I have an almost-five-year old who attends an in-home daycare where they teach the basic foundations for kindergarten. My daughter is smart, inquisitive, can do math like you wouldn't believe (she can already do multiplication) but for some reason, she doesn't understand the concept of letters, words, sentences. I know that she is young and may just not be ready but it seems like she genuinely wants to learn it - she just can't grasp it. Here's an example:
Her spelling words this week are: WE and WENT. So we're practicing it and we develop a little sing-song way of saying: "W" "E" Spells WE. We sang it over and over and over while looking at the flashcard that says "WE". After about 20 times of singing it, I held up the flashcard and asked her what word was on the card. She replies: "WILL". So I sing the first part of the song again "W" "E" spells____. She looks at me with a blank stare as if she'd never heard it before. When I say it again, she says, "WANT?" She is so frustrated because she wants to do it, but there is something blocking her from understanding. I was even shocked that she didn't even remember "WE" from memorization because we sang "W" "E" spells WE so many times that you'd think she'd had remembered it even if she didn't understand it.
Another example is when they take there spelling test at school. They will have 3 words that they've worked on all week: "hog", "Mat" and "fish". She will spell every single word correctly, but they aren't in the right order. #1 should be 'Hog" but she writes, "Fish". #2 should be "Fish" and she writes "Mat".
I just don't understand what it preventing her from grasping the concept. I'm not trying to push her into it, she truly wants to learn to read and wants to practice her spelling words all the time. She just doesn't get it. Has anyone ever had a similar experience with their child? Does anyone know of another way to teach the concept that letters make words and words make sentences, etc? My husband thinks we need to have her tested for some kind of learning disability, but I don't know if that's the issue, or if I just haven't found the right way to teach the concept so that she understands. Any ideas ladies?
Thank you so much for the answers so far! You ladies are the best!
To clarify - she goes to a daycare at a lady's house, but there is a curriculum that is followed. My daughter calls it "School". They do math, spelling, spanish and gymnastics. They have a weekly spelling test and she always does poorly which really brings her confindence level down. She spells all the words right, just doesn't do them in the order in which the teacher calls them out. She wants to do as well as her "classmates" but she just doesn't grasp it yet.
I feel so much better knowing that this is "normal" and that I shouldn't worry at this point. It just breaks my heart when she comes home with a "zero" on her spelling test and tears in her eyes becuase she wants to know how to do it. :(
Maybe I'll try some different things at home with her, but you're right, I need to be careful not to push her away from reading. Thank you all sooooo very much!!
She's not getting it because her brain is not ready to. Kids' brains develop over time and not in a reliable or consistent way. There are kids that can pick up letters, words, and reading at her age, but many who can't. My daughter was well "behind" in reading until 3rd grade. Then in 4th grade tested in the 98th percentile in reading. Be careful not to push too hard and make her hate reading before she's even able to grasp the concepts.
She will get it when she gets it. I would strongly consider moving her into a program that will NOT make her feel bad that she is not getting it yet. Perhaps either a Waldorf (they don't start teaching reading until the kids are 7) or a Montessori where they learn at their own pace.
I would be skeptical of a woman giving a "spelling test" to a five year old. My kids never had these until first grade. I would really research this a little to see what is and is not appropriate for this age. Also call your kindergarten and ask to speak to one of the teachers about this. They may really not want her learning in this manner b/c they will have to undo any bad habits that have been learned.
Take the pressure off of your daughter and start making it fun. You do NOT want to see her frustrated with reading out of the gate.I strongly suggest the Leapfrog letter and talking word factory videos. These taught both my boys to read.
We purposely avoided any academic "work" until grade school. In my opinion preschool is not the place for spelling tests it's the place to learn social skills, learn to listen to directions, enjoy being read to, create things and play.
Many years later we are the proud parents of TWO high achieving honors students who both really enjoy school. Keep the love of learning alive by not pushing too early.
Please know this is not appropriate teaching! Reading is not about memorizing words to spell on a test! Its about comprehending the written word for learning and communication.
