Title says it all really. My son, 5 in August, in reception since January, will happily, clearly and with no hesitation recite his numbers in perfect sequence up to twenty. He can say 'TH'irteen, 'F'ourteen' But ask him to say 'TH'ursday 'F'riday and the rest of the days of the week in sequence and it is no go.
I tried to teach him the days a few months back but gave up as he wasn't interested. All his class recite them as a group at school. Yesterday, after he counted up to twenty, I asked him to tell me the days of the week. He said 'monday, tuesday, wednesday.....friday saturday sunday. I told him he'd missed one out. He was very upset and bewildered. Over the next half an hour dh and I repeated the 7 days ad infinitum, got him to say, 'thursday/friday' got him to sing 'thursday/friday' but could we get him to say 'mon, tues, wed, thurs, fri, sat, sun' - NO!! we tried to get him to talk along with us, we bribed with chocolate, we threatened him with an early night, we told him he was just being silly, but nothing would make him say 'thursday' We had to end it because he was getting really upset. Tonight, dh asked him the days of the week and ds said ' monday, tuesday, wednesday,THURSDAY... Saturday' Ahhhh!!!!!!! After a few more attempts dh told him he'd go to bed and miss desert and his favourite TV programme if he wouldn't say the days of the week. Ds said, 'OK' and went upstairs to bed. We felt so mean that we brought him down.
Frankly, I am getting worried. I just cannot see why ds is not happy to recite the days of the week. I don't believe he can't do it, but for some reason he does not want to do it or gets afraid to do it. He won't tell us why - well he did say 'yes' when I asked him if he didn't like saying 'TH' but then I remembered he says 'THirteen' with absolutely no probs. The same with his age - he will simply not admit he is four. If you ask him the how old he is, he says he doesn't know, yet he can easily count to four, knows what birthdays are, knows some people are older than others. It's as if he rejects certain questions, just pulls a mental blind down. He doesn't tantrum about it, just calmly ignores the question and won't cooperate. My older son was never like this. Has anyone elst had this experience with their 4 and 5 year olds?
I do not know how ds2 will get on at school as the emphasis gets more towards 'reading/writing/arithmatic' in year 1. I know learning the days of the week is not so important right now, but ds's approach is making me feel very apprehensive and puzzled.