Advice for "teaching" 4 year old about letters and numbers before starting school?

Question

My eldest is 4, going to be 5 in September, so will actually be the oldest in the class when they start (on his birthday!) I am a bit worried about how much he should be able to do. It's no point in thinking that you don't need to do anything because I know children in his playgroup who are going up to school this year can do allot more than he can at the moment. I had always been nervous of trying to show him things, writing in particular, he is left handed, which makes forming the letters tougher and I didn't want to teach him the wrong way of doing things. He can write his name, but allot of the time it's quite large and can be quite wobbly, you really notice the difference in other children's writing when you get the birthday cards and all their names are written really quite well in comparison. I also worry about him counting, he CAN count to 20, but sometimes his concentration goes and he quite often will miss a couple of numbers like 13 and 15 and 20, he goes straight to 21. We use lego blocks to physically count objects and for example he will do it perfectly the first time, then a second forgets a couple, 15 is the usual suspect, my theory is that it doesn't sound like "5", if you know what I mean? Should I try to teach him to recognise all the letters of the alphabet? I have drawn up a large one using pictures to hint what they are, elephant for e, apple for a, yoyo for y and so on and I always check the accuracy of my drawings with him first!, but if he doesn't know what I mean by "what is the picture and how does it sound, what do you think the letter is?" How do I explain better, I am so worried I am confusing him, I really don't want to push things, but at the same time I don't want him to have a really tough time in the first few weeks if every other child knows all of this and he is left feeling stupid, I don't think he is, I think he is actually very bright, he is very keen to learn, I think it's the way I am trying to explain! Lots of the pre-school "exercise" books you can buy seem too hard allot of the time. Please help!!

Answer 1

Just as everyone else has said - Don't worry! Teachers go to college for 4 years to learn how to teach young children, it's a specialist field, and people don't often realise that. All you need to do is check that your son can communicate well eg. speak and listen. These are the most important things he needs to be ready to learn. You could also help him to get control of his fine motor skills (needed for pencil control) by threading, just playing at writing such as helping you with shopping lists, writing cards etc. Buts it's a fact that boys don't have very good control of their grip at this age, so don't stress about that.

Finally - reading, writing and maths are not a race. It is much more important to get the basics right eg. being ready to learn and having a positive attitude to learning. What often happens with children who are made to read and write before they're ready is that although they may be able to do it, they don't really understand the whole process and become dissaffected when they get to school, especially if they have been taught in a different way.

I teach under 5s and all the teachers I know, without exception, prefer children who have the basics in place, even though they're not actually reading or writing yet, rather than thinking that they know it all already.

THE most important thing up to reception age is social skills. So, if you haven't already, get him out and about and as independent as possible, eg. getting changed for PE, putting on his own coat or shoes and going to the toilet without help. Play games with him such as I Spy and What's in the Bag? (eg I've got something in my bag beginning with....) to get him listening carefully and hearing the letter sounds within words. That's really important too. He'll be fine! :-) Really, don't worry!          

Answer 2

I think you should just relax a bit-sounds like you are doing stuff with him already-kids pick stuff up when they are ready-so just keep introducing stuff and see if he likes it.my son wasn't interested in reading or writing before school really and was probably a little bit behind when he started but he is 7 now and he has caught up with all the kids in the top of the class now. especially with his reading he has reading age of about 10 now and reads all the time at home!

Answer 3

"DON'T PANIC!  DON'T PANIC!" (A quote from corporal Jones in the TV series of Dads army)  Young children mainly learn quicker from play and if you introduce images and tunes or songs with the letters or numbers this will help them to memorise things better.  Some children seem to learn very quickly and later slow down whilst others learn slower than average but later catch up.  It all depends on the child.  You cannot force a child to learn but encourage a good feel factor to early learning.  They also learn from other children, so when your child enters school you will find he/she will certainly show you some new things, lol.  Take care and just enjoy time with your youngster as there will be so much emphasis on learning later.  

Answer 4

get him some cheap puzzles and number squares, play number snap and easy bingo.

i know my answer isnt very good, but i really hope i gave you at least a couple of ideas, good luck.

Answer 5

I found songs, stories and games the best way with mine.

Songs like 5 little ducks went swimming (which teaches addition and subtraction) or 10 green bottles hanging on a wall and miming it as a game.

Catching fish - I made paper fish with a number and a dressmaking pin on each.  We fished for them over the bannisters and counted our scores.

Used the old-fashioned method of letter recognistion A is for apple, etc., but personalising it, so H is for Helen, M is for Mummy, M is for Maxie cat, D is for Daddy, but learning the letter by sound not by name.  My daughter had read all the Happy Venture books before she went to school just before she was five.

When it came to learning tables, we used to walk to school, reciting them on the way in a singalong fashion.

Make learning fun but not stressful.

Answer 6

Books and SONGS are GREAT  you can also try NUMBER & Letter of the Focusing on that that Number And Letter for that DAY  Example if the LEtter IS B  have them color the letter B  an maby read a book one Bears...   Than maby pass out Brownies as a treat

Also if the Number of the DAY is 5 .... Focous on that...  Count to 5...

Focus on the number 5 .... have them find thing that represent the number 5 such as 5 finger. 5 toes, 5 brothers or sisters, etc

Answer 7

When you are with your child talk about the letters. Say, MMMommy starts with M. M is for Mommy. When you see the letter M point it out. Or if you are out in the sandbox or in the dirt, write various letters with your finger and say, that is a B. B, I wonder what starts with b. How about ball? Does that start with B? What about baby? Does that start with b? Emphasize the B in the beginning of those words. Then ask, how about elephant, does that start with B?

You can also use their playdough to make various letters and sound them out and try to associtate words that he understands and uses, or incorporate new ones to introduce new vocabulary along with the letters. There are also refrigerator magnets you can use to introduce him into the world of letters.

Count with him as you have been doing with his blocks. Also, when you are with him you can sing songs that incorportate numbers. Five monkeys jumping on the bed, use your fingers also when you are doing these songs. You can also have him count out silverware for the table, or try to count the trees on the street. Whatever interests him, use it.

Children develop differently on their own, but usually faster when they are in an educational setting with their peers. You might want to try to strengthen his small muscles as well by having him use playdough, continue to cut using scissors, and working alot with that left hand that seems to be dominate. This will help for him to be able to use his hand to write later on. When you take him to preschool make sure you talk with his teacher about what he can do, and things that you want to work with him. Make sure you also let the teachers know his interests so they can use what he likes to do as well and incorporate that into everyday activities.

Are you working on his colors also? You can do that with the legos, or in natural learning as well. You can say, I really like that blue car. Or, look at the brown tree with the green leaves, those are beautiful. Use a lot of positive reinforcement, and even if he doesn't get it right, let him know you are so proud of him for trying.

Good Luck.

Answer 8

A couple of things which worked well with my two - a 'scrapbook' which we made together with all sorts of pictures, cut out or drawn, stuck in & carefully labelled in print - a page for each letter of the alphabet, and a couple of pages for 'numbers of things' e.g. two rabbits, four cats etc. You could do a faint outline of the word for him to go over.

Later, they both followed the Ladybird reading scheme, which they loved. I would recommend that you don't push him - just give him lots of play opportunities for counting and letters - and let him help you with cooking, shopping, measuring etc. Be subtle so that he never feels that he 'can't do it'.