Hi girls. Most mornings we have to pry our almost 5-yo DS out of bed to go to school at 6am. Sometimes he wakes up on his own. We let him watch cartoons while he gets dressed, but often he is so absorbed (and sleepy) in the show that we need to keep reminding him to get dressed. Lately we have been pausing the tv until he gets dressed. Most mornings he whines and says he "can't do it" even though he can. We have the exact same routine every morning and have been doing this for about 2 years. I thought it would be better by now, but it actually seems to be getting worse. Do you think we should just not do cartoons in the morning? Its sort of his reward for getting dressed. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Also, on a side note, DS still doesn't know his letters very well. Its getting better, but he just doesn't seem interested. Every time I try to work with him he asks, "Are we done yet?" I just feel like he should know most of them by now and be able to write his name. He can spell his name, and identify the letters and put them in the correct order but can't write it. Should I be concerned?
Re: Is DS just not a morning person?
This. As for the letters I'd ask his teacher.
We got DS an alarm clock. He is a bear to wake up and is VERY crabby in the mornings. With the alarm clock, I let it 'buzz' until he wakes up and calls for me to shut it off. By that time, he's awake and will get out of bed. Some mornings it takes up to 5-10 minutes. Also, we don't turn on the tv or let him play with toys until he's ready for school. Once he's ready, he can play until we have to leave. Sometimes he gets upset if he can only play for a few minutes, so I tell him if he gets ready quicker, he'll have more time to play.
On school mornings we do not allow DS to watch tv. The morning is often rushed and I don't want tv to compete with breakfast, getting dressed, etc. DS either just doesn't watch a show that day or sometimes watches one in the evening. We do have a rule that as soon as DS gets up he goes pee and gets dressed. Some mornings he fights it and wants to stay in pjs, but we keep it consistent and then it goes smoothy.
As a former teacher who had an obsession I could write pages about how great it would be for 4/5 year olds to write their names.... that being said I won't If he is not yet ready to write than work on other things to build fine motors. Get a small knife and let him spread his own jam. Color together. Not scribble, but focused coloring. Work with beads and stickers. It all helps! And work with him to write his name... with only the first letter a capital.
And don't make letter learning a chore, but part of everyday. See a stop sign and talk about the letters. Learn the letters of family member's names. Label things in your house with the first letter they start with.
Kumon makes great workbooks too.... DS loves them!
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I love these two beautiful children!