Mom Seeking Tips on Teaching Daughter How to Identify Letters

This is a hard one for me to comment on. First let me say that I agree with most the suggestions given already. Leap Frog fridge magnets are great. A-beka has a fabulous program. Hooked on Phonics has done wonders for my 4 year old. Flashcards almost always work. The foam bathtub letters are also great, and you can find letters everywhere, every day. Point them out. The most important thing I want to point out is that you are talking about a baby that is still 2 years old. As in NOT EVEN THREE yet. She sounds like she is very smart, and you should be very proud. But I want to remind you that right now, in this stage of development, she deserves to be completely free. She needs to play, to interact with stuffed animals and dolls, have a pretend tea party. The most important thing she is learning right now is how to be a person. Letters are an absolute necessity, but they can come later. She needs to learn good manners, how to interact with others, how to disagree without fighting, how to have fun without someone or something to entertain her, how to use her imagination. These are the things that she needs to practice right now. I am not trying to criticize, just give my opinion, but please, let her be a child. Childhood is over so quickly!

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HI N.,

My take on this subject (as a former school teacher in the public system) is that being 3 or 4 or 5 for that matter is NOT about being able to purge out memorized information. My daughter, who will be 4 next month is just now showing interest in identifying her letters. I know this may not be the "norm" in today's society but really take a look at where our public education system has taken our kids....not a very good place (especially here in Florida) Being a pre-schooler should be about play, discovery, imagination and learning the important things like playing well in groups, respect, manners....things that carry on for a lifetime. You and I both know that our "smart" kids WILL learn their letters, WILL learn to read (and LOVE it because they want to) and WILL be great students. My husband had the same issue when a friends child who is 6 months younger than our daughter could pick out all her letters. This really bothered him for some reason but our friends kid sits in a windowless preschool room from 7:30am until 5:30 pm MOnday through Friday with worksheets in front of her. Not a place I want my child. I'd much rather be building forts and painting rocks. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a fairy to entertain :)

good luck

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Hi N.,

My daughter will be 3 in April, but she is my 3rd child. If I can give you a little advice, be careful how much emphasis you put on academics at her age. Learning needs to be something that is fun at their age. I have a 6 yr old, 4 yr old and a 2 yr old. I have watched many of my friends take very different approaches to learning, while I do think it is our responsibility to expose our children to information and encourage their curiosity, I think some parents go to far on their quest to having genius children. As you will find over time, children constantly ebb and flow, my 1st grader did not learn to read until she was 5, but when she did, it just clicked. I think children have leap off points, where they suddenly comprehend something or retain information that they hadn't in the past. The trick is to let them leap, not to push. I think the best thing you can do is have tools at her disposal, that she can use at her discretion. I have a dry erase/chalk board in our kitchen, and when my daughter colors I will right out the letters, sometimes she is interested and sometimes, she jut erases them. Please don't misunderstand, I think there are ages where you teach the discipline behind learning and studying, jut not at 3 yrs old. I know it is hard not to compare, but keep in mind, that she probably has strengths that your nephew lacks.

Good Luck,
K.

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She doesn't learn the same way your nephew learns. Let her play with the letters, taste them,
lean on them, make houses out of them. She is NOT READY to identify letters yet. Sing with her, dance, laugh, teach her to wash dishes. Do not teach her to recognize letters. She'll surprise you some day & know them all, & will have done it all by herself.
My neighbor, on her 5th baby, started to give him walking lessons when he was 6 months old. Daily, her husband held him around his middle, while she moved his feet in a walking motion. Every day, winter & summer. Finally, when he was 14 months old, he stood up & walked. My son, same age, was still crawling at 15 months, & one day stood up & walked too. He didn't have walking lessons. Once he started walking, he started running, & hasn't stopped yet.
Patpanda

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I can't really offer any help. My son is 4 and he knows his abc's and can say them but doesn't know which ones are which either. He knows a few of them, but not even half. I work with him each night (as long as he's not too tired) with an abc puzzle we have. My nephew who is the same age knows what each letter looks like (can identify them). But my nephew is very uncoordinated, doesn't run and such all that well and can hardly write a letter due to hand coordination. My son is very active, runs, jumps, plays, can bat a ball when it's thrown to him, etc. So he's very coordinated..has great motor skills. I think each child is different and learns on their own.
Just wanted to let you know that your child is not alone....and mine is actually older and doesn't know them all yet.
btw...if you find any great methods or helpers I'd love the info too. I figure any help I can give is an added bonus. And he seems to really love to sit and work with me even if it's like school work. :0)
Good Luck. I'm sure your little one is just fine.

D.

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I have bought my children foam letters that they can play with in the tub. We have fun spellling their names and mommy and daddy. I make a game of it and I think it is helping them identify. Try focusing on her name and then wherever you go point out the lettere of her name or the first letter. You can do this in the grocery store, target even on the back of cars . Goodluck!

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Hi, N.!

Sounds to me like yor're doing all the right stuff. Reading as a habit is the main thing! Bedtime stories and books as gifts for holidays help children to know their value.

I've got three kids and my fifteen year old showed no special aptitude for reading until she turned seven -- second grade, and the school tested her at found her reading skill to be at seventh grade level! When she was four she became very interested in writing the letters during the day at her child care center, but not before then. The five year old still doesn't identify all the letters. I'm not actually sure what her recognition level is but she's the methodical type -- I think she's still learning the letters after L, working each day from A. The point is, they enjoy being read to and the teenager reads constantly, enforcing the example that was set for her.

Kids all have their own pace, and their own interests! Relax, and keep enjoying the light of your life!

L. N.

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first you shouldn't compare. every child is different. second work on one letter at a time. i have a 4 yr. in pre k 4 and they only expect them to know 15 letters in kindegarted the first semester. they want them to count to 25. but recongize 20 not in order. some kind don't even know how to spell their first name. so i would not worry and i would not push. being a mother and grandmother. let them learn at their speed. you buy educational toys let them play and not worry about learning. i hope i can help

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you kid is a autory learner not a visual one. Make pictures from ech letter,make the letters inglue with sand on the make it a game. Do only one letter at a time to learn then once a week review the ones she knows., I am a retired teacher who hates to read because I was shoved int it before I was ready.
I did not even try to teach my daughter to read, she was #3 in her class and will be getting a BA in phisic in May. She reads 3 books at time.
DO NOT BE PUSHY BE FUN

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I've used this

http://www.preschoolprepco.com/h/p/mtl/index.php

It's a very simple DVD that is supposed to help children identify letters (they have colors, shapes and numbers DVDs as well). I'm not sure if it will help your daughter, but mine seemed to like it.

I've also used a large photo album (holds 200 photos) and some die-cut (punch out) letters from an Office supply store. I put all the capital letters in first, then the lower case. In the afternoon we would sit with the photo album like flash cards. At first it didn't work, so sadly I resorted to mini-marshmallows or tiny jelly bellies. For every letter she got right she got a "reward". Everyday she wanted to say her letters and eventually she forgot the rewards. A year later the album still has the capital and lowercase letters, but we've added the sight words, and she still loves it.

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