My 4 year old can't write or spell her name. Any suggestions?

Question

She is 4 and will be 5 in August. Will start kinder in the fall. Her name only has 3 letters. She can write it ok if I write it first and she copies it. But if I just ask her to write it she can't and when I ask her to spell it for me she just starts throwing out letters. We practice every day and it's doesn't get any better. I'm getting worried.

Answer 1

I can't believe the lack of sensitivity of some responders!  How long have you been working on this?  Knowing the alphabet and knowing how to spell your name is not really a pre-requisite for kindergarten.

Does she show interest at all?  Lack of interest could really be the problem.

Many near 5-year-old don't know how to spell or write their names...  Don't worry!

Answer 2

I wouldn't worry to much. My son just turned 5 and is just now learning to write his name. ( He went to preschool for 2 years) I just practice with him everyday for about 10 min and we just draw & write words.  It takes time. She will do fine!! Don't worry to much =-)

Answer 3

Have her trace her name or play connect the dots with her name that's how I learned

Answer 4

My daughter will be 5 in spetember and she knows how to write everyones name in her family.Your child needs some help.

Answer 5

She is only 4.  I was 6 when I learned mine.  She is not behind...let her be a kid.

Answer 6

Well i think your daughter has down sindrown

Answer 7

i couldnt write til i was 6 no 1 i no could write there name til they were 5 or 6 and now im a 4.0 avrage

Answer 8

Don't worry.  Not writing your name at 4 definitely doesn't spell academic doom.  :-)

This is something she'll work on in kindergarten and she will get it when she's developmentally ready.  How does she do with drawing pictures? Can she draw a shape if you ask her to, or a (reasonable) representation of a face? Can she recognize her name when she sees it written? Can she do fine motor tasks like cutting with scissors and stringing beads and so on? If so, I'd expect she'll get the writing her name thing pretty quickly.  She'll get a ton of practice in kindergarten because they'll have her write it a lot.  You can help by writing her name on stuff for her in places where she sees it during the day (make a sign on her door, write her name on the pictures she hangs on the refrigerator, put her name on her toy box, etc.).  If she still has trouble recognizing letters, you can also help by casually pointing out letters over the course of a day, getting magnetic letters for the refrigerator, occasionally pausing to look for the A's on a page when you read a book, etc.

Some kids just have a lot of trouble with writing.  I was worried for my son when he started first grade ... he was a really good reader but could barely write at all.  It turned out to be nothing but a developmental issue ... a few months went by, he continued to practice, and now he writes beautifully (okay, maybe not beautifully, lol, but perfectly nicely for a kid his age).  If it turns out to be a more significant problem (dysgraphia, possibly, or a fine motor issue) you'll be able to get plenty of support from your school.

Answer 9

go to t.a.p.s or barns & nobles and read dr suess books

Answer 10

Seriously don't worry, just let her be a kid and have fun until she goes to kindergarten.  If you want let her play with ABC blocks to get her used to the look of the alphabet.  I have the distinctive memory of my mother doing that with me and I remember being really upset and frustrated and my brother and sister teasing me.  My last name only had  4 letters and the 3rd letter was w and we went thought every letter and at last I excitedly wrote a C and I was so upset when I got it wrong again.

  We think that teaching our child something as simple as the alphabet and their name has got to be the easiest thing in the world, but you know...its not.  Its like a code that has to be broken, one day your kid will just get it, like crawling and walking, one day not, and then the next day bam!  Leave it to the professionals.  They have lots of techniques you may never have thought of and they have taught hundreds of kids to write their name and to read.

  I went to kindy barely knowing the alphabet and not knowing my name. And by the end of kindy I drove my mother crazy by skipping down the street and reading out every street sign and shop sign so excited!  Just encourage your child and let her play and have fun with you until she goes to school. :)

Answer 11

i learned how to write by my mom makin my name in dots then me tracing it and read ABC books to her then start get her to say them a good that is fun is Dr. Suess's ABC's its a good book but don't worry she will learn and she doesn't have down sindrome like that person told you

Answer 12

go to the school and ask for an IEP for her  my nephew was 3 when he started writing his name now he is 4 and he writes it backwards

Answer 13

Relax.  A 4 year doesn't have to know how to write or spell.  

