teachermom2834 Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 My nearly 12 yo dd in in 6th grade. While not gifted she is a fantastic student. She carries a heavy workload and enjoys learning and has read more books than I could have ever kept up with. I discovered today that she does not know the alphabet. She got most of it while singing the song...but she really doesn't know the alphabet. 😳 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 What does that mean? She obviously knows what the letters sound like because she reads. Can she identify the letter names? Is it just that she can’t recite them in order? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 I don’t think it is necessarily a fail. Youngest Dd learned to read very early without me teaching her. So she never learned the ABC song because when other kids were learning that she was already reading. And I didn’t think much of it until she had to alphabetize something. So her her it was more like it wasn’t necessary until she had to put things in alphabetical order. But it was pretty easy for her to pick up - like within a few days putting things in alphabetical order was easy. We just made an index card w the letters and had her alphabetize a bunch of things. She really only had trouble w the last third or so....like from Q on. It’s shocking to discover things like that, isn’t it?! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted February 17, 2020 Author Share Posted February 17, 2020 10 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said: What does that mean? She obviously knows what the letters sound like because she reads. Can she identify the letter names? Is it just that she can’t recite them in order? She can't put them in order. Yes, she knows the individual letters and their names. It is one of those things that little kids learn (and really their parents brag about) so it is funny to me that she doesn't know it. Also, kids just don't need to look things up as often that are in alphabetical order so it is easily a skill she doesn't use often enough to have continual practice. I am realizing now that I should have figured it out because as much time as we spend in the library, she really struggles finding things on the shelves. Which has annoyed me but now I know why. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Like she can't sing or say the alphabet? I'm sure if she wanted to she could within 24 hours if she's a strong student/reader. I don't consider that a fail. I consider that a quirky hole. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 All students have hidden holes. One of the great parts of homeschooling is that we can often see them and fill them in. DS21 started in public/private school. He loved math but struggled in 4th grade with simple 'find the circumference of a cube' type problems. He was easily 2 grades ahead in math so struggling with simple addition/multiplication problem issues were odd. When we started homeschooling the next year, I figured out that he didn't know what the definition of a cube, a triangle, or rectangle etc. Somehow over the years of changing schools, he never learned that a square had four sides of equal length etc. He knew what a triangle and such were by looking, but didn't know the details. He was starting algebra and learning this at the same time. LOL 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 5 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said: I am realizing now that I should have figured it out because as much time as we spend in the library, she really struggles finding things on the shelves. Which has annoyed me but now I know why. It’s not a homeschool fail. It’s a sequential thing. How often do we need to place things in alphabetical order nowadays, or know which alphabet comes after which. The library non-fiction follows Dewey decimal system and my kids just head for the 500s shelves. My kids are also bad at the sequence for months of the year, they have to think. Days of the week sequence they know because of their assignments checklist on Canvas. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 I found out today that my dd10 thought the word "several" referred to seven. So if you bought several bags of chips, you bought 7 bags. 2 1 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 aww... it's okay. My son (18) still can't do the days of the week or months in order. It's a processing/memorizing issue. He knows them, just couldn't tell you if July comes before or after August. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Not knowing the alphabet can actually be a sign of dyslexia. And as for holes--my son thought his middle name was Oscar until he was maybe 10 years old. It is not Oscar. Edited February 17, 2020 by EKS 2 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreen Claire Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 I can't remember the values for 6x7, 6x8, or 7x8, without starting at 6x6 or 7x7 and then adding up. I have *never* been able to memorize those three math facts. ..... I have a degree in math. 🤷 It's a hole that makes no sense! I work around it, obviously. 🤣 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 My dd did vision therapy at 11/12 and even though she was a great reader there was this moment where it became obvious the alphabet was CLICKING for her in a new way. I agree with the others that it could indicate something (issues with sequencing, developmental vision, dyslexia, whatever), but it sounds like something to file away. Glad it's clicking for her now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 2 hours ago, teachermom2834 said: ...I discovered today that she does not know the alphabet. She got most of it while singing the song...but she really doesn't know the alphabet. 😳 I recall reading somewhere that Einstein did not know the alphabet to recite it -- looks like he came out okay. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) 47 minutes ago, EKS said: ...And as for holes--my son thought his middle name was Oscar until he was maybe 10 years old. It is not Oscar. EKS, this cracks me up every.single.time you've shared this... 😂 I just love this -- it is such a typical kid kind of thing. 😄 Edited February 17, 2020 by Lori D. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbecueMom Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 I found out that my 6yo doesn't know the order of the alphabet the other day, despite the fact that he's reading chapter books way earlier than my other kids. I felt bad for a minute, then I realized it's probably because I launched the Leap Frog fridge magnet toy into the sun by the time it got to the third kid. I instantly felt less guilty. