Allergic to numbers

[colette]

My dd is 4 and resists anything to do with nos . However when she was about 2 she would count steps (up to about 7) . I bought a really basic counting book with stickers etc. and have tried to go thro' it with her when she has agreed and says she wants to . She starts listening and then pretends she doesn't know you start with one!!.I left it for a while thinking that would take the heat off. She has had a poor nursery report and I feel I should be doing something about it-she would really just slob out and watch tv if I let her.
I am feeling quite guilty as if I am getting it all wrong , but conversely I feel she is being manipulative to avoid something she doesn't want to do. I have tried to really praise her when she gets it right butI am also worried she has convinced herself she is not good at numbers. I would really appreciate any advice , as what I am doing is really not working and I am at my wits end.

Thanks for all your sugestions they were very interesting, we will try and introduce numbers in a fun and positive way and not put any pressure on her.

Aloha, you've just said EVERYTHING I think on these posts! It could have been me posting! I couldn't agree more. Bah humbug to force-fed tots and long-live learning through play. It's not natural for 4, 5, 6 yr olds to sit still for longer than 3 minutes at a time.

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Droile, I feel so sad sometimes at the thought of entrusting my ds to the educational system. I was talking to a friend today whose son has been diagnosed as dyspraxic and thought of as dyslexic and been said to have behaviour problems etc etc at school. He's now seven and he's just come on leaps and bounds, is suddenly reading well and is much less hyperactive - BUT he has all these labels and has learned to think of himself as defective. I strongly suspect that he was a lively boy who needed that idyllic sounding Swiss Kindergarten experience of running and playing without a thought of reading and writing.

Aloha, have you considered home educating your child? I really, really wish I had done this with dd1, who is now 15. Looking back, she wasn't ready for school at 5 and I think she would have benefited from being at home with me until she was 7-ish. I didn't have the confidence or knowledge 10 yrs ago to do it but now there are so many wonderful resources on the internet I think it is a viable option. DD1 hasn't had any adverse effects from her early experiences and wouldn't want to be HE'd today, but now says she wasn't at all happy for her early years.

DD2, otoh, needs to be away from me and vice versa. Due to the recent problems in Jakarta I've consider HE for her but it isn't an attractive proposition!