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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

4year old behind in learning?

49 replies

savy57 · 15/06/2012 22:17

ds had induction at primary school, i felt compared to the other children he was some what behind in the things that the others could do

i know every child is different so im not worrying just looking for ways to help him along, my ds can count to 10 but still gets mixed up at times, he cant recognise any numbers by looking at them, he can recognise 1 letter from the alphabet because his name starts with it

do any of you know good websites with spelling/number sheets i cant print off(ive searched cant seem to find any) also what other things can i do to help him
TYIA

OP posts:
Rosebud05 · 15/06/2012 22:21

Try spotting numbers and letters in the environment as you're out and about.

Both my children learnt more about letters and numbers from car number plates than they did from websites.

Rosebud05 · 15/06/2012 22:22

BTW, he's not 'behind' for starting reception.

savy57 · 15/06/2012 22:34

thanks for the reply ive been doing that alot lately counting stairs cars etc. its just him that keeps getting the pens out asking me to write something so he can try copying it but im just worried my way of teaching him isnt the right way iyswim so thought sheets might be a good idea

and thank you im not worrying about it because we were only put into small groups, but the other 4 kids seemed to be able to spot all the numbers and letters straight away so just thought since its summer i could do my best just to help further his learning along a little since hes keen

OP posts:
PiedWagtail · 15/06/2012 22:38

Don't worry -teachers do not expect any number/letter recognition on starting reception! If you want to, buy Jolly Phonics workbooks though as they give you letters to trace and show you the right way to form letters.

savy57 · 15/06/2012 22:43

thank you for the reply, i will have a look for some of these :)

OP posts:
accountantsrule · 16/06/2012 14:39

This sounds completely normal for YR, the abilities range probably more than in any other year TBH. There are many children that can just about count to 10 and recognise no letters and there are children that can read Harry Potter and write full sentences, you are unlikely to be able to tell who these children are by Y3 or at least certainly not tell the difference between them to the extent you can in the early days.

DS2 started recognising numbers when we were walking to the park by us looking at house numbers.

FunnysInLaJardin · 16/06/2012 14:45

I was really worried about this when DS1 was in reception. There seemed such a difference between the children and their abilities. DS1 is a November baby and he seemed way behind, which worried me as he was one of the eldest. He is now near the end of Y1 and it really has evened out so much. All of the children now seem to be working at a similar level, with some exceptions at either end of the spectrum.

Tiggles · 16/06/2012 16:03

I recently went to get some maths books for DS1 from Waterstones (Yr5) and picked some up for DS3 (3) at the same time as he wanted to do some 'like his big brother'. They were aged 3-4 so school nursery age, and they had the numbers to trace over e.g. the first page was all about '1' there were lots of one object to count and then a box to write a 1 in (by writing over dots).
There's lots of different ones but I got this one so they are useful to show you how they are taught to write the numbers.
Generally though I'd just 'make it up' rather than use a book, in terms as you say of counting stairs, looking at house numbers, counting smarties, grapes, raisins etc as you get them out the packet and put them on the plate.
Also singing songs to help count forwards/backwards e.g. 5 little speckled frogs, 5 cheeky monkeys bouncing on the bed etc.

AThingInYourLife · 16/06/2012 16:10

Don't make him spend his last summer before school doing numbers and stuff he'll do at school anyway.

Just have fun with him. I'm sure he has his own things he's interested in and good at.

Knowing numbers doesn't mean you are "ahead".

AdventuresWithVoles · 16/06/2012 16:21

Can he wipe his bottom after toilet? Eat with a fork? Sit still for 10 minutes? Dress himself (mostly)?

Don't worry about the rest, that's what school is for!

Starfall website is good for letter recognition, but keep it fun.

Pancakeflipper · 16/06/2012 16:24

He is 4. The teacher wants them to know how to sit, how to put their hands up. Know it's not nice to hit, kick, pull hair. They want a kid who can eat their lunch without much assistance.

Please let him learn through playing and having fun. Don't look at him thinking "oh he's behind in numbers, writing, reading etc.." Look at what he loves to do.

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 16/06/2012 16:27

Please don't worry too much. There can be almost a year in age between the youngest in a class and the oldest and at 4 that year makes a huge difference. He sounds just fine.

Thumbwitch · 16/06/2012 16:34

Savy, my DS is 4.6 and won't be starting school until he is 5 because of being in Australia and starting in Feb.