I am concerned that your daughter will have a year of this "instruction". If the childcare provider will not stop this forced spelling drill, I would seriously encourage you to find another situation for your daughter.
Meanwhile, please keep reading to her, letting her "read" any word she wants to, singing rhyming songs, sharing nursery rhymes and playing fun word games. Don't spend any time memorizing or practicing. Effective learning is done naturally through exposure, not the production of correct answers.
Of course, if you are ever concerned with her learning rate or style, your public school system will have free screening opportunities. Just call and schedule an appointment. This may be reassuring and you might be able to be able to take a peak at a developmentally appropriate preschool while you are in the school. All my best.
I am an educator and I can tell you an almost 5 year old should not be taking spelling tests!!!!!!!!! She can begin learning her letters, numbers, and maybe some sight words but she should NOT be taking spelling tests at 4 years old, or any tests for that matter. This is going to create stress, and insecurity in her for future learning. Also, she doesn't need to be doing multiplication either. Throw out the flash cards and READ TO HER!! That will foster a love for reading.
I do not like this day care. my kindergartener does not have spelling words.. my first grader does not have spelling words. this is not age appropriate for your child.
1. read to her.
2. go over letters and their sounds.. phonics is so so important. most schools are not teaching phonics these days. My daugthter was not catching on to reading till i got phonics workbooks and did them with her.
3. leapfrog letter factory is great.
4. starfall.com is wonderful
i am helping in my daughters first grade classroom. we have fluent readers that could read chapter books.. we have other kids that can barely tell A from at. reading is very hard for little ones.. seems like they struggle and struggle and then they just get it some day...
dont worry but dont make yoru child stress out about this..
At this age in preschool my son's class was just practicing writing the letters over and over and the sounds they make. Maybe it is just too soon or too big of a jump to go right to words.
I would stop with the "school." The most important thing in teaching children to read is to read to them.
My daughter reads very well, and she doesn't work on spelling or anything like that. Reading isn't about spelling. It's about word recognition and figuring out new words. Words need a context or they are meaningless. The problem is this approach.Stop wasting your time on that stuff and have your daughter do starfall or something fun.
The only thing the current approach is going to do is create yet another kid that cannot read because of low self-esteem. The most important aspect of learning to read is confidence. If you let kids do it at their own rate, when they are ready, they grow into super strong readers. If you push them, you create self-conscious, insecure little people who want nothing to do with books. And this is why Finland waits until age 7 to begin reading instruction, while we push, and push, and have a terribly low literacy rate.
BTW, new research shows that reading is a neurological skill that can take kids upwards of 7 to be able to do. This means that some kids literally cannot read till they are older. End of story. School them as much as you want, but they just won't' get it --it's just like walking.
Are you doing any phonics - "w sounds like wah" so she can connect the letter to a sound? We connect numbers to meaning, without explaining the meaning behind the symbol, letters are gibberish.
I would not worry about it. All she needs to know are pre-reading skills right now. The concept of how books work, like is she holding the book the right way and turning pages in sequence. She needs to understand that print flows from left to right. She should be able to match shapes, patterns and letters. She should understand about rhyming. She should be learning her letters and the sounds that they make. She should be able to print her name. There is no advantage to pushing her to read now. That is what she will learn in school. Now she needs to play, sing and be read to.
My 2nd child really didn't get the concept till late 1st grade. No problem, really. Repetition and it will click. She is just guessing. She is a left brained person. When she finds a pattern it will click. You can't find it for her. The only thing I would check into is her vision. Some kids are very farsighted when they are young and it gives their brain to much to do figuring out vision that they have trouble with some comprehension.
Try teaching her phonics instead of memorizing words. I found when my GD was learning to read, she could recognize a particular word in the book we were reading (i.e., we) but if I had her read something else, she didn't recognize the word. It's like they don't translate the information from one instance to the next.
I think if she were to learn phonics then it might click. I also found that when my GD started reading, she sounded like she was just reading a list of words, rather than a sentence. I had to explain to her how to read and comprehend the string of words, not just individual words. I showed her with examples by reading to her and pointing out that with inflection in your tone, the string of words become a sentence with meaning. It took a minute for her to grasp it.
