Question about preparing for preschool

Amy - posted on 01/01/2011

My daughter didn't know what sounds or know by sight her Abcs for preschool. But we write the alphabet in pencil, she traces them with a glitter crayon, and we say the sound. She's halfway through preschool and can now write her name and knows what letters look like and half of the sounds they make. She just turned 4 last week. Sometimes she writes her G backwards, but I don't mind. She's young yet. If you do flashcards, maybe make it a game like phonics flashcards and when the letter/sound comes up you make the sounds together with a funny face. :)

Cassie - posted on 01/01/2011

I used http://www.preschoolprepco.com/h/i/index... they have a bunch of stuff. We also have the magnets and bath tub toys. I think we push our kids to fast honestly. If she's going into preschool they probably don't expect her to know these things yet and they'll teach her on their own. They will see how your kid learns and responds to teaching and could probably give you pointers. My daughter was in day school and we have her in a K4-K5 class and she'll do it next year also and she has responded much better to the learning in the classroom to at home. I would try different things and see what she responds best to. good luck.

Nasim - posted on 12/31/2010

well i think flash cards are great and also you could get a abc chart and you could also make flash cards and put them on items around the house that start with that letter my daughter is 2 1/2 and she knew her abc and could identify the letters at 21 months. Don't think that your going to overwhelm her cause remeber her brain is like a sponge now put in all that you can you will be surprised at how fast she catches on

Tricia - posted on 12/31/2010

I started with my kids names first. As they learned them we added. They are in a Pre-K program that is provided through our school system. My twins will be 5 in a few weeks. My son does better with his letters then my daughter. It is a process for sure.
We have the leap frog fridge magnet game (they love that) We all so have a wall posting of the alphabet so they can see them all the time. We try to spell things out as often as we can and we have preschool/kindergarten workbooks.
I would think if you just keep working with her she will get it, it takes time. Best of luck!

Amanda - posted on 12/30/2010

Start with the letters in her name. As these will be the letters she will need to recognize first when she gets into prescool. My daughter Makenna, is attending her second year of preschool right now ( she started at 3) and those are the letters they had me start with. The I spy game works really well and the flashcards can be helpful just so long as you are patient and do not overwelm her. Once its not a game anymore it is no fun for them, believe me I made that mistake and really had to back off for a while. Good Luck!!

Amber - posted on 12/30/2010

My son is almost 4 and he loves flashcards. He could spend hours going threw them if I let him. Also the tub letters are great!

September - posted on 12/30/2010

I think flashcards would be ok but maybe not very much fun for her and may end up feeling like a teaching session as opposed to fun learning time. I think that children tend to enjoy learning more when it's fun. You could get a big ABC floor puzzle. Our son is 2 and knows his ABC's but cannot recognize the letter just yet so we bought a few ABC puzzle's to help since he enjoys puzzle so much, and slowly but surely it's working and he's having fun while learning as well. He also got a cool ABC magnetic toy for Christmas, it's really neat. It say's the letter as well as sounds it out. I've added a link so you can check it out. You can find them at Toy's R Us, Babies R Us, online and Target as well. Good luck and have fun! :)
http://www.babygizmo.com/p/leapfrog_frid...

C. - posted on 12/30/2010

Ooh.. I didn't think of that. Hubby's dad was stationed up in Alaska for a few years and I remember hearing stories about the weather. Sorry :/

Well I hope you're able to at least order it. My friend said it really helped her daughter and swears by it.

H.J - posted on 12/30/2010

try letterland or Jolly phonics. They are both learning aids that are used here in Australia. They teach the sounds as well as the letters. I prefer letterland personally each letter of the alphabet has a character, there are work sheets that come with it. This can be very expensive though. Phonics you can pick up at newsagents here in Australia and are very cheep. I agree with the others with the fridge magnets

Jesica - posted on 12/30/2010

Up here finding anything education for kids or just anything at all is hard, more so on post because of the weather conditions supplies go fast. So I almost have to camp out. Thank God for my mommy in law for being a sweet heart and sending me my tea in a rather large supply. LOL But I did find something by leap frog on aafes web site. So I'll look into more tomorrow when I can think clearly.

C. - posted on 12/29/2010

Both of our husbands are Army, but usually the BX carries most of the same things- sometimes a wider variety than the PX, though.