At this point the only 'literacy' teaching she needs is for you to read to her, talk about books together, and play fun games.

EDIT:  Learning to write/read isn't just a matter of being exposed to it.  It's a developmental thing. Until her brain gets to a certain point, she will nt be able to learn to read or write.  (My daughter too went to a preschool. I read to her EVERY day from infancy and we talked about words and letters and sounds.  I was sure she would be an early reader [I was one, and we have a house FULL of books], but she wasn't.)

  I dont' remember exactly when she began writing her name, but I DO remember that she didn't start to read until the summer before kindergarten -- she was 5 1/2.   Literally one day everything just 'clicked' ... and she went from being able to read a scant handful of sight words to reading whole books.)

If you really want her to be able to spell her name, try making IT into a song. Kids usually learn songs easily and it might help it fall into place for her.

Answer 14

You're daughter is still young, so you might want to give it some time, but I'm going to share with you something and I hope you think about it. My son was 5 years old and he didn't only not know how to write, but could not pick out letters. I would literally write "A B C" and say pick out the "B". He would, then I'd turn the paper over and write a "B" and ask, now what's that letter? His response, "I don't know". I'd repeat the process and he still could pick it out but couldn't say it. He was also writing his letters backwards, not just some of them, but every one. Teachers, parents, kept telling me don't worry, he's a boy, boys learn slower, he'll be OK but it didn't get OK. When he started Kindergarten, I knew something was not right. So I took him to the local college (speech and hearing dpt) and had him tested at about 5 1/2 years old. Guess what? They found out he had some processing issues and he was dyslexic. We went through 3 1/2 solid years (summers too) of therapy. I worked on his lessons at home too. And I read a lot to him. I never asked for special attention in school and really worked with his school work every night with him. He went to a school where his teachers were willing to give him extra help in subjects at recess time or after school, but he was always in regular classes with all the other kids.  (he always played ball, so I wasn't worried about exercise).When he finally started reading, it was me a sentence,him a sentence, then a couple of sentences, then a paragraph. He finally was able to read and understand a several chapter book by the middle of his eighth grade year. We weren't sure how he'd do in high school but in the 9th grade we put him in honors classes and  you know what, he pulled his weight. Not all A's like some, but mostly A's and B's. He just got through his 10th grade year (honors chemistry, honors english, Algebra II and honors Civics and Economics his last courses) and I haven't helped him one iota and he had all A's and B's! It was a lot of hard work, but I am sooooo glad that I took him, had him tested and got some speech therapy for him. (The Special Ed dpt at the school was full, so I was told to do speech therapy -They work with dyslexic children and processing issues too) - and I couldn't have been happier with the results. You might want to give it some time, but by the middle of her Kindergarten year, if the problem still persists, you might want to have her tested for processing problems and dyslexia. Good Luck to you whatever you decide to do.

Edit: One last thought, if the problem persists and you still are worried, then go ahead with the testing, it will let you know for sure if your child needs some extra help or if she is not off target, it'll give you a peace of mind. And you know, I used the our local college because it was not that expensive and we could afford it (Unlike the Sylvan program which is wonderful if you can afford it)! But the grad students and professors who worked with my son were great!

Edit: To the idiot who gave me the thumbs down, you don't know until you have a kid and your feelings are that something is not right when everyone else is telling you "they'll be fine". I do think the mother should wait and keep working on it, but if she still feels that way and still has that feeling that something's not right, she should try getting the child tested because if there are problems, caught early, they can be worked through. A mother knows her child better than anyone, and I for one am glad I didn't listen to everyone telling me to give it time. But the mother should go with what she feels deep down. Mother knows best!

Answer 15

She is just fine. My 4 year old dosen't either he'll be 5 next month.

Not anything to worry about