Helping a 4yo learn letters

[sncstraub]

I have a 4yo ds who seems to want to learn to read. But he doesn't know many of his letters, and when I've tried to teach him, he's very enthusiastic but doesn't remember the letters.

 

His motor skills are much better than my older ds' were at that age, and this boy can copy any letters that I write for him. But older ds knew his letters by 2.5.

 

I used Phonics Pathways and BOB Books with my older son, and since this ds has better handwriting, I've tried Get Ready for the Code with him. But I've just dropped it because he's not remembering the letters.

 

Maybe I haven't been consistent enough? Or maybe I should just let it go until he's older? He's not that interested in "doing" school - he just likes to sit with us and draw/write whatever he fancies at the moment.

 

Help?

[Sue G in PA]

Leapfrog DVD's and Fridge Phonics have been great "teachers" here. My not-quite-2yo already knows 1 handful of letters and sounds thanks to Fridge Phonics and Leapfrog Letter Factory DVDs. It is amazing. We also read aloud a lot. Now, ds1 looks at books, points to letters and says a sound...sometimes he is right and sometimes he is wrong. But, he knows what letters ARE and that they makes sounds. My ds8 taught himself to read using Word Whammer and watching Letter and Word Factory and dd4 also learned early playing with the Fridge Phonics. It is fun for them and they don't really think it is "school". I'm not telling you NOT to do something more formal or to NOT teach him yourself, but these "tools" have been very helpful here.

[StartingOver]

Leapfrog DVD's and Fridge Phonics have been great "teachers" here. My not-quite-2yo already knows 1 handful of letters and sounds thanks to Fridge Phonics and Leapfrog Letter Factory DVDs. It is amazing. We also read aloud a lot. Now, ds1 looks at books, points to letters and says a sound...sometimes he is right and sometimes he is wrong. But, he knows what letters ARE and that they makes sounds. My ds8 taught himself to read using Word Whammer and watching Letter and Word Factory and dd4 also learned early playing with the Fridge Phonics. It is fun for them and they don't really think it is "school". I'm not telling you NOT to do something more formal or to NOT teach him yourself, but these "tools" have been very helpful here.

 

:iagree: I adore the Leap Frog DVD's and Fridge Phonics ! My son is watching them with his little sister now, even though he is reading. He loves them !

[Tiff in TX]

I will second the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD. My daughter loves it and it was a snap for her to learn her letters and sounds.

 

We now watch the Leap Frog Word factory and she constantly runs around the house (or out in public) singing "We're A,E,I,O,U.. we're the vowels;we're the glue that stick the words together. We're very sticky letters" and then she yells "Honey waterfall!":lol:

[Pamela H in Texas]

I'm not a tv person, but I absolutely think The Letter Factory is the best! At 3, Goo (a boy I babysat), learned his letters and sounds in about a month from that video (and all the silliness it inspired).

[Rosy]

I wouldn't do any formal school with him if he doesn't want to, you can just point to letters he sees and say "remember this letter? A" until he starts remembering. You might also write them on post-its and stick them around the house. Also, I'd read to him and point out the letters in his name to start, then other letters, and gradually start to have him guess at familiar words.

 

Also, I used Phonics Pathways with my middle dcs, but I don't think PP is particularly good at teaching letter sounds. DD5 knows many of them, but not so many that I feel like she's ready to start reading words. I got Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading for her and it is really helping her. OPGTR is excellent for auditory learners IMO, and also good for visual learners. If he's more tactile, I would also get some sort of manipulative (letter blocks or something).

[Dawn in OH]

My almost 3 year old is LOVING the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD. When I first got it I was under the impression it was way beyond him. He stares intently at it, acts for it all the time, and has begun walking around the house pointing out letters and saying the letter sounds.

[Sandra in FL]

to dc every day starting when each was 2 1/2 yr. old. I read the alphabet as sounds (not letters) eg. Big "a" (short a sound), little "a" what begins with a? Aunt Annie's alligator a a a (sounds) while pointing to the letter. All 3 dc learned the sounds just listening to the book.

 

I never did teach them the letters of the alphabet. They just sort of picked them up or they'd sing the alphabet song.

 

HTH,

Sandra

[Orthodox6]

Age of only four would lead me to be very relaxed about this.

 

I might buy a set of letters for him to play with -- perhaps from a Montessori supplier. (letters with good tactile surfaces). He can use them as "toys" in whatever way he wishes. When the mood strikes him, he probably will ask you, "What letter is this ?" ( "Big R" ) and eventually shall know them all very well.

 

I would not even be bothering to teach the letters "in order." For the life of me, there is neither rhyme-nor-reason for the sequence of our English alphabet, and the sequence has nothing whatsoever to do with reading !

[Lightly Salted]

Leapfrog DVD's and Fridge Phonics have been great "teachers" here. My not-quite-2yo already knows 1 handful of letters and sounds thanks to Fridge Phonics and Leapfrog Letter Factory DVDs. It is amazing. We also read aloud a lot. Now, ds1 looks at books, points to letters and says a sound...sometimes he is right and sometimes he is wrong. But, he knows what letters ARE and that they makes sounds. My ds8 taught himself to read using Word Whammer and watching Letter and Word Factory and dd4 also learned early playing with the Fridge Phonics. It is fun for them and they don't really think it is "school". I'm not telling you NOT to do something more formal or to NOT teach him yourself, but these "tools" have been very helpful here.

 

That, seriously! My kids (6 and 7) still love those even though both are reading well now.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Leapfrog Letter Factory for sure. My second son also really got into a book called Superhero ABC. He learned the letters quickly because I would ask him to tell me what the letter was before I read the page.

[myfatherslily]

We haven't done all the letters, but my boys have loved Letter Roads! I laminated (with contact paper) large letters and they drive little cars around on them. I've found that the cars need to be a little smaller than typical Hot Wheels, for the pages we have.

 

I should really get off the computer now, but I'll try to remember where I downloaded the large letters to post a link later.

[Dobela]

When my son was that age he loved finding the letter of the day on the license plates of cars we walked pat in parking lots. He also wanted to know what his trains said on the side and that was a motivation.

[fairfarmhand]

 

http://www.starfall.com taught my dd 5 her letter sounds in about 2 weeks.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

Are you tired of hearing the answer 'Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD' yet? :)

[Jennifer in MI]

I'll 3,3455,754th the Leapfrog video!!

[NanceXToo]

After taking a peek at this thread, I'm going to check out that Leapfrog DVD you guys are talking about- they have it on Netflix, so I'm going to borrow it from there :)

[sncstraub]

Thanks for all of the replies - even if they were nearly all the same response. :D

 

And thanks for the recommendation on getting the LeapFrog video from Netflix too. I hadn't thought of trying it out on there first.

 

I just let ds4 play Starfall for a while and he seemed to like that, so maybe more of that is in order too. He hadn't played before.

 

Again, thanks!

[MissKNG]

You can get a bucket of foamy letters/numbers at Wal Mart for about $6 (500 pieces). When my big girl was learning her letter sounds, I used to give her a small handful of the foamy letters/numbers for her to stick onto construction paper. Sometimes I would just let her free play with the letters while I did something else (like clean) and other times I would ask what letter she was sticking and the sound it made.

[kalanamak]

I'm not a tv person, but I absolutely think The Letter Factory is the best!

 

:iagree:I resisted, but I'm glad I caved.