Early Reading

I have a 6 year old who can read simple words very good and can sound things out. I have a five year old who knows her letters, and what sounds some make such as "B, says Ba, like baby and bird", and can recognize the words, "the, it, not, no, dear, etc". My four year old has been very stubborn about learning letters and only recognizes a few letters. From what you said I would say your daughter is ahead of the game. Many kids enter kindergarten and do not know any letter or how to spell their name. Don't worry. Read to her and show her things that have start with the same letter such as "baby, bird, barn, etc" and make creative ways to teach her such as making "books" where you can print off pictures of things with the same letter and she can color them and staple them together then she will have a book for each letter and lots of fun time making them. They learn more from play than they do sit down curriculum at this age....just make play educational. You are doing great! C.

1 mom found this helpful

I agree with the others...each child develops at their own pace. I am a mother to three very differnt learners. I have a 15 year old son who struggled for so many years , with me constantly ina state of worry and over eager mom will help syndrome. I eased up last year and guess what??? This year 1st quarter grades, my son with very poor graded (even failing in some classes) was on the B honor roll!!! I also have a 4 year old daughter, that has been writting her first and last name since she was 3, recognizes most of the alphabet, can say all of the alphabet, counts to 10 easily in both english and spanish. She too is in a preschool; a good one that has continued to build her skills. She loves to be read to and to "read" to her dollies. One of her favorite activities is to use the computer to visit sites like www.sproutonline.com or www.starfall.com . Both of these sites have great tools for learning to read. I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone with a child! Even the ones that don't like to "learn" as they teach through games!

It sounds like you are doing a great job with her. She is lucky you aren't the disinterested one. Good luck and keep up the great work! Parent of 6, ranging from 3-26yrs. and school teacher. B.

Sounds as if she is right where she needs to be for her age. My daughter is also 4 and in preschool and has a hard time keeping the letters of the alphabet in order. She can write her first name with guidance. Keep working at home!!!

wow she's not behind at all but doing very well.

I wouldn't pressure her or it will turn her against school etc. Learning should be fun to encourage kids.

She's doing great!

L.

She sounds fine. I believe in reading lots of books to kids. It helps with their imagination and also a love of learning. Two things that become difficult to 'teach' as they get older. My 4 year old knows probably 5 letters and up to the number 10. I'm not worried about it. She is learning and asking questions and has me read around 100 books a day (ok- slight exaggeration but that's how it feels). Enjoy the time that you have and make learning enjoyable.

She sounds great. My own daughters have made that final leap from where she is now to reading anyplace from 4 to 5 and a half. They are all different. Some of mine read very early but hated to actually write. Some were great at reading but terrible at spelling. My oldest was good at everything.

In my daycare I find it much harder to get the daycare kids to get past this point. There are many distractions and they often just don't have the interest. Without a doubt the children that I have done well with over the years are the ones that come from homes where mom and dad help. So it sounds like you are doing great. If the child is not helped at home I believe the child doesn't learn to believe that the school work is important.

In my current group of kids, no one is ready for the writing. But they spend a great deal of time on the computer and will likely read early. I have one child though that will sit at the computer for hours and loves his "school". But, he doesn't remember anything and I believe he will need a lot of special work when he goes to school. They are all individuals. There is no set standard at this age in my opinion.

S.

In my daughter private school, they learned how to read as a class in Kindergarten. They worked on letter sounds in Pre-K, but to the level of learning how to read. Now, my older daughter learned to read in pre-k and my middle daughter was in Kindergarten. They are both doing very well now.One is in 9th grade and the other is a 3rd grader. I think you daughter is on track and will do great. A private school will help her if she has trouble. They have smaller classes and are more on top of what needs to be worked on. Good luck in the new school. We love the private school setting.
CP

Hi C.,
I would say she is right on task. I was an elementary school music teacher at a private school for several years. In fact, I would even say she is a little ahead, being able to write her letters!
Just relax and know that at whatever age she develops certain tasks is "just right for her."

