Children of average ability

[clare]

Hi Tamarind

I had quite a lot of trouble teaching my middle child even the names of the letters, let alone reading and writing. Her learning abilities are poles apart from her two brothers (I didn't bother to teach my oldest how to read; he picked it up himself); I almost throttled her at times before I found what works for us. I'm impressed by your patience and perseverance in teaching your son how to read!

Ultimately, I had the most success when I made letters and words distinctive enough for my daughter to recall them effortlessly. E.g. for letter 'b', a bear looks for food (drew bear's image around the letter). Letter 'd' was a deer with another story, but not looking for food to avoid any confusion with 'b'. It's not conventional, but I also did not do the letters in alphabetical sequence in the beginning, because I figured it would confuse the heck out of her when she encounters 'b' and 'd' in quick succession.

So far it has worked pretty well for us, my daughter found it fun and easily remembered that the bear was looking towards 'that direction' when it was looking for honey. I can't quite recall now, was it zoo-phonics which talked about how a bear is always a bear whichever way you turn the letter? Anyway, that was sort of my idea, to use images to aid my daughter's recall. It also helped her to practise writing with different media. We had fun tracing letters in a big shallow bowl of table salt, we glued beans on paper to trace etc. Or try sand at the beach!
Actually I didn't place a lot of emphasis on individual letters; I'm very impatient so I moved on to words once she could recognize, write and sound out a few letters with ease.

[tamarind]

clare,

Thanks for sharing. You reminded me that last year my hubby tried to use some sort of image to teach my son \"b\" and \"d\". But we only tried it once or twice, then gave up. I think we need to keep trying

I also didn't place a lot of emphasis on individual letters, I started to teach him phonics before he could recognize all the letters. My biggest headache now is that he is not able to write all the letters and numbers correctly He is supposed to master it by this year, next year at K1, he will need to write in words

[tamarind]

Is this normal for a 4 year old boy ?


First, my boy used his kids’ scissors to cut a few holes on the cotton cover of his kids’ sofa. We told him sternly that he cannot cut anything with his scissors, except for pieces of paper which we gave to him for cutting.

The next day, he cut a few holes in my king size bedsheet ! Again, we told him sternly that he cannot do it again.

One week later, he cut his sister’s water bottle strap ! I wonder if it is because he does not understand what can be cut, and what cannot be cut. I went through a full list of things that he cannot cut, including my hair, and his sister’s hair, etc. I also wonder whether it is because he cannot remember instructions. Sian…

[phantom]

tamarind:

Is this normal for a 4 year old boy ?


First, my boy used his kids' scissors to cut a few holes on the cotton cover of his kids' sofa. We told him sternly that he cannot cut anything with his scissors, except for pieces of paper which we gave to him for cutting.

The next day, he cut a few holes in my king size bedsheet ! Again, we told him sternly that he cannot do it again.

One week later, he cut his sister's water bottle strap ! I wonder if it is because he does not understand what can be cut, and what cannot be cut. I went through a full list of things that he cannot cut, including my hair, and his sister's hair, etc. I also wonder whether it is because he cannot remember instructions. Sian....

I heard a story similar to your case. What the mother did was told his child that she is very impressed with the child's ability to use the scissors to cut and told the child that he can practice it more often by cutting on the paper which is more appropriate. In this case, it work on the child. You can try this tactic to see if it work

[clare]

tamarind:

I wonder if it is because he does not understand what can be cut, and what cannot be cut. I went through a full list of things that he cannot cut, including my hair, and his sister's hair, etc. I also wonder whether it is because he cannot remember instructions. Sian....

Er, my daughter really DID cut hair with scissors, luckily it was her own and not her brothers' or they would have done something violent to her...
Tamarind, er, i can't help thinking the no-cutting list will just go on and on and on. I gave my daughter similar instructions, and was flummoxed when she asked me incessantly,\"how about THIS, how about THAT, are THOSE in the list?\" Drove me crazy. In the end I gave her books like the Kumon cutting books
http://www.whoopeekiddies.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=105
and told her she can use her scissors only on these. She listened!

[en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg]

Tamarind wrote [quote]First, my boy used his kids' scissors to cut a few holes on the cotton cover of his kids' sofa. We told him sternly that he cannot cut anything with his scissors, except for pieces of paper which we gave to him for cutting. [/quote]
Tamarind, did you ask your boy why did he do it. I, uhmmm.. :oops: did a lot cutting when I was young. For every pieces that I cut there are reasons behind it.

[clare]

tamarind:

I also didn't place a lot of emphasis on individual letters, I started to teach him phonics before he could recognize all the letters. My biggest headache now is that he is not able to write all the letters and numbers correctly He is supposed to master it by this year, next year at K1, he will need to write in words

I was just thinking about this. Since your little boy can read very well, he obviously can recognize words very well too. So perhaps he will find it easy to write/spell words as a whole unit (at least to begin with), especially since you mentioned that he has no problems reading words containing \"b\" or \"d\" when the letters are put together like \"dog\". Does your son only write in reversal when doing individual letters or does it happen in words as well?

[jedamum]

tamarind:

First, my boy used his kids' scissors to cut a few holes on the cotton cover of his kids' sofa.

The next day, he cut a few holes in my king size bedsheet !

One week later, he cut his sister's water bottle strap !

I guess you have to gauge his reaction upon being caught to understand if he really did not understand the rules or he is trying to test his boundaries.

For us, strictly no scissors using unless permission is sought or adult supervision is present.

[kaitlynangelica]

tamarind:

My younger boy, who is 4 years 3 months old now, has average learning ability.


Although he is able to read well, he still cannot write all the 26 letters, upper and lower case. He tends to write his numbers and letters in mirror images. I tried to let him practice by more, but I could not let him write more than 30 letters or numbers a day. He will complain that he is tired, or lose his concentration.

Any ideas about what to do ?

Your boy seems very intelligent to me. My gal of 5 years old (k1 this year ) can barely finish reading 4B of the Peter and Jane series. Even then, she gets it wrong sometimes. For the writing, its perfectly normal for them to write the mirror image at this stage. The principal of my daughter's childcare says that because the mirror image of the alphabets is embedded in their mind.

[tamarind]

jedamum,

The kids' scissors have rounded tips and are very safe for children. I let my kids use them to develop their fine motor skills. My 5 year old girl often use the scissors and glue to create paper crafts. She has never cut what she is not supposed to cut before. So I do not expect my younger boy to do so. He is normally a sweet natured boy at home, he does not have a habit of destroying things. I think he does not understand why he cannot cut those things.

clare,
Your daughter cut her own hair ? :shock:

I bought those Kumon cutting books for my kids too. They love it ! We finished 2 or 3 already.

Yes he tends to write in reversal even when writing words as well. He can spell a number of words verbally, but he has problem writing them correctly.

I used to believe that he recognizes words by their shapes. So when the words are upside down, he should not be able to read them. But there was once he turned the book upside down and read an entire paragraph correctly. Strange.

EN,
We asked him. He could not answer why

phantom,
We actually have a lot of white paper for him, and he is free to take any paper to draw or cut. But I guess he got bored of cutting white paper