Teaching my son colours and shapes?

Question

My son is three and im in the process of teaching him basic colours and shapes. Do you think i should introduce writing his name at the same time or do you think this may confuse him a bit. His concertration levels are not that great.

Answer 1

i'd give it a week or two before teaching him to write. as soon as he understands the shapes and colours begin to introduce his letters, buy magnetic alphabet for the fridge. these come in bright colours and some have distinctive shapes that he can recognise, also inlay jigsaws with the letters cut out and raised, let him do this as often as he wants to (dont force him to do it, he needs to explore it at his own pace). let him explore these and get used to looking at them, when he is familiar with these show him what letter his name begins with and your name and friends and members of the family. he will find this fascinating. introduce him to letters in different texts (books, magazines, shop signs, milk cartons - anything) and ask him can he recognise any letters, after another week or so you can show him his name written down and ask him if he'd like to try, he'll be delighted to do it. make these activities as fun and 'normal' for him as possible, dont make him feel like he has to learn because he will just absorb the information without realising it anyway. you're lucky to be at this stage with your little man, its lots of fun and you will be astounded by his progress in a few weeks! good luck to you both

Answer 2

I've read some of the answers saying OMG you should have been teaching your child before the age of 2 blah, blah, blah, what these people don't take into account is the readiness of the child to learn and understand, so please don't go off panicking.

You can buy books where the letters are made of dots and he draws over the dots, you could even make your own on the p.c and print them out, schools use this method so it may be a good place to start plus you can use the different coloured pens to help him with his colours.

My son is 3 in September and I've just started him on his colours, shapes is still beyond him at the moment but my son is slow to start everything, it doesn't bother me he gets there in the end.
I started off slowly with where is the blue car etc and built it from there, it's going slow all colours are red or green but he does always get red correct which I'm pleased with.
I'm not going to start with writing until he's ready, he's not ready yet, it is a good idea to write his name with different coloured pens.

Answer 3

"No" - not yet. At three he does not need to learn to write his name. You could teach him to read his name. How are you a writing small stories? Like the Jane & John books. You could use photographs. Writing Mummy, or mum, Daddy, or day, and then your son's name on an adjacent page. Repetition of words, and learning letters by sight. Just small words. Children learn to read by half recognising letters and half remembering what the words were!! This is quite natural. Use the colours & shapes he is learning now. Red ball, small dog. Yellow car, etc A great way to teach my daughter I discovered was the traditional catalogue, with clothes, toys, words, etc. They were always colourful. I would ask her to find colours, shapes, words, etc., on the pages. Give him chance to get into a routine of enjoying learning. Let him feel happy at drawing with coloured pencils when he is with you. (watch he doesn't put them in his mouth). Then - writing on birthday, thank you, Easter, Christmas, Holiday cards - these are always a good time, to help him write words. I figure about 4 years, he will have more hand control over a writing with a pencil. By then his concentration will be much better.

Answer 4

We are so consumed in the US and UK about our children being able to recite Shakespeare before they are 5 that we forget other countries in Europe don't send their children to school until they are nearly 7 years old!!! These children are generally more intelligent than ours.

Be guided by your son, if he's interested then go along with it... turn it into a game..... when you're out shopping, rather than say "we need apples" say we need "green apples" or "yellow bananas".

As for his name, make letter recognition into a game.... you can buy or make letters that go with pictures... A - Apple, B - Ball etc.etc...

If you try and force your child, he will feel under pressure and resentful and may put him off learning.

I know its really hard to relax when other mothers are pushing their children to be ahead of everyone else, but there is no evidence to suggest that these children are more intelligent.

Be supportive and encouraging and establish a positive and fun learning environment for your child... and most of all, relax, I'm sure you are doing a fantastic job!

Answer 5

If his concentration is low then putting him off will make him disgusted with the whole thing when you want to fire his enthusiasm. To do that he needs to see you enjoying books and reading. Read together. Read the tv mag and pick the programs. Read books together for fun ,forget teaching him alltogether. Go to the library and let him pick books every week. Get interesting stuff and he'll want to learn to read.
Buy him a ream of typewriter paper, 500 sheets for £2 and some crayons and felt tips and stencils.
Get him a pack o card and let him make greetings cards to his gran and anyone else you can think of. Let him scribble in them and then you write the words for him underneath while he tells you what they say.
Write books together, scan his pictures into the pc and you write the story that he tells, then print them out.
Buy him the Dr Seuss books and the Dr Seuss Dictionary. Play word games.
It can't be forced, you have to so it because you enjoy it.

Answer 6

Its difficult for kids to commit things to memory, but if its done in a fun way its easier, try flash card for letters, colours and shapes,it can be used as a game and something they look forward too. also teach in small quantities, repeat the same 3 things a day for a week, this way they have more chance of absorbing the information. good luck

Answer 7

Its great to teach your child things before school but I would wait until he is about 4 for the writing. When you do teach him make sure that only the first letter of his name is taught in capital letters the rest should be lower case letters. Also make sure he traces over your letters first and all letters start at the top except d and e.

Answer 8

I have children from age 5 through 11 for 1hour per week teaching them computer literacy, and I know that this is outside the age of 3 which you stated your child is, my point is, there is one 5 yr old among all of them and is the only one who has very little concentration, and it prooves difficult to teach this child anything, all of the others concentrate enough to achieve their goal, though this child does not. what I am saying is I would find it would be very hard to teach this child multi tasks, I find one task is quite enough at a time for this child.
there are other 5yr olds but they do concentrate, but of course as in adulthood humans differ young or old.
my answer be gentle with em, like water kids will find their own level.

Answer 9

my daughter is two and knows her colours, although she cant say them all she knows them.
dont try and teach him too much especially if his concentration levels are low, which most kids are if they think they're learning!
i taught my daughter colours by colouring and smarties!! she especially likes the fact she is smarter than mummy as mummy thinks a green smartie is blue!
most children in school at four and five can have trouble writing their name, so my advice is to do colours shapes etc first. maybe write his name and say that it is his name, so that he may be able toi recognise his name before can write it...

good luck its always tough when trying to teach kids but the key is too make it fun! :)

Answer 10

Don't rush him, most 3yr olds can't even grip a pencil. you can't point out the letters in his name or even trace his name using his fingers. When u notice the letters in his name, in everyday things around the house, while driving, at the supermarket.. just make a note to point out to him. Gradually he'll pick up on it & start to recognize on his own. Then when he shows an interest to write (or pretend to) is when u start w/the whole letters thing. Same thing w/colors & shapes, its easier for child to grasp when its connect w/everyday things they encounter. Cheerios are circles, my juice is red, etc. (I teach Grade K). hope this info helps