Thanks for the info on that! I didn't realize we could do that. You're welcome! I hope something works soon for you and your daughter! Good luck!

Jesica - posted on 12/29/2010

@C



Well if she got them from the BX/PX I should be able to go onto aafes website (or whatever branch y'all are with) and order it there. I know they ship to Alaska/Hawaii with light weight items. Larger items too I just found out if you order it thru the PX customer service. Just some info if you see something big online that ya want that says they won't ship to Alaska/Hawaii. You don't have to wait till y'all are back in the lower 48.



Edited because I missed your second to last post. Also, Thank you for the info on what you have given me. I will try a few things and see what works. Thanks again.

C. - posted on 12/29/2010

Sorry, Jesica.. Just saw the part about the DVDs.. We're in Hawaii right now (so is my friend that got them for her daughter). I think she may have picked them up from the BX or PX. I'll have to ask her and then I'll let you know. Also, you may be able to see if you can order them from somewhere. Some stores will order items if they normally carry it at other branches, but not in that particular location. And sometimes when they do that and it's shipped to the store, USUALLY there is no extra fee for shipping and you just pay the list price. So that may be something to look into.

C. - posted on 12/29/2010

(@Jesica) Oh wow, Jesica. I can't imagine how hard that must have been to watch your baby go through that (I mean, she's not a baby, but she's your baby-- My son is 2 1/2 and I still call him my baby lol)..

I can understand not wanting her to fall behind her age group, but she did have a hard time with having to relearn everything. Making learning fun is one of the best things you can do, so you're definitely going in the right path there. All I can really say is just keep doing what you're doing. With everything that has been going on, she seems like she's doing well as far as relearning from what you've said. And the arrows instead of numbers.. That's a good idea, too. As long as she knows which direction to go in then it shouldn't matter if it's numbers or arrows.

Sorry I don't have anything more to offer on this subject, but I hope everything starts going well and that your daughter doesn't get frustrated with everything. Good luck, hun!

@Kimi.. My son loved his flashcards! :) Except for the ABCs cards, he would always bring them to me and say 'fashcards, mommy!' lol ;)

Kimi - posted on 12/29/2010

Instead of using boring flashcards, just put the little magnet letters in a bag and have her cover her eyes and pull one out, if she can identify it let her pull another out, repeat until she gets stumped by a letter, then put all the letters she pulled out on the fridge for a few days and randomly point out a letter now and then asking what it is focusing on all the letters to set her up for success for the most part. Even if some days it's only one or two letters she will soon notice how smart she's becoming as more and more letters are getting out of the bag each time.
starfall.com is a great website for little ones. Word World on PBS is a cute little program that might get her thinking more about letters.
Quite honestly, as long as her cognitive learning skills are advancing and her motor skills are constantly improving she's doing just fine for her age. Knowing her letters before preschool is over rated since there's no use for that knowledge until she is learning to read and that's something she won't be taught until kindergarten.
It's your undivided attention at such a young age that will set her up for the most success, you could be teaching her how to butter toast and that will be just as good for her as teaching her the alphabet at that young of an age. Just have fun with her.

Jesica - posted on 12/29/2010

@Sara, I really like the flashlight game. Since she is so overly in love with flashlights I'll have to try that one. Thank you.

Jesica - posted on 12/29/2010

@C.
I get what your saying about being frustrated. I think (I could be wrong) but I think a lot of her frustration is that this isn't her first time learning all this. Don't get me wrong, she never "perfected" it but she was getting there. She has a history of febrile seizures and the last one she had last year, she got brain damage from it. So she literally had to relearn everything. Walking, talking, potty training, drinking from a cup, ect. I'm hoping to put her in pre-school in January/February when they have an opening. She sees an occupational therapist 2 times a week, which is great because she is helping to work towards my goals and encourages her going next month. I just got her to where she is using the toilet again about a month ago so she now eligible to go. I'm trying my hardest to help her so she doesn't fall behind her age group, but I don't want to force her into something she isn't ready for. So everything I've been doing as far as learning I try to make it a game. She loves it when I ask her to help/teach mommy do something, like the connect the dots. Which with those I didn't number them I just placed dots and then outside the dots just above I drew arrows in the direction she needs to go with the pencil or crayon.