I doubt your daughter has a learning disability; she just hasn't yet grasped the idea that a string of words, when read with inflection and not just like a list, becomes a sentence with meaning.
Just keep at it, but I would start with phonics.
She spells the words right but in wrong order because she has those groups of letters memorized, but without phonics, it is just a group of letters to her, not a word.
I didn't worry about it.
I just cuddled up with our son and read, read, read at every opportunity.
When it's fun and snugly - they don't even realize they are learning.
We had every Dr Seuss book and we just about memorized them all.
Once school started and they were learning letters, we still read stories but I'd have him find the letter they were working on on a page.
They started doing sight words at school, and we started picking those out.
It took some time.
He struggled with it till the 2nd half of 2nd grade (it was the same way with me when I was his age), then all of a sudden something just clicked and his reading just took off.
After that when we read stories, we'd trade off pages - I read odd pages and he read the even pages.
If I had a sore throat or lost my voice, he'd read the bedtime story out loud to me.
We were always making games of it and it was so much fun there was never any boredom or fighting it.
We started reading chapter books, one or two chapters a night for story time.
If we found a book that was interesting, it didn't matter what level it was, we read it bit by bit together.
We read about sharks, firetrucks and dinosaurs.
We read the entire Wizard of Oz series of books by Frank Balm (Dorothy's shoes were silver in the books and she and her family eventually go to live full time in Oz).
By the 3rd grade he was reading Harry Potter on his own - the school librarian could not believe it.
Just give it time and make it something fun that you do together.
I would not worry that she doesn't get it. She is still so young and it just seems strange to me that she would have a spelling test. She needs to learn the sound each letter makes first and then the sounds a combination of letters make (ing, sh, ch etc.). Then the spelling will come.
FYI... I taught my daughter to read at age 4 using the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". It took about 15 minutes per day and by day 60 she could read all the easy readers in the book store. Have fun with it!!!
Hi. Can you clarify? She is at an in home day care but then you mention she takes spelling tests at school?
I am guessing she starts kindergarten next year? If so, I think I would strongly consider getting her into a preschool environment versus an in home day care. The teachers are more experienced/educated at working with children this age, and if she does have any learning challenges, they can help connect you with some county or state resources to get her some early intevention. I suppose you could also try to seek out some of those resources on your own though... perhaps you could call your local gov offices and get some advice for how to do that.
I suggest you read this book What Your Preschooler Needs to Know: Get Ready for Kindergarten (Core Knowledge Series) [Paperback]
Core Knowledge Foundation (ED Hirsch).
Sounds like she may have a language processing issue.......have her evaluated by a speech/language pathologist.......good luck!
My daughter learned math way before reading. She was not reading until Kindergarten and she didn't even know all of her letters until then. She refused to let me teach her and said that was the teacher's job. My son was different but he is gifted. Your daycare/preschool provider is putting the cart before the horse. Your child is not ready and should not be pressured to do spelling tests. That breaks my heart.
I agree with your husband. Testing can't hurt. BTW, my son hated me reading to him and would slam the books in my hands when I tried. I didn't do flashcards either. He was reading on his own at age 4 and I put him in Kindergarten early. All children are different and nothing works for all of them.
My daughter is very advanced in reading. But she is 6 and in first grade and I never gave her a spelling test. We do phonics (tiny bit, but she sort of gets everything on her own) and read together tons, and she enjoys trying to spell words and write them down, but I don't make her. She's doing a very advanced Classical curriculum and spelling in FIRST GRADE is minimal and just beginning-she's way ahead of the recommended amount, which is hardly any. It's all about listening, and answering things verbally at this age-and reading if it comes easily-but mainly loose and pleasant practice of it. Spelling early (four years old is early) is not "better" or more advanced. Some advanced countries teach reading way later when it's easier for all kids. Now, it does seem like she should have gotten W E is We after so much repetition, but I wouldn't worry yet.
Keep alert, good job, but cut the memorizing words and tests. No bueno. A great manual on the way children's brains layer information and learn optimally is The Well Trained Mind, Guide to Classical Education.
