I don't understand why he does this...??

Question

My son is able to identify his letters if I give him options. Like if I hold up a C,G,Q and say find the G, he can properly identify it, the whole alphabet that way but If I hold up one letter at a time and ask him he is blank. Any advice on this would be helpful. Any kind of techniques would be great. Thanks for your help.

Alyssa

Answer 1

Hey, Mom, you don't say how old your son is - that's a factor in my opinion.

My son did not even know the alphabet when he started kindergarten - and I told his teacher that I didn't care if he even knew it at the end of kindergarten.  I wanted just one thing from her, for her to teach him to love school.  She did.

He's a senior now and president of the Nat'l Honor Society at his school.  Needless to say, when he was ready he learned the alphabet - plus a lot of other great stuff.

So don't sweat it.  You'll know when he is ready.

Answer 2

  The child might be to confused when the choices aren't limited. He may need you to teach him every letter agaiin individually.

Answer 3

The best way to go about this, in my opinion and experience, is to start teaching him how to WRITE each of the letters. Just start with A, upper and lower case, and show him how to move his hand, write it a few times then give him a chance to try. Make it fun and talk about things that start with the letter A. Depending on the age you can do 1 letter per day or even 1 letter per week, just be consistant, go in order A-Z, show upper and lower case letters, and sing the ABC song, make it fun.  

Also, flash cards are a great addition to writing the letters. Put the letter, upper and lower, and a picture of something A a  picture of apple.

Answer 4

I'M SURE THAT HE DOESN'T HAVE A LEARNING DISABILITY!!!! LOL there is a lot of letters in the alphabet and he is just a toddler. I would try either teaching him them in order just a few at a time so that it won't be so overwhelming for him. Or you could try the letter with a picture for example the letter A with a picture of an apple with it, this may help trigger his memory.

good luck

everyone develops at a different pace i wouldn't be worried :)

Answer 5

The beauty of the learning process.

Mom, no learning disability.  You don't remember this but you did the same thing when you were learning.  An individual card is very different than three cards.  You might not know this, but there is a chance your son only learns in 3's.

He's still paying the association game.  It might take a few more weeks for him to 'naturally' associate a semi-circle with a line at five o'clock is a "Q", but it will come.

Humans learn by association and in my case, LOTS of repetition. (Yes, I've grown up, have a job and make money)

T

Answer 6

make a game of it

may he finds the way you do it boring

Answer 7

He may have a learning disability. You should check with his doctor and have the doctor send him to a specialist to observe his behavir tosee if he has a learning disability

Answer 8

This can actually be considered developmentally normal.  Piaget's theories teach us that we learn and group memories in ways that make sense to us; i.e. we "chunk" concepts into categories that help us to recall what we have learned and know from experiences.  What it sounds like may occurring is you have been teaching your son letters and have been pointing out differences to establish them from one another.  We often do this with children to help them recall - The "O' looks like a circle, a "Q" has a tail, the "G" has a flat part moving in to the middle, etc.  It is possible that when you show him a letter in isolation he is not able to yet discern differences without comparison.  This is not anything I would be able to worried out, assuming he is toddler/preschooler.  Keep working with him and in itme I think this will change and your son will be able to improve his skills to a more sophisticated level where he is able to recognize letters on sight alone.  

As to comments about learning disabilities, I would not be looking at that at his age.  A learning disability is identified based on a significant discrepancy - a large, measurable gap, between his intellectual functioning (often determined via an IQ test) and his academic achievement - or the level of skills he has learned and retained.  Just keep doing a good job of parenting by working with him, and allow him to further develop his skills before looking to such issues.  I th ink in time he will be fine!

Good luck!

Answer 9

How old is your son? He'll get it don't get frustrated with him. Every child learns at their own pace.

Answer 10

You're offering multiple choice when you hold up 3 letters and have him identify the correct one.  Holding one up and having him come up with the answer is kind of like the dreaded essay question on tests.  Multiple choice is easier for some because it's a visual aid.  Most young children need to learn visually, hence bright colors in the classroom and animals on the alphabet posters, etc.  He sounds like he's doing great.  I would continue the way you are and every friday or something, try and test him out again.  He will get it eventually =)

Answer 11

im 14 years old .. and i wouldn't know anything about toddlers and babies .. but, if he has a blank look say the letters name .. then ask him again. pick up the same letter and go back to the one you told him before. and do that too all the ltters until he has them all memorized.  i would give him a reward after he getts one right so he tries harder to get these answers right.

Answer 12

After you and his Dr have ruled out learning disabilities, I would try flash cards, or magnetic alphabets that you can put on the refrigerator, these work great, every time you go to the fridge, you could have a game out of what is this letter,You could make labels and put them on different things in the house, like bed on his bed, door, etc, and each time you go by one of these with him, the game is what is this, what are these letters, you use your imagination, keep it fun. I was dyslectic when young and the teacher in my kindergarten  class told my mom that i was mentally retarded. Trust your heart, you know your child, you have been around him just keep it fun. Leapfrog has a lot of fun ways to teach children.He knows his computer, you could get fun learning software for him and use that. Play to his strengths, not his weaknesses.No two people learn the same way, some by doing, some by hearing, find what style of learning works for him Sylvan has programs designed to help.You can use what he know to help with what he does not know, you said that he knows his colors, by some craft paper in different colors, and make different colored alphabets.Good luck.

Answer 13

ask him showing all three letters, for example C,G,Q, and then when he answers right, block the surrounding ones and ask him again

Answer 14

You might try holding up a letter and saying is this a " g,q,or w". Then once he has that technique down, you can try holding one up and asking him what it is. Also, try to use the same ones (as far as upper or lower case letters) so as not to confuse him. And don't be discouraged, if he can guess from an assortment of letters and get it right,, then I don't think he'll have any problems once he's in school. One other thing I can suggest is if you personally know any teachers, then try asking one of them for suggestions.  Just don't expect too much out of him because when he feels like he isn't living up to your expectations he's more likely to get things wrong. Good luck, though I'm sure you won't need it.

Answer 15

It sounds like he is just guessing.

maybe try laying out ALL of the cards just to test him you know? see if he knows any of them.

&& try saying things like "M" for mommy! and "d" for daddy! G for grandma-- ect ect. ALSO enunciate when saying the letters and for instance when sayin "t" say the letter t makes the sound tuh tuh tuh

that may help -- id suggest trying that.

o0o0o there is this cute little movie called the letter factory-- that is a great way to help them enunciate their letters and hear what sound they make.

Hope i helped hon!