Trouble Learning Colors?

[newtodaycare22]

Ok, I'm just completely stumped by one of my dck. She came to me quite immature for 3, where she was the oldest one at her old daycare. We only have 3-5 year olds here, and we focus on preschool learning. All of my other 3s have successfully learned letters and numbers with me over the past 6 months. Most of them came to me already knowing colors.

This girl does not know colors and I can't figure it out. She only remembers the first thing I teach her. We focused on green this week and now everytime I Ask her about a color she says its green. She can sort AMAZINGLY. If I give her little squares that are different colors, she can separate them perfectly into their correct color families. However, she'll still call them all green! We have the same issue with the 1 letter she knows, and 1 shape. I can't get her over the obsession with the first thing she learns and move her onto a new concept (I've had her for about 4 months).

Any advice on the situation or a good way to teach her colors? I taught kindergarten and prek in public schools and I've never experienced this type of situation. If the kids weren't developmentally ready to learn the material, then they didn't learn any of it. If they were ready, they got all of the concepts. I've never had a kid who can just get 1 shape, 1 letter, 1 color...

I'd love any advice ) Thanks!

[DCMomOf3]

This is how , in my experience, toddlers first learn. I have a 2yo who is in the same stage as your dcg. When you say she was very behind, what do you mean?

I would just continue working with the names of the colors, numbers and shapes. Also, if you work with her when she is fresh (awake, fed, happy) she should respond better.

This is my experience.

[daycare]

you have to think about where she is coming from. is this the first time she has been in a learning enviroment?
dont forget kids learn at all different rates you cannot compare apples to oranges.
Is she shy? My son is 3.5 and he will not count for you, he will not tell you colors, he will not sign the ABC's.....
However, I will catch him counting his cars, singing his ABC's and so on. He does not like being put on the spot infront of his peers and he is very shy.

Also think about her home life. Do parents help her to learn things or does she watch TV all day long when she is home?

I have taught all of my kids with this method.
create two piles of items 2 of each in color ex two red, two green, two yellow and so on. One set if for you and the other is for the child.

hold up a green item and say green, can you find green? Allow for the child to find the green item in her pile you match it up with yours. When she finds it you say together green. and so on and so on

if this does not work, you will have to think of a different way to teach her. Remember there are 5 ways of learning..... tactile, auditory,motor, visual, oral and tactile... Perhaps you may have to teach it several different ways until you find which learning style she learns best from...

[kendallina]

The first step to learning colors is matching. All (almost all) children will be able to do this first.

The next is being able to identify colors, for example, when you ask the child "which one is the red?", those that are developmentally ready will answer correctly.

The third step is being able to look at a color and saying ,"that's red".

Is she able to identify correctly (or at least mostly correctly) when you ask her, "where is the red one?" If she is, then I'd say she is making decent progress for her age.

Children learn best through real, normal, everyday experiences. So, making one week a 'green color' week isn't necessarily the best way to do it. They are still surrounded by colors and really learn them best when they are learning them simultaneously, as that's how they occur in our environment. They need to be able to compare and contrast colors and have lots of time to explore them. They will usually spend months learning colors, somethings getting their colors right sometimes and just a few minutes later they may get them wrong. It is a process and not something that can really be 'taught' in one sitting or in one day. Their minds are trying to wrap around the concept of color and the concept of different shades still being the same color. It's difficult to grasp.

I would make sure that you are pointing out colors to her frequently. Just the colors of the materials that you see daily. Also, I play a few small group games with my kiddos that seem to help.

- Going on a color hunt. Sing or say the "Going on a Bear Hunt" song but instead of looking for a bear ask the children to find a certain color. Once everyone has found something that is that color, sit down with the kiddos and examine what everyone found. Notice how they are all one color, but some are light and some are dark. Then move on and do another color.

- I gather several materials in a box and lay out several pieces of colored construction paper on the floor. Then I hand items out one by one and ask the children to help me sort them by putting the correct color on the paper. Make sure you use the names of the colors a lot.

- Talk about the colors of their shirts, pants and clothes. Have them line up to go outside or wherever by the colors on their clothes. For example, "if you're wearing red go to the door"

- I know some providers that have each child have one particular color for their dish/cup/bowl that they eat with daily. The children learn very quickly that Johnny has the red set and Suzie has the yellow set, etc.

These games are best done in small groups, so that those that are still learning can watch the older ones who know what's going on.

Also, all children go through a stage where they say everything is one color. For a while my DD said everything was orange. Now everything is green. It's just a stage and most kids go through it to some extent.

How many hours per week is she with you? Another thing to consider is that her parents may not be talking a lot about colors with her. I have one little girl who started with me at 3 as well and she still hasn't learned her colors because she's only with me for 6 hours/week. I think I'm going to ask mom about how she's doing with her colors because I don't think mom talks to her about them and she really should be by now. I've never had a child who hasn't picked up on their colors by the time their 3 or 3.5, but I think it must be because most parents talk a lot about colors with their kiddos and this little girl's mom doesn't seem to.

Hope that helps.