Kinder can read sounds, but not write them, is it normal?

[HeatherL]

My youngest has begun kindergarten this year and it is nothing like when I taught my older son.  My older son picked up reading naturally and was reading chapter books by the time he was five, but with my younger son we are starting at the beginning.  

 

He is getting good at knowing the sounds of the letters when reading them and has starting reading some very basin CVC words.  I review the sounds we have learned all the time and point to random lower case letters out of order and ask him the sounds and most of them he will get them correct.  The problem happens when I take away the letters and hand him a blank sheet.  I will say a sound "mmmm"  and ask him to write the letter that makes the sound and he can not do it.  I suggest he just try what he thinks is correct and usually puts the wrong letter.  I will take out a sheet of letters again, he will scan it, point to the M and say, oh here it is and copy it correctly onto his paper.  I took away the sheet again and tried a few other letters.  All of a sudden he started writing the correct letters, but in capital form.  We very rarely use capitals and they are never in the phonics books we are using.  I asked him where he learned those and he said the leapfrog video he was watching earlier in the day.  I am so confused as to how to help him!

 

Is this a normal step in reading development?  Or should I be concerned?  Thank you :)

[73349]

Oh yes, writing can be much harder than reading! I know it was for me (early & advanced reader) as well as DS (typical reader).

 

Remembering a shape *and* reproducing it accurately is very different from recalling a sound.

[Jess4879]

Absolutely normal!  Do you have magnetic letters (or similar).  I'd give him three, dictate a sound and have him pick the letter from the three choices.  You can then have him write the letter, using the model as a help.  Eventually give him more letters to choose from and before long he won't need them at all. :)

[Guest]

Totally normal and typical. Writing skills are difficult, and multistep, compared to decoding sounds. Just aid and assist with writing tasks for a year or two until he has the coordination to do it himself and continue letting him sound out and read.

[HS Mom in NC]

Yes, that's normal.  Writing can come later than sounding out.

[HeatherL]

Thank you so much!  I know I was starting to stress him out because I was getting frustrated not understanding why he couldn't put the two together.  I will put an alphabet chart and number chart (again the same problem, knows what a 3 is, knows what it means, can point it out, but when asked to write one looks all over the page to see if he can find a sample first) on the wall near his work table.  I feel so inexperienced with this stage of learning since my older sort of skipped over all the basics.  So glad I can count on people here to help me out!

Edited September 16, 2016 by HeatherL

[Mandamom]

Use a tray of salt and have him practice making the letters in the tray while he says the letter name and its sound (I start with short when working with vowels). Be sure that he's using his should to make the letters and not just the wrist so that it is closer to a gross motor skill rather than a fine motor skill.

 

 

That multi-sensory instruction (tactile, kinesthetic, auditory and visual) will help with retention. After he practices with the salt tray you can eventually transition him to paper and see if he's made the connection yet. Eventually it will stick.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Mandamom

[ReadingMama1214]

what about Leaving the paper for him to copy? My daughter loves doing copywork and seeing the letters helps her write them. We then use HWOT kinder book to go over formation if needed.

[ElizabethB]

Normal, lots of good suggestions. Use these, go over sounds on one page chart daily, cut out and give several letters from the cards when making words, I like to start with one vowel and around 5 consonants, then move up to more consonants, then 2 vowels and a few consonants, eventually all letters.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/Resources/40LChartsCombined.pdf

 

You can watch my Blending and first 2 Know Sight Words YouTube videos for ideas on using the cards.

 

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC7yiFJ9K3tTseq4tYGCJTyA

Edited September 17, 2016 by ElizabethB

[Ellie]

My youngest has begun kindergarten this year and it is nothing like when I taught my older son.  My older son picked up reading naturally and was reading chapter books by the time he was five, but with my younger son we are starting at the beginning.  

 

He is getting good at knowing the sounds of the letters when reading them and has starting reading some very basin CVC words.  I review the sounds we have learned all the time and point to random lower case letters out of order and ask him the sounds and most of them he will get them correct.  The problem happens when I take away the letters and hand him a blank sheet.  I will say a sound "mmmm"  and ask him to write the letter that makes the sound and he can not do it.  I suggest he just try what he thinks is correct and usually puts the wrong letter.  I will take out a sheet of letters again, he will scan it, point to the M and say, oh here it is and copy it correctly onto his paper.  I took away the sheet again and tried a few other letters.  All of a sudden he started writing the correct letters, but in capital form.  We very rarely use capitals and they are never in the phonics books we are using.  I asked him where he learned those and he said the leapfrog video he was watching earlier in the day.  I am so confused as to how to help him!

 

Is this a normal step in reading development?  Or should I be concerned?  Thank you :)

 

Not all phonics methods teach the children to write the sounds they hear, and it really doesn't have anything to do with writing being more difficult. So, yes, it sounds "normal" to me.

 

If you want to teach him to write his letters, you might get a copy of the Writing Road to Reading, which has explicit instructions on letter formation and teaching the sounds as the letters are written.