4year old behind in learning?

[savy57]

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

Of course learning is fun.

People who think making small children do worksheets is shit aren't against learning, they're against prescriptive, formal learning at an age when it is completely unnecessary.

Pre-schoolers are learning all the time. You don't encourage them by getting them to sit down and do fake homework. You encourage them by listening to what they are interested in/obsessed by and talking to them about the world.

That's what it means to let him have fun - let him be, he's learning more now more quickly than he will at any time of his life in future.

Let him lead it and enjoy himself. And don't make the mistake of thinking that literacy and numeracy are the only (or most important) things to learn.

They are not.

Well said!

Don't bother with the worksheets. Probably the best thing to do before school is to chat and listen and encourage him to do the same- (as well as playing and all other 4 year old stuff ).

thank you for the replies, i just would like to state for all that keep talking about WORKSHEETS and MAKING him do stuff
me and my ds are always having fun hes attended nursery for the last 2 years and has enjoyed it. ds is always asking me to write things down for him so he can try copy them i dont want to write something in my handwritting or indeed my spelling (cant spell to save myself) and teach him the wrong way iyswim i never asked for worksheets and would certainly never force him to do anything he doesnt want to do. all i was looking for was maybe a site that had alphabet or number sheets that ds could trace round rather than trying to copy my letters. i think its pretty sad that some of use see given a child a sheet of paper that they have indeed asked for themselfs as a bad thing

and thank you to everybody that replied with suggestions, much appreciated :)

Hi, I have not read all the replies. My dd is similar to urs in that she lives to draw and label what she has drawn with only a rudimentary grasp of written alphabets. She can read 3 letter and some 4 letter words phonetically. For writing, I let her copy what I have written in a separate paper or trace over dots I make. Her attention span does not last more than 20 mins so it's enough. For grasping spelling, we have alphabets that stick to bath tiles and today we spelt all her fav. Fairy names on tiles. We play I spy all the time... Etc. it goes a long way. I also purchased books from tesco for writing practice which she hates so we don't do that. I will be trying out kumon to increase her attention span/focus but I would not recommend it yet.

If your ds wants to do worksheets then go for it, I understand if you force them then it's not ideal but worksheets can be fun. My nearly 4 yr old recently started to really love worksheets, workbooks and all of that - if they like it then imo its good to encourage

I got my ds this book the other day, its a colouring book with numbers integrated in the pics so they can find the numbers, trace over them and colour it all in - I thought it was quite cool and bit different from the usual workbooks
www.amazon.co.uk/123-Doodles-Nancy-Meyers/dp/1907151281

but if you want just standard workbooks they will have loads in the works, 99p shop, whsmiths, waterstones, probably in larger supermarkets too

if you google should be able to come up with loads of free worksheets, eg this: www.kidslearningstation.com/preschool/teach-numbers.asp

if you want handwriting worksheets at all, then this site you can make your own by typing what you want it to say. i found it good for making worksheets of the childs name but you can use for anything. probably could even type numbers in this too
www.handwritingworksheets.com/

as mentioned already i think, numtums, numberjacks and alphablocks are all really good. if he is interested in reading as well as numbers then reading eggs website is brilliant i think! you can look around for various codes to extend your free trial from the normal 2 weeks up til about 3 months-ish?

if you have an iphone there are some good apps, for eg they show choice of 3 letters or numbers and says touch the 7. i cant remember the name but there should be loads on app store. actually iwrite is another good one they can trace the letters and numbers

The foundation stage at primary schools in England at least, is amazing. They all learn, they learn through play so all learning styles are accommodated for.

He'll get there eventually. There are probably a lot of things he can do that the 'intellectual' ones can't.

savy - if you have access to a printer and a laminator then you can make your own sheets with letters and numbers on. Make them yourself, laminate them and get some dry-wipe marker pens - then your DS can trace around and wipe off.

fab link firawla thank you

and i dnt have an iphone or ipad but do have a smart phone with a few apps on it for him, he learnt the full days of the week in the matter of a few days by just listening to a singing app on my phone.

fab idea thumbwitch hadnt thought of that :)

megabored i do sim stuff in the bath with ds he has tile crayons (worst invention ever can never get the colour out the tile groove lols) and he loves all that kind of stuff, i will have a look in tesco next time im in

thanks everybody

OK, if I called worksheets "colouring in" or "puzzle books", is that ok? Just because it involves a pen and paper does not mean that the kids are being forced. Sitting at a table with a pen and paper can be fun.

It worries me when people see "schoolwork" as separate to real life. This is one of the reasons I nearly home educated - this idea that the learning bit is a chore to be rewarded by playtime.

