am a preschool teacher of 15 years and have taught k4 and k5. Repetion is the only good way to teach. I teach the ABEKA curriculmn.One of the ways we teach is association. Have an A day. everything starts with A. stories, songs,snack,etc. Give her stars for finding that letter in books,on signs,in magazines. With so many stars are earned, a special treat or trip.Preferably with that letter, such as make an apple pie, eat applesaucse, pick apples, get the picture.If she is writing as you say have her write that letter several times.Mix up the letters,because they learn by memorizing in order, but not what they are. If she is still having confusion, you might want her tested just in case, remember they get d and b, e and i confused at this age anyway.
Good Luck,
J. W.

I have a 4 yr old daughter and I made her an abc book with pictures and the letters. She goes over the book every day and she is learning the letters- the words and pictures help her to remember what the letter is. Stay with it and your little girl will remember the letters- it gets fustrating but it does take time.

What has always worked for us is,we go and buy index cards,write the Letter on the cards.From A to Z.Then in your dinning room(which is were we did it)tape like 3-5 cards on the wall.During dinner,homework time.Whenever,asked her which ia what,i never did them in order,like 1 week we would do c,t,m.Then we left them make a check mark,when they got 3 check marks that card came off the wall and we replaced it with a new one.All my kids loved doing it this way.Plus i dont think using flash cards in that way helped my kids,some kids learn alittle slower therefor try this way.Alot of a 5yr old to learn all at once,so take little steps.Hope this gives you a good idea!Best of Luck with it!J.

We have another Leap Frog toy. It is a small battery powered magnetic box that goes on your refrigerator and it comes with a set of 26 upper-case letter magnets. In addition to singing the abc's when a music note on the front is pushed, it has a computer chip in it that recognizes which letter the child is putting on it and then sings a song about that letter... "The A says aa the A says aa Every letter makes a sound The A says aa." I picked it up two years ago for Christmas (it was one of the deals at Toys R Us) and my son learned all of the letters within a few months with the exception of "S" which for some reason we had to work on for awhile. Toys R Us is still carrying it in their stores. Good luck!
H.

Try this website out http://www.starfall.com/ my son likes the website and knows the alphabet. Hope it helps

I have a 4 year old son who is doing the same thing. It is very frustrating. We actually bought the leap frog magnets that has the letter and you put it on a little platform that will sing a song telling the child what the letter is and what sound it makes. That has been the biggest improvement. If we put the magnets in order my son "knows" what the letter is only because he knows the alphabet song. We try to rearrange 4 letters a week so that he can learn in small increments and then review the previous week. We are only on week 3 right now, but it is getting better. Good luck.

Starfall.com is a great website for teaching the alphabet. It's one of the best i have found. Also, uptoten.com has great games, not sure there are any ABC ones though. I was referred to these by my uncle, a kindergarten teacher and my husband, a librarian. so they are legitimate learning tools.

T., I know you closed this request but I wanted to give you something quick, different and easy. Every house with kids has a letters puzzle or the alphabet somewhere. And every kid by 5 knows the alphabet song (the original). So when my son had trouble with a letter, I'd let him figure it out himself by having him get the alphabet puzzle and start singing the song. He'd point to each letter as he sang and could find the one he needed every time and on his own. He really enjoyed being able to answer his own question. After a while, he began to recognize the letters better and faster, as though doing his own "research" made him remember it better than being told or shown by me. He was proud. And I think it's so important to teach kids early how to begin finding solutions to their own problems.

What my helped my brother-in-law (he's 7) is he would write them in the sand and make the letter sound. The texture on his hands helped him remember. Also reading to him a lot. He now LOVES to read. His favorites are the Magic treehouse series. Good luck.