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Ditto with my dyslexic kiddos and the alphabet/days of the week/months of the year. They also (middle schoolers, mind you) cannot tie their shoes. Well, youngest somewhat learned a couple of months ago...but oldest, nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 28 minutes ago, Danae said: I got mine down to 7x8. Could not for the life of me remember the answer to 7x8. Finally just remembered that the answer to the one I don’t know is 56, and still remember it that way 40 years later. I told my youngest son, who was having trouble memorizing multiplication facts, this story, and now he always gets 7x8 right, but he remembers it as “7x8, that’s the one mom doesn’t know so it’s 56.” If I ever have grandchildren I’m going to start telling them that 7x8 is 56 when they’re babies so this mnemonic doesn’t infect further generations. I remember which Its/it's has the apostrophe this way: Brett Michael's (lead singer of Poison - the hair band from the 80s/90s) has a tattoo on his arm that says, "Every rose has it's thorn." That is showing possession and it has an apostrophe, but his tattoo is wrong, which means that one that shows possession does not get an apostrophe." Truly, that is how I thought about it until my 4oth birthday at least. Then I realized that I could remember it by remembering that his and hers don't have apostrophes so its doesn't have to either. Which is faster to think through, lol. I also have a degree in an animal science but have a mental block on pandas and koalas and what they eat. For decades I've struggled to remember which is which. My husband is convinced I must have suffered a head injury in the exact spot of the brain responsible for those two animals, lol. I finally learned it by remembering that Koalas eat euCalyptus - they both have a /k/ sound. Otherwise I'd sit there frozen trying to remember which eats bamboo and which eats eucalyptus, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sallie Mae Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Not knowing the alphabet can actually be a sign of dyslexia. And as for holes--my son thought his middle name was Oscar until he was maybe 10 years old. It is not Oscar. Did he explain where he got the idea from? Does his real middle name sound like Oscar? Is it a family name? 🤔 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) 5678.... 56=7x8 That’s the only way I remember! My mom was ecstatic the day that stuck! Edited February 17, 2020 by arctic_bunny 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) I hope no one ever asks my kids to sing the alphabet song because I did not teach it to them. I would have to check that they can all list the letters in order, but I know one of my kids sings the wrong ending words to the song, and I'm not actually sure she knows they are wrong. Eldest can recite the alphabet backwards & forwards, though. Talent, that. Today, my ds was asked at the pediatrician if his grades are good. He said, "Grades? What is this 'grades' thing you speak of?" I guess other homeschoolers the pediatrician sees give their kids grades before high school. ... Edited February 17, 2020 by RootAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sallie Mae Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 What a great way to remember it! Thank you! I could never remember that one either. 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 My older kid spent almost an entire year telling people they were a year older than they are. Yup... forgot their own birthday. 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 If it makes you feel better, we took our high school Sunday school class to a trampoline park yesterday, and one of the 10th graders didn't know his own address. He is ps'ed and his mom is a teacher. 😂 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Forgot his own address, that's bad. About my above, I forgot to say - when I corrected A, they actually argued with me that they knew they were born in 2002. I had to call several different verifying relatives before they conceded. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaelAldrich Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 My Harvard PhD holding husband did/does not know how to sort in alphabetical order and he can't always remember the months in order. He bounced around in different schools for those crucial years and never got it. I made sure my homeschooled kids knew that since none of them are going to Harvard! 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Danae said: I got mine down to 7x8. Could not for the life of me remember the answer to 7x8. Finally just remembered that the answer to the one I don’t know is 56, and still remember it that way 40 years later... Just remember 4-in-a-row digits: 5, 6, 7, 8 --> 56 = 7 x 8 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Lori D. said: Just remember 4-in-a-row digits: 5, 6, 7, 8 --> 56 = 7 x 8 😄 This is how I try to get them to remember it but so far, it hasn't stuck. They either have it or they don't. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 3 hours ago, Tanaqui said: My older kid spent almost an entire year telling people they were a year older than they are. Yup... forgot their own birthday. Someone asked me how old I was the other day (medical appointment) and I didn't know. I wasn't sure if I WAS 43 or about to TURN 43. Had to do the math, lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 20 hours ago, teachermom2834 said: She can't put them in order. Yes, she knows the individual letters and their names. It is one of those things that little kids learn (and really their parents brag about) so it is funny to me that she doesn't know it. Also, kids just don't need to look things up as often that are in alphabetical order so it is easily a skill she doesn't use often enough to have continual practice. I am realizing now that I should have figured it out because as much time as we spend in the library, she really struggles finding things on the shelves. Which has annoyed me but now I know why. Neither did mine. I didn't realize it until I figured out they couldn't use a dictionary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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