Blessings,
L.
Want to burn a soot-less, triple-scented gourmet candle??
www.candleheaven.org

Contact your public school system and have her tested. My daughter is the same age and they gave her the DIAL test. It really tells you a lot about where a child is at this age. It sounds like you daughter is right on track to me, but I'm no expert.

I have 4 kids and I'm raising my grandson. All children reach academic levels and different times. They start teaching the kids to read in kindergarten, so if she is starting to read already, she is doing fine. After teaching 4 kids, let me tell you, they will do fine in school. At home is a different structure. At school they base their whole day on teaching. Keep up what your doing but dont be discouraged. It will come in time.

At just-turned-four, don't worry.

My oldest, at 5 and after a year of kindergarten, knew how to write her name.

You can take a breathe and relax. All kids will develope differantly at different times. My son will be 5 in about 5 months, He knows all his letters, numbers and he can spell his name and his sisters. He is also starting to recognize other words like mom, dad, and his brother's name. He has just recently became interested in drawing and writing letters. I would say he is very much a beginner. My brother was able to write his name before he was 3. I think that once they become interested in it, they will blossom at their own pace when it comes to writing. just keep it available to her, and offer it...try making it fun, like getting special activity books.

My daughter goes to a private school and all her teachers ever say is to read with your child as much as possible. I have tried teaching my daughter things like you, but only to be met with frustration from her. I wouldn't worry about anything but reading to her. My daughter was doing well with letter sounds and counting before school and we didn't work all that much with it. I think the reading does do the trick.
It sounds as if your daughter is right on track as far as her development.

I wouldn't worry about your daughter at all. I would be more worried about you. Learn to relax and enjoy your daughter. Kids never think "My mom is expecting too much." Instead, they may feel that they are not meeting their parent's expectations and something must be wrong with them. Relax and learn to enjoy your daughter and her accomplishments, that come in their own time.

She's actually probably ahead of the game. I wouldn't stress out about it. You don't need to push her. She's doing great.

She is ahead of the game. Make sure you don't try to push too hard or she will refuse to try. Remember teach her age appropriate things. I have several friends that are elemterary teachers and they always told me this. My daugher is in the 1st grade at a magnet school. She started phonically sounded out words in kindergarten and the first few weeks of first grade she started reading on her own with some help. She reads better and better each week.

As a teacher and parent of a 4-year-old boy, let me tell you that your daughter is ahead of what is expected for her age. Kindergarten learning standards require the kids to learn the letters and their sounds in Kindergarten. Students are considered ready for Kdg. if they can count to ten, so she's ahead in Math, too.
If she wants to learn more, let her, but don't worry if she isn't interested right now. She has time to work on that, and you don't want to push her too much right now.

It sounds like you know that the pre care she has been in is not sufficient and you are one person working and taking care of your daughter. Even if she is a little behind, which she doesn't sound behind to me. She makes the effort and that is what matters. Don't be discouraged and do the best you can. I know 4 yr olds who are not doing what she is doing. My oldest was counting to 100 by the time he was 2 & by 4 he was adding & subtracting & multiplying. Reading came at near 4.5 yrs. My youngest could not even talk at age 3 and did not learn to count until 5. We found out when he was 6 that he had ADHD, and learned at a much slower pace. So each child has there own learning pace. Some press to push them, I don't. Encourage them yes, push them no. A structured schedule helps any child to focus better. If she gets disinterested play flash cards with her. You can make your own. Though she is not writing she will remember each letter or number etc. Don't compare her to other children. Find a good site that tells you what kids should be doing at what age and go from there. I hope that when she gets into the private school you will feel much better about her progress. Take a deep breath and think of all the things she can do.

She sounds way ahead of schedule truthfully. My son who is completly deaf in one ear got into a bad school in Kindergarten and is now paying for it in first grade. But we moved last year and got into a GREAT school system smaller classes and teachers willing to work with us.

Your little one is doing what my son is doing with his first grade class so I would worry to much. 4 year olds don't have a huge attention span so I would worry to much about her getting disintrested at all either.

She's sounds terrific. From a certified teacher and homeschooling mom: please don't push her. She's much too young to even be thinking about reading yet. Let her be little. I would recommend a montessori type playing preschool.