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How do you help a five year old girl learn letters. She has no interest in learning at all. I have had her on and off since she was 2. Her parents are military and she has moved a lot. She lives with her Mom on base and went to preschool and daycare there. She came to stay with her Grandparents for a couple of months, so now she is back with me. She turned 5 in Dec. She could careless about anything to do with art or learning. Teaching is not one of my best skills, so I'm at a loss. I don't know how to get her interested. She can only identify the letter A. She likes to read, when I'm reading to her I'll ask her what letter is this and she is done reading and wants to go play. Developmentally she seems fine, can count to 25, know colors and shapes. Any ideas on how to get her interested in learning would be appreciated.
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Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it; that's the job of a kindergarten teacher when she goes to kindergarten. What she can do already sounds fine; let her learn it at school when she's ready to.Hee hee! Look, I have a signature! -
While I don't use a lot of tv for teaching there is a great series of videos by leap frog that the kids LOVE and they use repetition to teach the concept. There are even math ones. If you have Netflix they are all on streaming right now otherwise we first got them from the public library. They cost about $10 each to purchase and I've found them at Target and Sam's Club but I know they are online as well.
I'd start with Learning About Letters but there is also a Going to School one (can't remember the exact title) and then once they get letters then there are videos that work with blending letter sounds into words.Comment
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Read to her...alot!Comment
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Unfortunately it seems this is not the case any longer. In the 7 years between my boys starting Kindergarten the knowledge base has been shifted by pretty much a whole year. What was expected entering 1st grade is now expected entering Kindergarten (or soon after).
Kindergartners are now expected to be reading sight words by about Christmas time if not sooner. They are also expected to be counting, using one-to-one correspondence, know their colors and shapes and basic concepts of time (both clock and calendar) and space. They like them to be able to sit through a whole short story, to be tying their shoes or very close to it, to know their birthday, home phone number and home address. Those who do not know these things arenot excluded from entering Kindergarten bt are at a huge disadvantage and may risk being pushed into testing for Titled services.
Such is the world of early education. While it was once just time to grow and learn about the world in general from birth to 5 now it's so very important to get in the academics during those years as well. I don't do "teaching" per se (worksheets, sitting in circle time a long period of time, ect) but I include specific, intentional learning activities to help them learn what is expected for Kindergarten.Comment
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I teach my DCK kids their letters, numbers and colors as we play. If we're taking a walk I keep a running commentary going like: "Hey DCB there is a HUGE tree...what color is it? Hey DCG what letter does tree start with? Te, te, te...tree. Hey DCB...can you count ALL those birds in the sky?" Etc, etc.Comment
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my son is the same way - i let him use paint pens and write letters with them on a wall mirror. i actually used those pens that you write on car windows with. i also let him trace letters on a cookie sheet using pudding. it takes some 1:1 time to do that obviously. if you don't have time for that - how about computer games? there are a ton of letter recognition games online that kids love - or a memory game using cards where you flip the cards over to find a match. you could easily make your own set with a marker and index cards. team her up with an older child who KNOWS their letters (if you don't have time to play the game with her) and that should help a lot. i've not met a kid yet who doesn't like computer games and memory.
www.starfall.com is a great place to start. lots of kindergarten teachers use the site in their classroom to teach letter recognition.Comment
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Leap frog letter factory
Leap frog word factory
My kids love these and do well with them. I would try them to supplement what you are doing.
Also, I would look for books that come in sets of 26, one small book for each letter. focus on one letter at a time, and not always in order.Comment
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I do know what is expected going into kindergarten, and I also know the reality from the classroom side. I was student teaching in a kindergarten classroom just 2 years ago; it was the "lowest" classroom of the poorest school district in my area and it was spring. The kids in that classroom still ran the gamut from barely reading to reading at a 3rd grade level. I administered the end-of-year assessments so I knew what these kids' scores were at kindergarten round-up the previous spring and from the beginning of the year. Some kids made almost no change...others, once they got INTO school, were reading fluently in the spring when in the fall they struggled to identify most/all of their letters.
This girl sounds like she is not developmentally ready to learn her letters--counting and knowing colors and shapes is a huge step up from many incoming kindergarteners. What I am saying to the OP is that this teaching is best left to a teacher that really knows what they are doing, has the resources they need to work intensively, and has the background needed to determine if there's something else going on that might be delaying this one area of learning (which there very well might be).Hee hee! Look, I have a signature!Comment
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I only have 2 right now so I do have time. I spend time playing with them and doing the letters of toys. I read to them a couple of times a day, I've been reading at least one book on letters. I have a set that is letters and use the same theme all through the book. She's such a sweetie I don't want her to be behind.
Would you make her sit down and do letter cards or try to write letters if she doesn't want to? Thanks for the ideas, she will be back tomorrow and I'm going to try some to spark her interest.Comment
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If she doesn't want to, don't force it; that's the absolute WORST way to try and spark a love of learning.
If you really want to, you can start playing games like Go Fish with her--there's an alphabet one that I have that is a lot of fun (though it's all animals and they have to stretch for some of the letters) or if you're crafty you could make your own alphabet Go Fish game. You could make an alphabet memory game, too (just like memory, but make your own cards with the letters on them). If you have computer access, Starfall.com really is a great resource and it is used in a lot of classrooms. You can start writing her name on her coloring papers and naming off each letter as you write it.Hee hee! Look, I have a signature!Comment
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I really really recommend the leap frog videos. I kid you not, play it every day and at the end of the week she will know almost all her letters.
I think the schools expect way too much in children now a days, its like you don't have a choice but to shove education down their throats.Comment
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Yes but there's no consequence to the parent if the child comes to Kindy without these skills. The schools must accept them either way. Here they must be in school by age six. There are NO requirements that a skill set be brought to school with them in order to enroll and get a good education. They don't discriminate based on this. All kids are welcome despite their skill set going into it.Comment
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What are her parents trying? I would read to her, expose her to it but forcing her is not fun for anyone. Here I expose, allow and envelope them with opportunity. But the ultimate responsibility is not yours.Comment
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