My 5 year old and his abc's?

Question

my 5 year old is having troubles with his abc's. he sings the alphetbet song but usually skips parts and doesnt know what each letter looks like. he can write his name, and copy all the letters. any suggestions on good websites that would help with this. ive been looking and found a few, but want to knw if someone has had good luck with a particular one. thanks!

Answer 1

does your son have trouble identifying his abc's or singing them? singing the abc's is NOT a big deal at all. being able to sing them backwards or forwards....really has nothing to do with being able to read them!

a good thing to do is to start pointing out letters that are important to him. that's great that he can write his name! that's really important for going to kindergarten next year (i'm guessing that's when he's going). i'm guessing he can identify those letters. if not...start by pointing those out. when you're reading, point out something like, "look matt, there's an M for matt and mom. can you find another m on the page?" (just an example)...

here's a couple pages my daughter liked when she was 5 (she's just 7 now):

http://www.primarygames.com/reading.htm

http://www.starfall.com    ****(a great reading website---starts with learning letters...goes into beginning reading and then into good readers)

http://pbskids.org/  (all those good tv shows like sesame street and between the lions and such...)

http://www.abcteach.com ---has stuff you can print out and do with him

i know the person above mentioned writing your son's name in CAPS and as a early childhood teacher i'm going to say we do not recommend that at all. kindergarten teachers have a terrible time un-teaching writing it all in caps. only have his first letter capitalized. put his name on his door. label things around the house. have your son help write lists of things for the store....stuff like that.

sounds like you're doing great work with him already. he'll be ready for school for sure!

Answer 2

.  Gigglepotz:  I Love to Read-A Reading Program for 3- to 7-year-olds.  (n.d.).    

                Retreived April 14, 2008, from  http://www.gigglepotz.com/phonicscards.h...

Answer 3

if he's into video games, the leapster line is terrific and engaging.  also, sesame street is and always will be fabulous.  one letter is featured per show and repeated (most important) throughout the program.  it also may help to take one month and focus on one letter per day.  talk about/look at pix of animals that dstart with that letter, eat foods that start with the letter and have one big letter on the fridge, bathroom mirror and in his room for each day.  they say it takes 30 days to establish any habit and i think you'll find he'll look forward to what the letter of the day is and will most likely try to start guessing what it might be if you make it fun for him.

Answer 4

You could try sign language. A lot of the sign language letters look like the written letters. It's also a fun way to get involved with your kid and encourages him to express himself in a harmless way. God bless!

Answer 5

I agree...being able the sing the song really is not important.  It's memorization :-)  

Having an alphabet chart that shows upper and lower case letters will be helpful for you.

Reader Rabbit's Alphabet Race is a well-loved DVD here.

I really don't have any other websites besides those mentioned but I have used a book called Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann.  Under $20 on Amazon.com or at Barnes and Noble.  Great reviews.  Though it's a little "dry" you can liven it up but the process is wonderful and I do not know one child who has not had success with it.  Starts with lowercase letters and their sounds.  They start with the most common letters used so that the child can begin reading right away.  Check it out!

Answer 6

I totally agree with the first answer.

I put up some alphabet charts in my son's bedroom and they were great.

We would look at them and sing the alphabet after reading books.

Often I would hear him singing and saying the alphabet to himself before he went to sleep.

It really does help.

You can print a good free A4 size alphabet chart here - you need to register but it worthwhile...

http://www.k-3teacherresourcesmembers.co...

Make 2 copies and cut out the alphabet letters from this chart - glue them on the top of each page of a scrapbook and find pictures that match from magazines and newspapers and glue them in to form an alphabet book.

Cut up 1 copy again and glue the alphabet back together again in one long strip.

Cut out the alphabet and make your son's name out of the letters - make other words out of the letters just for fun.

After you finish reading a book, play games with the words.  Count how many letter 'a' you can find on one page.  First person to spot a word beginning with 't'.

Don't forget to try and make it all fun, without being too serious.

Hope this helps...

Answer 7

Try starfall.com. Kids really like it.

Answer 8

I think you should not worry too much about whether he knows the alphabets or not. At 5 years he should start learning his words and start to learn to read small books. You might find this article helpful in getting you started.

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

Rgds

Answer 9

It's called incidental learning and it has to do with your son's exposure to the alphabet in real life situations, not taken out of context and isolated, but in meaningful every day ways.  The alphabet is all around you, just make sure you point it out to him, not kill and drill.

Answer 10

I do not know of any web site but something that has worked really well for my daughter is the Fridge Phonics Magnetic Set by Leap frog.  It is so great the child puts the letters (included) into the holder and push them and it says a little song about the letter what letter it is and what sound(s) it makes.  You can also push a button and it will sing the ABC's to your child.  My daughter absolutely loves it and it is helping her to learn her letter sounds.  Here is the link for the Leapfrog site and the product and others like it.  Good luck to you.

http://www.leapfrog.com/en/shop/fridge_f...

Answer 11

No web site but you MOM. Monday hang Large size paper As throughout the house. every chance you get ask him what the letter is.  Next day B and so on.  By the second week since he now understands the game put a different letter in each room    Children must hear something 50 times before they get it.

Answer 12

get something that sings the song, either a tape or a toy and give it to him. play the song for him. soon he will start singing it. thats what my sister did! :)

Answer 13

www.starfall.com

Answer 14

flashcards?

Answer 15

Check out Usborne Books for great learning resources, like Learning Palette!  http://www.ubah.com/g2687

Answer 16

Several people have mentioned Starfall, and that is good.

Something else that is PHENOMENAL is Leap Frog's "Letter Factory" which is a DVD.  Your child will LOVE it and learn his letters very quickly!

here is info about it:

http://www.amazon.com/Leap-Frog-Letter-F...

or

http://tinyurl.com/4q54dk

Good luck!

: )  P

ds 9

ds 7

Answer 17

My grandson's room has his first name and all

the ABC's on the wall of his bedroom.

Make sure the letters are large enough to see from across

the room and in the correct order.

His name is larger letters and every thing is in Caps.

He is almost 3. and learning his ABC's

Answer 18

the old school way is best..everyday the same time ..make it a routine. Get puzzles, ABC books, stuff like that and have you and your child do the ABC's ..by pointing at each letter and saying the letter the same time. This will reinforce sight with hearing the letters. Once he/she learns the ABC's you can also do the phonic sounds also.

Most important is to do it everyday..don't skip..just for a few minutes. Kids need to do things over and over again to learn again at that age.