I have a 4 year old who is still having a difficult time in learning his alphabets.?

Question

Do you have any tips or techniques in teaching him his letters. He already had 1 year in preschool and now he is enrolled in advanced nursery.

Answer 1

sing the alpbabet song with him maybe with a hand clapping game or something.  make games for it, i'm not to sure, i haven't dealt with someone so young, just make it fun and make sure you go over it again and again to drill it in.

Answer 2

what kind of a learner is he? some children need a purpose for learning such a task.  When I had my 4 yr old tumblers learn to read I give them the warm ups typed on a paper and they had to read it.  Most who had not learned the alphabet understud why the letters were important and began to ask whats this -

Answer 3

Make it more fun for him show him shows like the ones on nick jr or PBS kids and playhouse Disney  also get him some fun ABC games

Answer 4

I'm using the "Letter Factory" put out by Leapfrog - it uses a catchy tune to introduce the short vowel sounds and the consonant sounds.  My daughter goes around the house singing it and when I quiz her and ask what sound a certain letter makes, she tells me.  I'm amazed at what she's picked up.  You can read the reviews for this product here on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000IN...

There's 511 reviews and it's overall a 5 star program.  You can also get the Word Factory, which is the next DVD and evidently the DVD after that introduces long vowel sounds.  

I'm planning on using Phonics Pathways once she gets her letter sounds down, but that's not necessary to start with the program.  Goodluck!

Answer 5

ZOO PHONICS!!!

Each letter of the alphabet has an animal that goes along with it.

ex.

A is Alli Alligator

B is Bubba Bear

C is Catina Cat

D is Dede Dear

E is Elli Ellephant

F is Francis Fish

G is Gordo Gorilla

H is Honey Horse

I is Inny Inchworm

J is Jerry Jelly fish

K is Kato Kangaroo

L is Lizzy Lizard

M is Missy Mouse

N is Niguel Night Owl

O is Olly Octopus

P is Peewee Penguin

Q is Queeny Quail

R is Robby Rabbit

S is Sammy Snake

T is Timothy Tiger

U is Umber Umbella Bird

V is Vincent Vampire Bat

W is Willy Wesel

X is Xavier Fox

Y is Yancy Yak

Z is Zek Zebra

There are hand and body actions that go along with each letter and there is a song that goes with it too.  We have been teaching zoo phonics to the kids in our daycare for about 6 months and it has worked great!!!!  And there is a lot of research that supports the success rate for students who use zoo phonics.  

Good luck!!!

Answer 6

To some children learing the letters have no meaning and therefore do not want to or even can't.  I like the techniques that teach the letters and reading together.  I've had great success with

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Englemann.

They start with the letter sounds and with letters that form words soon after beginning the lessons.  I also like the fact that they focus on lower case letters and they also include a "sounds writing" part to the lesson where they practice writing their letters.

Answer 7

hi June

my little girl is now in kindergarten and she now understands what the alphabet is,and she was in prek too.just work on the ABC's each day and make it fun to learn...involve computer games like starfall.com,pbs.org

they teach the letter's,shapes and colors..really well..don't worry to much your child is doing just fine.now after he is in kindergarten and he still hasn't;t understood them,then there's something that can be done about it if there's still an issue with concerns about it.good luck!

Answer 8

Don't worry too much! He may be the next Einstein.

Answer 9

This article might be helpful in solving your issue

http://momadewizkids.com/blog/2008/04/05...

Rgds

Deepali

Answer 10

I like alphabet bingo. The letter cards have both small and capital letters and the child who is pulling the letters out of the container learns to identify letters as well.

Answer 11

What you have to do in your mind is distinguish the difference between learning an alphabet and learning about reading and phonics.  They are completely different things and it's an important starting point.

The alphabet, for this age, seems to have little to no use except in singing the song and a way to learn the names of letters.  Many children do not even associate the sounds in the song to actual letters themselves.  They are, in essence, just making the same noises you made.  This is especially true with the LMNOP part of the alphabet.  (Note:  The alphabet and letter names are important later when he gets into saying how to spell things and alphabetizing, but is very unimportant at this early stage)

What I would do is get a set of sandpaper letters.  You can usually find them on ebay for a reasonable price.  These are wooden boards with sandpaper cut out letters attached to them. Your child can trace the letter over the sandpaper, say the *sound* of the letter, and this will give him both a tactile sense of what it feels like as well as a control of error (if he slips off the sandpaper, he will feel it.)

Take it 2 or 3 at a time, depending on what he is able to do.  

First step:  Sit on the child's dominant side (whichever hand they use to draw/write)  Trace the sandpaper letter and say the sound.  "/a/ /a/"  Have him repeat that himself.

Second Step:  After you've done 2 or 3, review them one time quickly.  Point to them, from left to right, and say the sounds.  "/a/  /m/   /t/"  Then ask him to show you one.  "Show me /t/."  (Note:  This works best if you go backwards.

Third Step:  Point to one and say, "What is this?"

If he has trouble with any of the steps, don't push it.  Just thank him for his time and put it away.  If you give any indication he is doing something wrong, he'll get the sense to not try it as much.  Just let this learning happen naturally.

You may want to start with cursive, as children tend to pick that up more quickly.  The continuous movement is easier than picking up and putting down your hand, but that's your decision.  I've seen many schools NOT use cursive and it has not been a big issue -- it just takes a little longer.

It's also important to be VERY careful how you say the sounds of the letter.  It's better to attach an "i" sound to the end than a "u" sound.  In other words, it's better to say "bi" (short "i") than "bu" if you're looking at /b/.  

It's really better to not say either, but just the "/b/."  This, however, takes a lot of practice and won't come easily.  Many CDs and tapes really miss this point and I've spent many hours de-programming children and re-training them on how to say the sounds.

If you're not sure you can do it, try taking the way you say the sound and putting it into a word, then saying it faster.  "Baby" should be said, "Baby," not "buh-ay-buh-ee"

Matt

Answer 12

well, don't be too hard on him, when he gets out of the 12th grade he still won't know them. but, he'll be average.

Answer 13

Teach the letters like playing with your kid. Use the alphabet cards as a toy so your kid would enjoy while learning them at the same time. Sing the alpha song while the kid is playing. The secret is learn by playing with it. It registers in the kid's minds permanently like the other normal kids with less effort than your kid.