My children have a toy kitchen, dressing up, toy trains, baby dolls, scooters, as well as a box of printed worksheets, coloured paper, box of pens, shelves of books, microscopes, instruments, dvds, easel, etc. They are all educational and they are all fun. They choose what they like to do. I see it as my job to make things available to them, and that includes the attitude that books, computers, numbers, paper , pens and a challenge/experiment are not to be scared of.

It does wind me up when people run a mile when faced with some things that they think are too "school like"

britta I so agree with you. I call the non 'worksheet' parents the arty farty brigade. They have such black and white view on things.

He sounds a lovely well rounded little boy to me :)

One thing that might be good is doing games that help his fine motor skills, like threading beads, Hama, Lego etc? Things like that can help when it comes to writing later on.

Hello fuzzpig. Fancy seeing you here!

I went a bit workbook crazy when my DD was little (the Works constant offer of 4 for £5 has a lot to answer for) :o she's not that into them but then sometimes she will spontaneously sit down and complete a whole one, or sometimes Preschool ones are brilliant, so much choice even between pages and usually a really engaging layout (and stickers, don't forget the stickers...) - it is usually more about tracing lines etc, nothing wrong with them if that's what they want to do and there's loads of other stuff around.

I guess my problem with worksheets/puzzle books etc for under 5s is that unless your child can read they require an adult to explain what to do, or at least this is my experience, so not very child led. Also, they are generally "linear" in what you have to do, which is not how under 5s see the world. Of course there is room for a bit of this but perhaps it is not the most important thing about being 3 or 4.

My DD, 3.7 loves spot the difference and is fantastic at it, quicker than me sometimes. She likes following the lines through mazes and counting- the stuff in Cbeebies magazines and the like. However, she does not really want to follow instructions as in what she should be doing on a page, would rather do her own thing, which I think is typical of her age. And through doing your own thing, dare I say, you can learn a lot more than the narrow focus of a worksheet/activity book.

"this idea that the learning bit is a chore to be rewarded by playtime."

Who exactly on this thread do you think thinks that?

The point people are making is that play is learning, not that it is a reward for learning.

I don't know, I wouldn't say the linear thing was true of decent preschool workbooks (BTW Firawla I blame you for making my Amazon wishlist a bit more expensive! That number doodle book and others in the series look fab) compared to KS1+ which are more "do page 1, then page 2..."

Ones for youngsters are what the child makes of them - sometimes DD takes one to bed and I know she won't get as much out of them as if I sat down with her, but she's trying to work out by herself what to do like matching things up or tracing lines or whatever. She often makes up her own stuff to do with them. The only exception is the telling the time one I've got her - she's getting a watch for her birthday and really wants to learn how to tell time so I think that one I will be doing specifically with her when she's interested.

One thing I do remember reading on here a while ago was that too many workbooks could make a child expect that school will be all like that too and then not be willing to do other types of learning. I can see theoretically how that would happen but I don't think it at all likely if workbooks are just one of many types of play available and the child can choose when/how to use them.

I dunno, my 4yo loves nothing better than doing things "in order".

It does my head in at times.

DH bought her day of the week socks

Ahem, DH has them. He's 44.

:o

My DH has them too. I think that's why he got them for DD1!

thanks Britta couldnt agree more, my ds is the same he has lego action figures kitchen loads of role play stuff and he loves playing with it all but he sometimes loves nothing more than just sitting with pencils and paper

i got him some dare i say it "workbooks" today ds picked all the ones he wanted, all were aged 3-5 so ideal for him, lots of numbers and letters to trace, filled with stickers, dots to dots et.. just what HE wanted :)

One thing my DD's school suggested was to have a 'writing box' - similar to what Britta mentioned earlier. So loads of different types of paper, some lined, some not, different colours and sizes, some with borders or whatever, postcards/letter paper/cards and envelopes etc and lots of different fancy pens/pencils. Like an art box really but they said it could be really beneficial to have a separate one just for writing that they can go to. I'm going to set one up for DD especially as it's nearly summer

At school they also have a 'jotter', a personal notebook that not even the teacher is allowed to look in without the child's permission. I think that's a fab idea. Learning to write is such a big deal and it is nice for them to have somewhere they can practise for themselves without it being looked over by parents, peers or teachers.

(sorry that's not especially relevant to OP just thought I'd mention it!)

Tgger - my DD (4 in October) is the same. She loves me to read her the Floppy, Read at home books and loves the little activities at the back, e.g. mazes, spot the difference and seaching for items in the picture etc.

However, I did have to explain to her what to do at some point, now she sits there and does it by herself. Under child-lead I understand that the child initiates the activity but may need an adult to explain or play with. I do find this is important to develop language and communication skills.

child-led