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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children
Advice. RE: Child having difficulty learning letters



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amother


 

Post Wed, Feb 25 2015, 8:54 pm
I am wondering if you had any advice for a child who is having difficulty learning letter sounds. I know reading will help improve this? Any other ideas?

She is already six and has not yet mastered letter sounds. She is average intellectually, not the smartest but def capable of learning this

Thank you for your advise
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Feb 25 2015, 9:03 pm
Hebrew, English, or both?

One favorite trick is to have a letter of the week.

Keep a place at home to display the letter, and have some things that begin with the letter. Make games at mealtimes thinking of words that begin with that letter. Check out phonics resources, books, cards, online games.
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shabbatiscoming




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 1:19 am
What does the teacher say? That will make a difference?
Also, like the previous poster asked, what language are we talking about here?
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Dolly Welsh




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 1:36 am
imasinger wrote:
Hebrew, English, or both?

One favorite trick is to have a letter of the week.

Keep a place at home to display the letter, and have some things that begin with the letter. Make games at mealtimes thinking of words that begin with that letter. Check out phonics resources, books, cards, online games.


That's so clever.
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SYA




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 8:31 am
What language is the difficulty in? Is it in one language or several? There is a lot out there for English. If it is in multiple languages it may be a sign of a reading difficulty.

If you state which language I may be able to give some recommendations.
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smilingmom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 10:49 am
I think you have to understand the difficulty children have in beginning reading.
Until they start aleph bais or the Alphabet, kids learn to identify objects by function, with out tiny details.
A chair is a chair, whether it has a high back or low back, armrest or no arm rest, etc. even if it is upside down, it is still a chair.
When we start teaching letters, we expect kids to notice minute lines and dots. We expect them to differentiate between positional nuances.

When teaching letters, my first step is to have index cards with five copies of each letter. I have the child sort the cards, without naming the letters.
I start with three letters that are different, and work my way to similar looking letters. I do this until the child has 100% accuracy.
If the child asks for the name of the letter, I tell them, and also the sound the letter makes it.
I teach the sounds the way you would teach the sounds animal make.
'A cow says moo', 'the letter m says mmm' 'the letter mem says mmm'.

In teaching reading words, I first use words that have the same sound repeated, baby, daddy, etc., then graduate to other words cat, dog, etc.
Then I gradually work on words around us, kitchen, store signs, etc.

The MOST important thing is for your kid to love books, read to him, have him read books below his level so he can read fluently and enjoy reading.
If he makes a mistake correct him without recrimination. If she is older get her hi interest / low level books. Read her assignments for her if she has difficulty reading herself, especially in math and other non reading subjects.


Last edited by smilingmom on Thu, Feb 26 2015, 11:42 am; edited 1 time in total
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amother


 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 11:36 am
OP, your op kind of bothered me. First of all, average means the majority. Most individuals are of average intelligence. There is no reason to put your child down for being "of average intelligence" or even of below average intelligence. There is actually no reason to ever put down your child. Maybe you were not trying to do that, but your words seemed a little judgmental to me. You should speak to your child's teacher and she what she says. She may need some tutoring in this area. Anon because I discussed this post IRL
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spinkles




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 3:08 pm
--starfall.com

--there are tons of good free phonics apps

--use the search terms "phonemic awareness" and "games" and you'll get lots of good ideas for games you can play with her

--get her evaluated through your public school district to see if there's a learning issue that needs to be addressed and to get advice on how to proceed
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MamaBear




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 3:22 pm
amother wrote:
OP, your op kind of bothered me. First of all, average means the majority. Most individuals are of average intelligence. There is no reason to put your child down for being "of average intelligence" or even of below average intelligence. There is actually no reason to ever put down your child. Maybe you were not trying to do that, but your words seemed a little judgmental to me. You should speak to your child's teacher and she what she says. She may need some tutoring in this area. Anon because I discussed this post IRL


I thought she meant it matter of factly, I e. there is no underlying problem at this point. She's an average child who should be capable at age 6 of learning letters and sounds like her peers.

One of my kids has a low IQ - if I wrote that would you consider it an insult or a fact?

OP, some kids need much more practice than others with things that are memory related. The other tips and websites are all helpful ideas. Good luck.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 3:27 pm
amother wrote:
I am wondering if you had any advice for a child who is having difficulty learning letter sounds. I know reading will help improve this? Any other ideas?

She is already six and has not yet mastered letter sounds. She is average intellectually, not the smartest but def capable of learning this

Thank you for your advise


Reading is a developmental task. It may be she's just not ready yet.

You can try this http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yo.....31985

Warning. Its dull. Dull dull dull. But it works.

Anon because I always recommend this book, and few other people do.
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cbg




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Feb 26 2015, 3:42 pm
You should get her hearing and sight tested before looking into learning difficulties.
As a kindergarten teacher I came across many students who had chronic ear infections, and they had difficulty learning the sounds of the letters.

When teaching phonics start with the consonants.
You should test her yourself, the consonants out of order, and work on the letters she is having trouble with.

Only when she knows her consonant sounds 100% do you move to short vowel sounds.

BTW what type of reading program do they use in her school, phonics based or whole language?
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amother


 

Post Sun, Mar 01 2015, 2:21 pm
BUMP
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