When should ds be recognising numbers and letters???

[daddywillbehomesoon]

ds1 is 4.0 - he is very good with recognising numbers and is starting to learn to tell the time.

Letters we are a little stuck on - we know some of them but not all and will have a go at starting to write and trace over them a la jolly phonics books 1, 2 and 3.

We are now living in South Africa so ds1 will not be starting big school in september as he would if he were in England.

he's doing pretty well linguistically with speech, and is very articulate and expressive. He is also very interested in colour, basic science principles that they do at pre-school, nature, animals and movement (ball skills, sports etc).

I'm not overly concerned that he's lagging or anything like that, and I'm certainly not saying that pfb ds1 is g&t but I don't know if he is where he "should be" iyswim?

Any ideas, helpful suggestions, slap round the back of the head?

It very much depends on the child. Their abilities vary massively at this age. My ds (3.4) knows the names and sounds of most letters, can blend simple words, recognises and writes his own name independently, can count up to 19, and recognises numbers up to 10.

However, my brother couldn't read at all until he was 7, and always struggled with letter formation until he was in his teens.

Don't worry, your ds sounds absolutely fine, and there's no pressure to learn particular things by a certain age.

sounds fine to me - i was asking at ds's nursery the other day & they said when they start school they vary from knowing all numbers & letters to not knowing any. i'm sure they all level out

I'm not really sure when DCs are supposed to recognise them, but is he by any chance a kinaesthetic (physical) learner?

DD is, I've always found she learns concepts much more quickly when she's got a toy that contains it - shapes, colours etc. does your DS have letter magnets and that sort of thing? you could make letters out of play dough, sticking string onto the outlines etc, it may be that it sinks in more easily when he can literally feel the letters rather than just seeing them.

Great ideas from MMM - boys do tend to be more physical learners, and anything active that you can do with him is a good thing. My ds is certainly not into sitting down and doing anything at a table, he likes to be running about and active as far as possible. Structured activities are a nightmare - I firmly believe that boys shouldn't go into formal education too early anyway, so the fact that your ds is starting school later will probably be a positive thing.

MMM and TTT thanks! yes I think he is much more of a kinaesthetic learner although when he wants to he will happily sit at something - learning wise I mean.

fridge magnets here we come I think.

also thinking about it, I think he is quite like me that until he can do something properly in his mind he doesn't do it. Walking was a particular one - wouldn't stand on his own till 15 months and by 15 and a half months he was running... same with talking - nothing (but lots of obvious understanding) and then full blown sentences very quickly.