Did you K'er already know letters and sounds before starting K?

[SophiaH]

My daughter did, but my son did not.

 

DS5 (6 in April) was a very late talker, and is still in ST for expressive language issues. He is in K right now, and still doesn't know ALL the letters and sounds.

 

We started MFW K in August, but there was very little retention from week to week, and I decided he just wasn't ready. Anyway, he was way too busy spending hours with his Tinkertoys, Construx, Trios, and K'nex constructing all manner of creatures; planes with multiple engines, guns, and bombs; construction vehicles, etc, etc, etc...He was just having too much fun!! :D (And who cares about reading anyway when he understands the physics of building multi-story, multi-wing buildings; rolls his eyes and states emphatically while doing tricky RightStart problems together that "this is so easy, mom," and badgers my engineer father on the details of how cell phone towers work? :tongue_smilie:)

 

Since Christmas, he has finally shown some readiness for more 'school' work. He has indirectly picked up most of his letter names and some sounds, determinedly attempts to write out the alphabet, and sometimes even asks to 'do school.' :001_huh: Something has clicked! So we have picked back up MFW K (only the reading portion), and I find that he's retaining everything and even read his first words last week! We all in our family are voracious readers, so it was not that he wasn't constantly read to and bombarded with language and words--he just simply wasn't ready. And I was totally OK with that! I didn't feel it was necessary to spend a whole year teaching him letters when I knew that he would pick them up quickly when his brain was mature enough.

[babysparkler]

I've said yes, because the majority of mine did. My oldest was reading books at 2.5 (he has always been exceptionally ahead of his peers), my second did not know her letter sounds until well into kinder (she was much more interested in people than letters), my third is now 4.5 and he knows all of his letter sounds and can read simple words and will start Kinder in the fall, and my 2.5 year old knows most of his letter sounds already (thanks to Letter Factory!). So, 3 out of 4 of mine had an interest in letters/words before Kinder.

[TxMama]

**

[AngieC]

Both of mine learned them early thanks to the Letter Factory.

[SilverMoon]

I voted for yes, though one didn't at all. My oldest knew them all before kindy, my second didn't, my third knew a fair amount of them, my fourth is currently 4 years old and reading at a 2nd grade level.

[gandpsmommy]

My dd8 did. She was self-motivated to learn to write, so pretty much taught herself to write the alphabet as a preschooler. She asked me to teach her to read at age 4, and was reading cvc words at the beginning of K5, children's novels such as Charlotte's Web and The Boxcar Children at the end of K5.

 

Ds6 (doing kindergarten currently) knew a lot, but not all letters and sounds at the beginning of kindergarten. He's just on the cusp of being a fluent reader right now.

[happyhappyjoyjoy]

My oldest new all his letters and sounds before he was 2 (I didn't teach him; he just soaked up everything.) and finished EZ lessons as an early 4 yr old. His brother knows some letters now and is 3 1/2.

Edited February 6, 2010 by happyhappyjoyjoy

[Scuff]

The first two knew most, the last knew all.

[Spock]

I'm just curoius to know how many dc already knew their letters and sound before starting k.

 

My older two knew all the letters and sounds before starting K. My third child knew many letters and sounds when she started. My fourth knew most of the letters and sounds when he started.

[Lovedtodeath]

I am really thinking about this. I am thinking of going ahead and using all of the magnets and such for OPG for preschool, then doing McRuffy LA for Kindergarten.

[Mandy in TN]

1 of mine did and 2 did not.:001_smile:

Mandy

[2squared]

They all probably know their alphabet, just from the alphabet song. None knew the sounds. Really I didn't try to teach them before K.

 

Edited to add, given some of the tone of this tread, that I did read to them constantly, and they did watch a lot of educational TV, so I am sure they knew some of the sounds, I just didn't formally teach them. Part of that was because of time/energy. My kids are very close in age, and I spent a LOT of time just making basic needs and keeping the house clean. The rest was because I just didn't see the need to push it. My oldest learned to read very quickly and it was very easy because she had no maturity issues. I see a lot of people pushing their kids to be reading early and often they do run into maturity issues. It worked with the first to wait till K, and I didn't see the need to change anything.

 

Heather

 

 

 

:iagree: with all of this. I don't see any need for the kids to learn their alphabet or to read before 5 (other than my first guinea pig - the others won't). I prefer my kids to be playing creatively, being read to, exploring, etc. It works for us.

[Amy Jo]

I answered other, they knew/know all their letters, but not all the sounds. I think they knew most of the consonants and the short sounds of vowels, but I don't push it.