Good Day! - posted on 12/29/2010

I wanted to add...

Some children are very tactile. If they can feel it, rather than see it, it helps. Get some glitter and glue, and make raised 3-D flashcards that she can feel. (You know, write the letter with glue, then dump glitter on it, then shake excess glitter off, it makes a glitter letter) Let her run her fingers over the letters. She can also write her letters in sand or on shaving cream spread on a table.

Some kids are learn by moving. Put letter cards all over the floor. Have her hop from letter to letter...you can call them out and she hops to the correct one...or she can just randomly hop as you both say what the letter is...whatever she's ready for. You can also put letters across the room and have her do a relay race. Call out a letter and she'll run across the room, get the correct letter and run it back to her starting point.

Tape all the letter cards on a wall. Turn out the lights, and give her a flashlight. She shines the light on different letters as you identify them, then you shine the light as she identifies.

**With these games, you don't have to use all the letters. Start with the ones you know she knows...to gain confidence as she's learning how to play the games. Slowly add new letters one by one as you see she masters them.

Good Day! - posted on 12/29/2010

Make some active games. All learning doesn't have to be formal. Here's a blog full of learning ideas for pre-schoolers. It's written by a former 1st grade teacher.

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/

C. - posted on 12/29/2010

We have done the flashcards, too.. Remember that my son is 2 1/2, though, so it may not have the same effect on your daughter since she's a little older. But we did have to take a break for a while b/c he would look at them for a few minutes and he recognized some of them, but would get so frustrated with the rest. So that can happen. You just have to recognize when it's getting to that point and basically stop it before it starts.. That kind of thing. But we have other flashcards (other than ABCs) and he liked those better. Some with small words and pictures, some with numbers, some with shapes and colors.

The connect the dots idea is very good and very creative. Do you number them for her so she knows what order?

It sounds like she could be getting it soon. I mean, she's still young. How long do you have until she starts preschool? If it's months away, I'd say you have time. Just keep working with her a little bit each day. She'll get the hang of it.

Stephanie - posted on 12/29/2010

play the I spy the letter..... game with her. when you go out and when you read with her and when you're making dinner. anytime you're around a lot of words/signs/labels.

also, associate the letter with something in her life. a for apples, b for box, j for jessica, m for mommy, e for elbow... whatever is meaning for in her life. then when you read together, point them out with the association. i spy an A for apple.

my gals haven't really used flashcards at that age. last year they were in 1st grade and starting using them regularly.

Jesica - posted on 12/29/2010

Thank you that was very nice. I have the magnets and also found ABC bath toys at wal-mart that I picked up for her. I try to help her write them by making connect the dots letters in hopes it will help her get the hang of it. But she just isn't getting it. She does good connecting the dots but can't say what the letter is. And what's really frustrating is that I have a name sign that I made for her when I was pregnant and we go over the letters all the time, so she can point to them and say what they are. But for some reason doing it any other way she isn't grasping it. I'm stuck. She does good with her clock puzzle that has numbers that has to be placed right. (Sorry if I made that confusing. Nothing meant by that, it's just my ability to write things in a less confusing manor is going down hill. Anyway long story). BUT... I'm truly stuck on how to help her. I've read that shoving flash cards in a toddlers face can be overwhelming for them. I also know you can't believe everything you read either but I don't want to frustrate her any more than she already is.



Edited***



Also, with the DVD's would you happen to know where I can find them? Were in Alaska and can't seem to find a lot of that kind of stuff.

C. - posted on 12/29/2010

Jesica, I know we've had our words in the past.. But please don't ignore this. I think it could help.

My son is only 2 1/2 and he still has far to go as far as the recognizing letters thing goes.. BUT, he is getting better. We bought the little ABC magnets for the fridge and he loves going up to them and pointing them out. Most of them he still needs help with, but he's trying.

Also, I help him write out the ABCs as we say them. The same with numbers. We try to spell out words as we come across them.. Things like that. Hope that helps you out a little. Good luck!

Oh and a friend of mine recently bought her 4 year old some Leap Frog DVDs b/c nothing she did was helping.. The DVDs seemed to help her daughter, so if the other stuff doesn't work, then maybe an interactive DVD and watch it with her or something?