He has only just started to recognise letters (today, as it happens, although I'm still not quite convinced!). In the last month, he has gone from only being able to recognise the figures 1, 2 and 4, to including 3, 5 and 8. Not quite got the hang of 6, 7, 9 and 10 - or so I thought until midweek last week when he suddenly, out of the blue, produced a drawing of number 7! And knew that was what it was! and then a 1, and then 8! But that was it. He does now recognise 7 and 10 as well but 6 and 9 are still waiting...
He's never drawn anything more recognisable than a circle before so to suddenly produce those 3 figures was just amazing - I'm hoping that this is the start of the floodgates opening and he'll just "get" it with the letters (Today was more pretending to "read" A a as "apple", than quite understanding that they were letters).

I haven't pushed DS with this, but I did have flashcards at the ready for both numbers and letters, for when he expressed an interest - and I do feel they have helped - but he needs to want to do it himself, or he gets "too tired, Mummy".

He'll get there - when he's ready, he'll do it. :)

BackforGood · 16/06/2012 16:34

Please don't make the poor little lad sit and do worksheets Sad.
As others have said, look at numbers (and letters) about you in the environment - on the front of buses, in car reg plates, on doors, on the remote, on phones, on birthday cards. Count hings out in front of him and get him to count things out... "Can you get 2 plates out for lunch please" / "Go and choose 4 potatoes for tea" (in the supermarket) / "Nanny's coming round when the hands on the clock point to this number here... it says '6'" / etc.,etc.
Use some wooden / sponge / foam letters on the fridge or the side of the bath and spell out his name. Just give him those (3?6?) letters and get him to copy what you've written to put the letters in the right order for his name. Play simple games which use a dice - they soon get to recognise the numerals or dot patterns - or play 'pairs' with some playing cards (start by just using cards up to 4 or 5, not the whole pack) or you can buy special lotto games with numbers on.
Play games like 'I Spy' to get used to listening to sounds.
Read to him lots, and let him fill in words and phrases he knows.

btw He does not sound 'behind' in anyway, but these are just things that he might enjoy that start him off on the 'literacy journey'.

savy57 · 16/06/2012 21:51

im not making him do anything, its him that asks me to write things for him so he can copy them, i just didnt want to teach him a way that may be wrong.

thank you for replys, lots of good ideas will be sure to try them out :)

OP posts:
maples · 16/06/2012 21:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mylittleprincess3455 · 17/06/2012 22:38

He does seem a little behind the four year olds i know. But the four year olds i know where all taught letters, number, how to write their name etc when they were at nursery and the parents definitely didn't have to teach them.

There are some excellent games for the I-Pad which could help your son. There is an excellent one that allows children to trace letters using their fingers i have been using it with my two year old dd and she is already picking things up. If you don't have the I-pad many of my friends have got this for their pre-schoolers and say it is really good and teaching letter sounds/names and how to write them.

www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3508454

FelixCited · 18/06/2012 21:03

We watch numtums and alphablocks on cbeebies.
They are great, fun and educational

gabsid · 18/06/2012 22:07

Development goes in spurts, a bit like talking. DD spoke only a few words aged 2 and at 2 1/2 she spoke in complex sentences. So far she wasn't interested in puzzles and couldn't do them, today she did several and one with about 30 pieces by herself. For the last 6 months she couldn't count accurately beyond 5, last week she counted 10 sweets.

Just keep stimulating him, just count things that can be counted whether he joins in or not. Move along with your finger when you read to him a bit, chat, play, draw letters/words in the sand, out of spaghetti ... There are maths websites that do little counting games (Topmarks.com). DD sometimes likes to do maths like her brother, she likes the one where you give the teddy sweets, count eggl or cows.

gabsid · 18/06/2012 22:09

Oh, DD is now 3 3/4 not 2 anymore.

PastSellByDate · 19/06/2012 10:01

Hi Savvy57

I agree with PiedWagtail - I wouldn't worry about what other children are doing or where your DS is at just yet. Many children, especially if they've been at home haven't had some of these pre-school skills yet and I'm sure your DS will not be alone and will catch up very quickly.