[kmacnchs]

:iagree: with all of this. I don't see any need for the kids to learn their alphabet or to read before 5 (other than my first guinea pig - the others won't). I prefer my kids to be playing creatively, being read to, exploring, etc. It works for us.

 

Not trying to start a fight but just wanted to say on the other side of that, I don't see the need of *not* teaching them when they are ready *just* b/c they are NOT five. Just b/c that is the ps magic #, does not mean it is my individual child's magic #...isn't that what hsing is all about? catering to your child? Oh, and 30 min/day working on letters and reading and counting w/magnets and manipulatives does not take away from the other 9 or so awake time hrs of being read to, exploring, and playing creatively...just saying :grouphug:(no tomatoes please)

[Lovedtodeath]

 

Not trying to start a fight but just wanted to say on the other side of that, I don't see the need of *not* teaching them when they are ready *just* b/c they are NOT five. Just b/c that is the ps magic #, does not mean it is my individual child's magic #...isn't that what hsing is all about? catering to your child? Oh, and 30 min/day working on letters and reading and counting w/magnets and manipulatives does not take away from the other 9 or so awake time hrs of being read to, exploring, and playing creatively...just saying :grouphug:(no tomatoes please)

:iagree::grouphug:

[lea1]

My two sons both knew their letters and letter sounds when they were three. All of it was from playing with letters on the fridge, playing with a letter-train floor puzzle and Melissa and Doug letter puzzles and from watching the Leapfrog Letter Factory. One is a very quick study and would be easily reading by now if I forced 15 minutes a day to make him learn it, but I have not wanted to do that.

 

Once in a great while we play games with beginning letter cards and ending word cards or with flash cards. I am amazed at how much they have picked up from this. Once in a while I will think of it and ask if they want to play a game. As long as I come up with a fun game, they are very excited about it and we will do it until they want to quit.

 

It is interesting how much they pick up while just playing games and puzzles and how much they have picked up in the very small amount of time we have spent doing this. This is the same way they have learned counting to 100 by 10's and counting backwards from 10. Just playing.

 

When they ask to "do school" we sit at the table and do mazes, tracing, dot to dot books, cutting and pasting and such. They like to pretend to write and one of them (the quick study) has already figured out how to write all of the capital letters on his own.

 

We have RS Math A, OPGTR, ETC, HWT and some other things like that but they have not been into it so I have been reading them and then I find fun game-like ways to learn.

 

The writing thing is tricky though. I have read that they can pick up bad habits so you should teach them and watch them carefully, that they are writing each letter correctly. My quick-study son is not really ready to sit down and very carefully write a letter over and over for practice but he loves to write his name, the alphabet and the names of his brother, mom and dad, with an exclamation mark after each, since his cousin showed him how to make one of those. I have been torn as to whether I should make him practice writing his letters, so he will be sure to learn it correctly, or just let him keep having fun with it, knowing I may have to work with him later on relearning some it.

[Lovedtodeath]

Writing is tricky!

[scrapbookbuzz]

My kids not only knew the alphabet and recognized the letters and their sounds they also skipped right into 1st grade math. I do not say this to brag, only to point out that when you spend quality time with your kiddos (and I 'structured' alot of it, for lack of knowing anything else to do), they can and most likely WILL learn these things before K. (That, of course, is barring any LDs, although dd is dyslexic and she knew this stuff before K.)

[Sophia]

Five of my children learned how to read in pre-k4.

My youngest (who will be 4 next month) is not interested in letters or the potty, tyvm. :D

[KarenNC]

Mine was reading at a 2nd grade level when it was time for her to enter K (just after her 5th birthday). It was one of the major factors in our choosing to homeschool. I wasn't really surprised as early reading runs in both sides of her family---my husband was reading at 4 and my dad taught himself to read at 4. She started wanting to really learn how to read around her 4th birthday, so I started teaching her at her pace. She had had lots of exposure before that, but we didn't do anything really structured until that point--just the general exposure of reading to her, playing around with letters and sounds.

[MissKNG]

Not trying to start a fight but just wanted to say on the other side of that, I don't see the need of *not* teaching them when they are ready *just* b/c they are NOT five. Just b/c that is the ps magic #, does not mean it is my individual child's magic #...isn't that what hsing is all about? catering to your child? Oh, and 30 min/day working on letters and reading and counting w/magnets and manipulatives does not take away from the other 9 or so awake time hrs of being read to, exploring, and playing creatively...just saying :grouphug:(no tomatoes please)

 

No tomatoes from me! :D

 

Actually, being read to, exploring, and playing creatively is how my big girl learned her letters and sounds by 2.5-ish. Once I figured that out, THEN I introduced the Carol's Affordable Curriculum to her and she completely exploded with it!!