Pre-School

Cindy - posted on 09/01/2010

OMG.....I am a preschool teacher with an Associates Degree and CDA and that is so not age appropriate.....circling the letter that the picture begins with sounds more like kindergarten work......we have 3, 4 and 5 years olds (if their bd didnt' come right)....in our class and we test over color , letter and number recognition and if any of the kids know alot of these we then see if they can recognize their name and so on.........but I will definitely say that this is NOT AGE APPROPRIATE AND FUTHERMORE THEIR ATTENTION SPAN AT AGE 3 IS SO NOT VERY LONG.....WHAT KIND OF PRESCHOOL IS THIS?.....I GUESS ITS POSSIBLE THAT THERE ARE SOME 3 YEAR OLDS OUT THERE WHO MAY BE THIS ADVANCED BUT I HAVE YET TO SEE ONE IN OUR PROGRAM......a 3 year old would have to recognize their alphabet and know what sounds these letters make in order to do this homework. The more senses(touch, hear, see) a child uses to learn something the easier it will be....there are lots of fun ways to learn the alphabet when your child is ready to ....

Suzannah - posted on 08/07/2010

Why even bother to teach her all that at the age of 3 she will learn it almost as naturally as talking & walking. Let her be a 3 year old.

Julia - posted on 07/30/2010

ok firstly children are not required to recognize letters on numbers until they are at least 5 so dont beat yourself up too much, just make it into a game, sing a song its fine if it takes her longer to get it, there is no rush good luck x

Montana - posted on 07/29/2010

I got an alphabet puzzle for my daughter and Dr. Suess' ABC book. We'ver been working on them for sometime now but since she is used to it she is starting to be able to point out letters (mostly numbers). Sesame Street has played a big role in her alphabet ability as well. Also have you heard of Zoophonics? It's a GREAT little song with actions to get her interested. I'm sure you can look it up online if u are unfamiliar.

Melanie - posted on 07/27/2010

I agree with Zoe and Ashley, I live in Italy where children go to "scuola materna" from 3 till 6 yrs then start elementary school at 6. They don't do any reading writing or numbers (except basic counting but nothing on paper) at the scuola materna. They start elem school in the September and by Christmas they all know how to read and write. It seems bizarre to me to give letters homework to a 3 year old! Children need to learn through play, not studying. My 3 year old can write her name and enjoys copying letters but she has no idea about "spelling" , for example that dog begins with d and cat with c. Studies have found that children who are forced to learn to read and write at an early age lose the ability to play which limits their creativity later. I'm British and I think the situation in Britain is the same as in the States, children actually start elem school the sept after their 4th bday, so if they're 4 in July they start school at 4yrs 2months. It's just a way for the govenment to cut down on child care/nursery costs but the children suffer in the long run.

Ashley - posted on 07/15/2010

Actually Zoe has a great point - most european countries, western and eastern don't start first grade (our kindergarten) until age 7. And they are not required to know letters or numbers when they come in. Compare that to our system, where you are supposed to be reading some by kindergarten (their preschool) and start at age 5. And we still have lower literacy, high school graduation, and college graduation rates then some of those countries.

Zoe - posted on 07/15/2010

homework for a 3 year old, when does she get to be a kid, many countrys dont even bother with letters tell children are 6 or 7, why the rush. you dont need teaching advice just read to her every day find out what she wants to know and she will learn that, be careful not to make her dislike learning. if your spending 40 mins and she dont get it shes not ready, let her play in the sand pit. dont let goverment targits dictat who you spend time with your doughter.

Ashley - posted on 04/30/2010

I used to be a teaching assistant at a school. I worked with kids K-3rd grade who needed extra reading help. Plenty of them couldn’t remember what they learned 30 minutes ago. Especially the K-1 grade. That is part of what preschool is about – training your brain for elementary school.
I have a few ideas. First of all, you need to talk to the teacher. Your daughter may just not be absorbing everything that is being done in class. That’s totally normal – there is so much going on that she may just be missing things. Ask the teacher if she is paying attention, if she seems to understand it in class, etc. If she does, maybe she just has a hard time remembering it later. That’s just something you have to learn – I used to tell the kids you have to practice reading, just like you practice baseball. She will have to practice remembering things –maybe for short periods of time. You can play small remembering games with her on the weekends or at night. Try to get her to remember one thing for 5 minutes and not something she normally remembers, maybe a new word. Then change it to 2 things for 5 minutes, work up like that in time and number of things. Maybe she’s just not ready for 3 letters a night – the teacher may need to vary her lesson plan for your daughter.
Also, every kid learns differently. Some learn by sight, some hearing, some doing, etc. Try to think about how you think she learns right now. Does she have to have you show her, or does she have to try something herself over and over, or can you just explain it and she can do it…. There are lots of different things you could do to help her out – sure she has a worksheet she has to do. But before you do that, you could make the letter with your bodies. OR you could make it with playdough – then she has seen it and felt it and done it first. I also use several free online sights to do activity type things, instead of worksheets, to help my son. He hates worksheets, but if I print off a fun caterpiller with numbers on it and we glue the caterpiller together, he really likes that…. Etc.
One last thing – there is a DVD I got for my son – I only got the letters one cause they are kind of expensive. It really really helped him learn his letters. It seems simple, but it really works.
I know it is frustrating and you already have a ton of stuff to do, but it really may just take some extra time and patience.
Good luck
Making letters with your body:
http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/Activ...
DVD:
http://www.preschoolprepco.com/h/i/index...
Activity Ideas:
http://www.dltk-kids.com/
http://www.first-school.ws/
Hope some of this helps.