How do i teach my preschooler - is it some form of disability or a different learning style?

Question

Hi there,

i'm a mom of 4 yr ol twin boys and both r hale ,healthy n typically naughty.

they've been going to a pre school and have learnt their abç s and numbers 1 to 10 and rhymes etc - also learning to write on dotted lines different strokes etc.

in school they have also done oral numbers upto 30. we asked our sons to recite and the first one recited all so well with few mistakes but picked it up once we corrected him.

my second twin told 1 to 10 perfectly - then continued to say 11 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18, 19.

we corrected him - and told him to repeat - after 10 it wuz again 11,14,16 !!

i taught him again to include 12, 13 also - he agreed - and proceeded to say 11,14,16 again!

again and again i taught him - but to no avail - he repeated what i said when i taught him - then when i ask him wot comes after 11 - he says 14 !!!

i gave up and my husband took over to teach him - inspite of repeated efforts, making him count in fingers, making the connection as two is to twooelve

Answer 1

Relax,  don't loose your temper with the little guy.  You should try playing a number dice game and changing it around every once in a while.  Kids learn at their own pace and some need different strategies.  He may be having trouble focusing but that doesn't mean he won't learn later on or that something is wrong with him.  Remember many children today are very distracted.  Some children don't start learning until they are in Kinder because they are finally ready and mature.  Just keep working with him and remember to have fun.  You're a great parent and that's all we can ask for.  Keep up the good work!

Answer 2

Every child learns at a different rate and in a different way.  He may just take a little longer to learn, he may truely believe that he is counting the right way.  It will just take lots and lots of practice.  If he thinks it is work he may begin to resent it too.  Try making it a game.  My 4 yo daughter used to swear up and down that she could not open the back gate and she was not the one who opened it all the time.  Until I told her that her dad thought she was a baby and didn't want her to go to the park.  Needless to say, the gate was open in less than 5 seconds.  Tell him that you want to give him 12 pieces of candy, chips, something he really likes, but you forgot how to count that high.  Have him help you.  Keep changing it up and making the game different.  If he keeps having trouble have his brother help him.  Oftentimes it is less threatening when a peer helps you rather than mom or dad.  When I am teaching the kids at my preschool, I never teach for more than 15-20 minutes at a time, cover a variety of subjects, have peers help each other and praise everything.

Another idea would be to count and stop at 12 every time.  That way he would hear it over and over.  I am sure it is just a phase.  He will learn and will be fine.  My 11 yo used to skip every number that had a 7 in it when she counted backwards from 100.  It used to drive my husband and I bananas we even got such a kick out of it that we taped her because she swore up and down she was saying them but we didn't hear her.  She is fine now and very smart.  

Good Luck!

Answer 3

It could be that he's just doing it to frustrate you.  You said he is typically naughty, so he may just like seeing you get upset.  Or, he may not yet be ready to count over 10.  

I personally would not worry about it.   I doubt this has anything to do with disabilities or learning styles.  He's only 4 and he has plenty of time to learn the numbers 12 and 13.

Here are some fun math activities you can do with him:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Please remember that it's very typical of four year olds to be able to count correctly to 10 and not beyond.  It's GREAT that he is able to say numbers higher than 10...even if they aren't in the right order.   He's just developing at a different rate than his twin and more than likely he does have a different learning style...I would not be concerned at all.  Just continue along with it and don't compare the two!  (No matter how difficult it is!  Which it is ...because presently I have a four year old in my care that can't count past 3 orally (but can count in random pointing to concrete objects) and her brother who is 3 who can count to ten without a problem).  It really is not a concern... it sounds like they are in an awesome environment for coginitive learning and he will pick it up!  If you continue to "make" him repeat it over and over you may discourage him in learning altogether.

Answer 5

Make counting into a song.  Singing the alphabet, a poem, whatever, always seems to be easier than straight memorizing.

Answer 6

Put a number line in his room and don't worry about it. He's not going to end up homeless because of trouble learning to count.

At that age my (fraternal) twin sister had a two X, no S alphabet and now she's doing fine in English.

If you're really worried though, try and impress on him the difference between a number and a numeral. A number is a quantity. A numeral represents that quantity.

Count out beans or paper clips or something. Start from one and keep adding one or two, asking him how many are there.

If he's just trying to memorize what to him is a pointless list, that's not going to go very well. But I've noticed that little kids, boys in particular, tend to need very concrete explanations of things.