If you haven't done much work on the alphabet or numbers to 10 or perhaps 20 - then gradually over the next few months (and there is plenty of time so this can be quite relaxed) start introducing saying the alphabet (there also are lots of alphabet books and counting books out there - so either buy some or visit yoru library). Probably the first place to start with writing is learning to write your name and recognise it - so perhaps that is something you can work on. Kids enjoy writing it in water on the patio, painting it in big letters on a big sheet of paper or writing it in chalks on the pavement. It doesn't just have to be pencil/ pen and paper.

I definitely agree with PiedWagtail the jolly phonics books are really useful to work with at home during YR.

Here on Mumsnet there is also alphablocks worksheets (under literacy) and a counting to 10 games (under numeracy) on the education pages: www.mumsnet.com/learning/learning-zone/learning-zone-introduction

If your DS is keen to get on with writing than go ahead an encourage that. But try to avoid writing in all capitals - so try using lower case and explain that the capital is a very special type of letter at the start of a proper names (like his name or the town/ city you live in).

For counting I'd highly recommend snakes and ladders - it helps get them counting up to 100. When that's secure you can play counting by 2s or 5s (just use one die and count up how many you roll x 2 - so if you roll 5 - you'd count by 5 twos.) Play backwards for subtraction practice.

You can count even and odd numbers by saying house numbers as you walk somewhere (just come back on the other side of the street).

Finally take a deep breath and remember that a lot of Year R is about settling into the formal and busy environment of school and is centred on learning through play. Obviously as your DS starts school you'll want him to start building reading, writing and maths skills - but it's a marathon not a sprint and is individual to each child. Focus on making learning fun, making sure you're aware how your DS is doing and what he needs to be working on and making sure you are building good studying habits (so regularly setting aside time for reading guided reading books, doing homeworks and taking advantage of other learning opportunities through clubs at school/ at weekends, etc...). Be informed about what the notional average student should be able to do by the end of Year R, but use it as a guide. You will be amazed how quickly he gets on, but the important thing in YR is settling in and enjoying school. Don't underestimate how important liking being at school and working at school can be long term!

HTH

gabsid · 19/06/2012 10:20

My DS (7) couldn't count accurately until 4 1/2 (half way through R), he was never much into story books, more non-fiction/technically interested. He refused to read all way through R.

Now at the end of Y2 his reading is average. I did move him along a bit with his maths this year, but its average as well now.

I think before they are about 6 I would just encourage what they are interested in. If he doesn't want to do letters or numbers - don't make him!

Just make sure he sees that reading and numbers are everywhere and that its important. The supermarket was a good place for a bit of maths: let him get 10 carrots, 5 potatos ... spot numbers (in price tags, which item costs more ...)

BrittaPerry · 19/06/2012 11:08

Don't worry about him being behind, but there is nothing wrong with him having workbooks etc at his disposal.

Seriously, sometimes i think half of mumsnet has never done a crossword or learned a new skill as a hobby. If I read one more person saying 'let him have fun instead of learning' I will scream. Learning is fun in itself.

I have a 2yo and a 5yo, and both were doing worksheets, flashcards, educational websites, projects, games, dressing up, museums, etc from as soon as they could talk. I have lost count of the amount of people who have seen my 2yo ask for her letterland cards and giggle away while naming the charecters, or my 5yo sitting reading a book about digestion then bug me with facts about poo, then told me I should 'just let them have fun'. I do OU, DH runs pub quizzes, we all take an interest in the world, read lots, go to heritage events, etc. Learning IS fun.

Still, dont worry at this stage about targets etc - my two are massively behind the average on some areas. They will catch up, and I make activities available to help, but it is fine.

gabsid · 19/06/2012 16:03

Britta - the problem is, that young children only learn what and when they want to learn, if they like doing worksheets, then go for it.

But sitting a 2 or 5yo down on a regular basis to do x, y and z does not work for most, for mine it doesn't anyway.

Thumbwitch · 19/06/2012 16:12

Agree with gabsid - DS has only recently started to show genuine interest in the flashcards (number and letter) that I made him - before it was a real chore for him. Yet he could name any number of animals in an animal encyclopedia because that interested him. His knowledge of animals is pretty good!

I've just got out his magnetic numbers and letters again because he has started to show interest - and he's played with them for over an hour this afternoon, can tell which are numbers and which are letters, managed to put the numbers in order (1-9) and has now got his name up there in letters as well to sound out. But a few months back, none of this would have interested him at all (so little so that I had to put the magnetic bits away as he kept trying to cook them on his toy cooker and they were getting lost)