How to teach my child her ABC's and 1,2,3's?

Question

I have a daughter who is 4 yrs. old and I've been trying to teach her ABC's and numbers for 2 yrs. and she still don't know them. She starts Kindergarten this August and I'm worried that she will be so far behind being that she's not in Pre-K.

I get so frustrated with her sometimes which makes me not want to teach her. I'm at the point to where I feel like I will let the teachers handle it when she starts school. I don't know what else I can do for her. We have spent so much money on educational material and it's not working no matter how much we try.

We have approched this so many different ways and have tried to make it really fun. Even her 5 yr. old sister is trying to help her little sister learn but nothing works. She just can't remember ANYTHING. I don't want her to start school and have to hear her teacher tell me that my child needs special help. The lottery randomly takes 20 kids per school for Pre-k and we don't have extra money to pay for Pre-K

Any advice.

Answer 1

Have you considered that she is retaining a lot more than you realize but isn't repeating it because it has become such an issue?  An old educational saying was that anyone could learn anything if exposed to it 70 times.  Sing the ABC song incessantly without asking your 4 y/o to participate.  Just do it in her presence.  Count in her presence.  If there are oranges to be put in the refrigerator, count them as you put them in.  Whatever can be counted, count it in her presence.  Don't make an issue of it,  Don't ask her to participate.  Just do it in her presence until you feel like you are doing it in your sleep.  When she gets to kindergarten she will know her ABCs.  Write them & show them to your other child in her presence.  Leave her out of it.  Do the fun things with your other child.  Same thing with colors.  Call the colors every chance you get.  The key is to take the pressure & the expectation from the 4 y/o.  It has become a power issue.

Answer 2

I went out and bought flash cards. They are cheap and the kids really enjoyed playing with them.  My husband spent time with the kids about twice a week and they seemed to learn normally.  All though remember, the second child rarely learns as quickly as the first child even tough you spend the same time and same practices.

Answer 3

The only worthwhile stuff I ever learned  was from Sesame Street.

Answer 4

Every time you can, talk about colors, numbers, letters, and anything educational. Don't include her, unless she asks. Do exactly what the 1st person said to.

Answer 5

We bought rhyms cds and kept on playing them again and again without telling my 2 years old daughter that u listen it....and after weeks/months we don't remember exactly when, suddenly we found that she knows all the songs, may be the words are improper but she knows the tunes. even abcd song also though she does not know individually what A B C D ...stands for......same happpened for counting also. please don't let her understand that u are teaching her, instead u repeat it again and again in front of her. She will definitely start telling. Count birds, let her hold the bowl and u count and give grapes one after another, play hide and sick and count 1234 etc before starting game.....tell like this ,"take A for apple, see there are d for dogs" etc...Good luck.

Answer 6

Have you tried singing the ABC's with your child? Most children learn to SING the ABC's first. THEN, later, they learn to say them. Singing them is the normal way to learn them, first. Try it! Good luck!

Answer 7

If you really have used all of these materials and methods (verbal, singing, visual, games, tactile--touching/tracing) and she is still not retaining the information, there may be a reason why, and it has nothing to do with how hard you or she is working!  She may have some sort of learning disability.  This does not mean that she will never learn it, but if this is the case, there is really nothing you can do until she does get to Kindergarten.  When you have her screened for Kindergarten, mention all of this to the teacher doing the screening.  You could even call a local elementary school, and there may be an early childhood interventionist who could come and evaluate your daughter beforehand and set her up into some classes before she gets to kindergarten to start addressing these issues.  (these services should be free as it would be under a Special Education law...all and any children with a disability must receive services).

I am an elementary school teacher.  I do not know your daughter personally, and this may not be the case.  If you are doing everything you say and she is not learning, a learning disability COULD be an option, but dont hold me on it.  She may just not be ready to do all of this work at home with you(4 year olds really don't have very long attention spans.  When I taught preschool, our lessons had to be 10/15 minutes top..all they can handle).  She may perform better once she gets to school and sees all of her friends doing it.