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Pre-School and Daycare
MKDee
member
Letter recognition- 3.5 yr boy
MKDee
member
My 3.5 year old DS is in his second year of preschool (the two year program was 1 day per week, this year is more of a traditional "preschool" program). After a year and a half of doing letter activities in school, he still only knows maybe 3 or 4 letters when asked. He also hates to draw or color, so I suspect he is at least a year away from being able to write anything resembling a letter other than an "O." We read to him at home, he plays with letter recognition apps on our iPad occasionally, he has letter blocks and other letter "toys" that he uses, and we will sometimes ask him to identify a letter for us, but we don't quiz him or work on it that intensively at all. He knows A, H, L and sometimes S, but that's about it.
I didn't think anything of it until I saw the parents of two of his friends (both born within 6 weeks of him) post on FB that their children were writing actual words. Not only do they know all of their letters, but they are doing basic reading and writing.
I know kids learn at their own pace, and I also know that they gravitate to the things that are interesting to them--(DS can name every dinosaur and random animal under the sun--in fact, he told me all about chinchillas on our way to daycare this morning). So I suspect he's just not interested in letters/reading/coloring, etc, and one day it will "click."
Of course, on the other hand, I wonder if I should be working with him more to learn his letters. So, if you have a child like mine who doesn't seem to have any interest in that area, are you doing anything to reinforce letter recognition, beyond the things I mentioned above?
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Re: Letter recognition- 3.5 yr boy
Mostly a lurker here but this is very similar to my son. He had zero interest in writing or coloring beyond random scribbles until about 2 weeks ago. We were at a bookstore and he found some Pre-K "workbooks" with tracing games that he was really interested in. He loves to sit down and work on the pages. I truly think it's just a timing thing and finding the right motivation. Could you find something like this with a dinosaur or animal theme if those are his interests? He may be more willing to learn a letter if it is the first letter of his favorite dinosaur
He does know his letters and I thank the Leapfrog videos and Word World for that! He is a very visual learner and the songs and rhymes have helped him immensely. I don't think he would have picked up letter sounds so quickly if I was just working on it with him!
Seems pretty normal to me.
Keep reading, keep letter recognition part of your every day activities.
DD is turning 4 in a few days and some of her friends are able to write all their letters reliably, DD just started making the letter "E" consistently. I worry too, but I also hear her vocablulary which is excellent and the things she asks about and I know the wheels are churning in her brain and she's making all kinds of connections - writing letters is just not one of her connections. She's doing simple addition and subtraction (in her head w/ abstract numbers) and can recognize more animals than me.
I have not read any of the replies.
DS1 is 4.5. He has gone to daycare since 5 months and in a pre-school program since 2.5. He barely counted, not interested in letters at all. He only knew K and O (because of his name) when he started 4K this year. He has amazing gross motor skills though. Can build anything, climb, tumbling....
I am not a sappy person at all, but I actually have tears with how proud I am of him and how much he has learned in the last 3 months in 4K. He knows most of his letters, can count to 100. His manners and listening skills are so much better. When people told me the kids start to even out in kindergarten I admit I was skeptical. It really is true!
I think it's an individual pace thing. DS is almost 3.5 and can recognize all his letters but is nowhere near writing any of them. On the other hand, my nephew could write his name when he was just a little bit older than DS.
I wouldn't worry unless a teacher epresses concern.
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Thank you! I have been thinking ahead to kindergarten, and I know the expectations are so much higher than when we were that age, so it worries me that DS1 just doesn't care about letters. I'm glad to know that your son had so much growth in this area in such a short time. Definitely gives me hope!
DS had zero interest in letters until school started this year. I knew he was going to get letters and handwriting in 4 y.o. preschool, so I didn't bother with pushing it. He does better learning from other people than from me.
He now wants to write things all of the time. He doesn't have much interest in letter sounds yet (at least, combining them to make words), so he has a way to go until he can read, but yesterday he insisted on writing his own Christmas list for Santa:
That says,art supplies, Mack, cash register, race track. Obviously, it's pretty rough, but at this time last year (at 3.5) he knew about two letters, hated coloring (still does) and had no desire to learn any of it.