how to help my 5 year old daughter.?

Question

my daughter is in kindergarten this year and is having trouble. she is having trouble with speech (in speech therapy) , recognizing letters and numbers. she only counts to 11 and they say she should be counting to 20. she can only recognize a few letters from the alphabet. every single day i read to her, i point to the words while we read. i go over her speech papers that are sent to me (try to get her to pronounce the words the way they should be), we do the alphabet with and without looking at the letters, we do the same with numbers. i have bought flash cards and we work with those. i made her a childrens cd with the alphabet songs and all sorts of kids songs for her. i dont know how else to help her. she does not require a special education class, i just dont know what else to do to help her so please dont be disrespectful when answering. this is an innocent child we are talking about. if anyone has any creative teaching ideas for me please do tell! i just want to help her learn

oh we also have laminated pages of the alphabet and numbers .....u know the dots you trace ..shes does those every night as well.

Answer 1

i think you are doing all the right things already. I believe that not all children learn in the same way and at the same rate. i think that the kindergarten is being slightly judgemental in comparing all the children to one 'check list'.
I really think that you are doing enough and that your child will learn in their own time... however you could try...
Computer programs and educational dvd's like Dora and the little Einsteins which give time for the children to interact, are fun and they are repetitive.
My only advice to you as a parent is once your child gets sick of practising these things don't give up but maybe cut down because doing these every night is great for practise but they may become a chore to your child.
For counting you could incorporate things to count... like at dinner time... ' i need 4 carrots', '2 potatoes' she could then place them on the dot to dot mats of the corresponding number. (just a thought) You could also incorporate this with letters. C for carrot... find it on a flash card... trace it and then try to write it.
I wouldn't worry too much about her not knowing how to recognise all the letters and numbers. i practise singing the alphabet and counting and writing her name and some other letters; names of siblings, mum, dad etc.

i honestly think you are doing a great job and i'm sure she is definitely great at something else.

p.s i was always taught not to correct a child who is mispronouncing a word but just repeat it in the correct way.

eg.."looK Mum, a Upppy"
"Yes mum can see a puppy."

Thought this might help Good luck.

Answer 2

My son was a hot wheel fanatic and we learned to count using those. Is there something she really loves. If she has a lot of barbies count those everynite to see how many she has. As for the alphabet, I ordered some books that had Seasame street charecters on them. There was 26 books. Each one was devoted to a specific letter of the alphabet. We would read those aloud every nite. They were real short. I don't remember who I ordered them from . I would just start looking in the books section of a store or online to see if you can find something that would look interesting. Make it fun, fun, fun. Let her play teacher and you be the student. Go buy chalk and play with it on the sidewalk or driveway.
My son was in speech for 4 years and it has been tough. Just keep doing what you are doing and know that it just keeps getting better. G-luck.

Answer 3

Our son was in speech therapy during kindergarten as well. It sounds like you are doing every thing you need to do and then some. With the constant reinforcement at home and therapy in school she should catch up in speech over the next few years. She may never sprint to the lead in her class, but she should be able to move solidly back into the middle of the pack.

It's much to early to worry too much about alphabets and reading, just keep repeating and reinforcing. Regular reading of Dr. Seuss books, held in front of your child, pointing out the words as you say them, helps reinforce reading habits. Before you know it she'll be reading on her own, and eventually you'll miss getting to read to her.

Answer 4

When I was in kindergarten I was in speech therapy to. I continued to go until the 4th grade. Don't get discouraged and never let her get discouraged. Keep up what you are doing. Your doing great. I had trouble speaking when I was young and then over come it and I graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA so your daughter may grow up to be really smart all kids start at different and may need a little more help in the begining.

Answer 5

At five, maybe she doesn't need more than 11 of anything. Maybe she gets bored reading numbers. Have you tried a "tactile" exercise, such as forming the letters with clay? An elementary teacher I knew worked all year trying to get a student to learn the alphabet. Then one day for fun they made letters with clay. The child learned every letter and never forgot them. He was a "tactile" or "hands-on" learner. Just a thought.

Answer 6

Don't worry too much she will basically do her own thing. She might have to repeat kindergarten- which is not always a bad thing. It is better that she learns everything here before being behind in 1st grade and so on. Just encourage her and let her know that you are proud of her for every small thing she picks up on.

I also swear by vtech. My children love it they think it is fun to play and they also learn a lot from it- they have got ahead in classes and everything! My nephew was having the same problems as your daughter- he just made it to first grade and everything but he is a lot happier in school since I bought him vtech. The only thing he could learn before was math. Now he can do his reading and everything just as well as the other kids!

Answer 7

I work for head start, and it sounds like an individual education plan (IEP) would be very helpful. A lot of parents feel very threatened by someone assuming their child has special needs, but my son has speech issues too. And just so you know, federal law demands the school provide her with an IEP and pay for any and all special services needed, including speech therapy, etc. feel free to email me if you'd like more info, as i've helped a lot of parents with this type of thing. just because you are patent with her doesn't mean she doesn't need help. She could be dyslexic; my sister is!

Answer 8

You may just have to give her time. A lot of learning is developmental and will not happen until she is ready. This can be very different for all kids. Try to be patient. It sounds like you are doing everything you can do. Try not to let your daughter sense that you are upset or anxious about it. Take a laid back, happy attitude with her. Have fun, and I bet in a month or so you will see growth!

Answer 9

She might just not be ready for school. Children develop at their own pace, some are more mental others physical. I sugest figuring out her particular style of learning and play to that.

Answer 10

Educational computer games or leap pad games help