Help! My 6 1/2 year old can't seem to master the simpliest of skills.

[pinkdolly]

I am starting to get really worried about my 6 1/2 old dd. She really cant seem to take in and master the simpliest of tasks.

I have been trying to teach the girls how to read. DD1 is 7 and despite her speech delay is doing ok. A bit behind her peers as you might expect but learns new things with relative ease.

DD2, however, is a completly different ball game. She hasn't even mastered the alphabet yet. If I asked her to sing the alphabet she could do it no problems. If I pointed to the letters in order she could do it (learned from the song). But if you point to random letters she just doesn't have a clue.

We taught her the alphabet through music to begin with as music is her thing. She creates her own songs which are wonderfully written? sung (obv she cant write them herself on paper).

We have obviously tried to break down the alphabet and teach her in chunks but her memory just seems to be awful and by the time she has mstered one set of letters she has forgotten the previous set.

They have a wonderful tune. She is very talented in this area. She picked up the alphabet very quickly this way. But we've hit a stumbling block and to be honest it is now getting me down. I just dont know what to do and feel like I am failing her as I cant get through to her.

Please help.

Thanx

Pink

[Uriel]

What do her teachers say?

Can you try writing the letters in sand or making them out of plasticine?

[Uriel]

Doh! Sorry, just noticed it's in Home Ed.

I'll get me coat.

[AMumInScotland]

First off - remember that in many countries she wouldn't even have started school yet, so she's not "behind", just not picking it up at the speed you're expecting.

Next, in school they don't "teach the alphabet" in terms of what order the letters come until later - most schools these days start with synthetic phonics so that they get a chance to learn the sounds of the letters - have you tried that approach with her? DS was at school at that age, and they started with worksheets where they had to colour in all the things that start with a "d" sound, then draw something else which started with that letter, then practise "drawing" the shape of that letter. Have you ever seen Sesame Street? That's what they do on there to some extent - spend a whole program on one or two letters and just do loads of activities with that letter.

That way, the way te letter looks and its sound are linkd up in their heads. Then they do another letter then another, and keep practising the ones they already know, before they start to join them together to make words.

[AMumInScotland]

Another (musical) thought - you could get her to make a poster of each letter as she learns it, with the letter big in the middle and lots of pictures of things which start with it (drawn or stuck on from magazines etc). Then she makes up a song about all those things - when she looks at the poster and sings the song, she'll be seeing the letter and hearing the sound.

[pinkdolly]

Thank you that is really helpful. I will give it a go with her.

I am all for the not pushing too hard approach myself. And know full well that a lot of home-ed children learn to read when they are ready. Which I think is lovely. But dh is urging me to get the two of them reading. And both girls say they do want o learn to read now. I'm just not sure if dd2 is actually ready yet.

But your idea is great and I will make up some worksheets for her.
Thanx again.

[AMumInScotland]

If she says she wants to, then it wouldn't be you pushing - but you just have to tailor the speed to how she picks it up. I expect there are websites etc which will tell you the order they usually cover letters, but from what I recall they started with the "obvious" ones, which only have one sound, then worked up to the mixes like "ch" and "oo" etc, and finally onto how you blend them into words.

[HugeBaublesWhatDidISayRoy]

one of mine couldnt do this at the same age, but eventually it just suddenly clicked. Try not to worry. Look at each child differently. dd1 may well pick things up much quiker than 2, but 2 will get there in her own time. Honestly.

[threetimemummy]

What type of learner is she?

For eg, my DS1 is a TACTILE learner - he learns anything he can "do", not necessariy read, iyswim? So I "do" things, like, letter games such as...write all the letters in chalk on the floor..call out a letter and they run to it...write etters in different mediums, sand, sandpaper, flour, playdough shapes etc.

DS2 is more of a VERBAL learner..so we can sing the letter songs with sounds such as ants in the apples, a a a ants in the apples a a a ants in the apples, that is the sound that A makes!

Personally, I am a VISUAL learner, which means I am better seeing info put into a chart of graph, then I remember it, where as a list of figures...forget it!!

So my point is, there are different ways to learn, find out what hers is!! When you have that down, slowly incorporate the other learning types to reinforce the concept. So with a verbal learner, sing the song, then incorporate tactile-ness into it by singing the song and Dancing round the letter written on paper so the connection is made. Or singing the song while spinning to the letters taped on a wall. This will use the verbal part she is used to and knows and still gives the letter recognition that you want! Start with two letters to choose from. When she gets them right,add two more so there are four etc.

Does that make ANY sense at all? Or have I just totally rambled?? LOL I have a tendency to do that!! But I hope I have helped you a little!!

[threetimemummy]

Just wanted to add, that is the great thing about home-ed'ing. You can ta into HOW your child learns rather than have them struggle with the rigid style the school take!

Ok shall get off my box now!!

[threetimemummy]

*tap

Clearly, typing is NOT my strong point!!! pmsl!!

[ommmward]

read to them

read to them

read to them

read to them

and then, read to them a little more

the words are there in front of them, the pictures are giving visual cues, they can be making whatever connections they are ready to.

google image searches can be fun - they say what they want to look up, you spell it out for them, they get to see cats/rabbits/tinky winky/ whatever.

get them onto websites like nickjunior.com, pbskids, cbeebies, starfall, poissonrouge. all of those support children in developing their literacy.

if your children are up for phonics then fine, go for it, but remember that it's the dogma here but not at all in the US - it's just a fashion. If a child is learning to read at their own pace, you can really just be there ready to answer their questions, there's no need to have a system. you've read "How children learn at home" yes? (Thomas and Pattison)

[mowcop]

I'm not sure how you teach and my children do go to school, but have you tried Jolly Phonics? We have the cd and book. The songs are catchy and sung to common tunes. My son loves them and sings along whilst doing the actions. I think this is an easy way for them to learn thier letters.
I know not everyone likes Jolly Phonics though.

[Tinuviel]

An alternative to Jolly Phonics is Letterland and they have rhymes/songs for each letter. I found them really good although apparently they are old-fashioned now! (So are Ladybird Peter and Jane but they still taught mine to read!)

[piscesmoon]

Firstly, do as ommmward says and read to her a lot-make it fun. Read all sorts. Get her to make up the stories for pictures. Get her involved in the stories....what might happen next?...how do you think x feels? etc get her to join in repetitive ones-use funny voices.

Forget learning to read for the moment-it sounds stressful all round.
I would play lots of games. I put letters onto cards and played games like snap and pellmanism with them. Play memory games using the alphabet, hold up the letters as you do it. e.g.'I went to market and bought apples,' the next person says 'I went to market and bought apples and butter' then apples, butter,carrots etc. Play I spy a lot. You could use it in the supermarket 'find something beginning with S' (take the letter cards with you).Give her letter cards ask her to place on an object e.g. T on the television. Sing the alphabet song daily and point to the letters as you sing it.
Think of all fun ways-the advantage of HE is that you can spend ages doing it. Many DCs don't read at that age-no one can tell as an adult whether you read at 3 yrs or 9 yrs!

[maverick]

Re. teaching reading, you might find my website useful -it's written with parents in mind, including home educators.

www.dyslexics.org.uk

[Runnerbean]

www.stafall.com is fab!
My dd learnt her letters with this and it's FREE!

[qumquat]

I'd say give up on teaching her the alphabet as a starting point, schools haven't done this for decades as it is not a helpful way into reading. Do loads of reading with her and get her familiar with sounds and how they relate to letter combinations (phonics). And don't worry, she's still very young!