3 and doesn't know colors or letters

[dmpmercury]

My dd will be 3 in September and doesn't really know her colors or numbers yet. I don't teach her colors or letters but I do label things by color like do you want the red or yellow shirt, here is your blue cup etc. She really likes doing starfall but she isn't picking up the letters or sounds yet but she will remember the bouncing ball or dancing doll or the dinosaur dance is coming up.

She does know other concepts like heavy and light, big and small over and under etc. Her vocabulary is good and she picks up new words easy and can speak in complex sentences of up to 10 words or so. I read that she will need to know by kindergarten but she does have 2 or 3 years to go depending on where we live and will be going to preschool. She doesn't have an attention span to sit and get taught things but I do point out colors to her.

[dawncayden]

Ds knew his letters by 3.5 years and colours by 3.3 months.

I didn't 'teach' either.

[LynnS6]

3 year olds don't need to know their colors or their letters yet. Your daughter is not yet 3, and will be a young 3 in sept. I'd work more on colors this year than letters because there are games and activities that often rely on colors. Maybe you can choose a color a week. Have a 'red' day where you wear red, try out red foods, paint with red, go on walks and hunt for things that are red. Start with the primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and black and white. Cycle through those a couple of times. Then move on to green, purple, pink, brown, orange, grey. It may well take her a year or so to get all of them. Learning to label by color is somewhat of a difficult concept.

For the alphabet, get some fun alphabet books from the library to mix in with regular stories, get an alphabet puzzle and some magnets. Let her play with them. But don't stress that she's not learning the names. She will when she's ready.

[AbbieB]

My DD did not either.

She's 5 and just mastered her letters this year. For some reason she still mixes up neutral colors though, like silver, gold, black, gray, and brown.

As a former K/1 teacher, I can say that MANY kids do not enter kindergarten knowing their letters or colors.

[caudex]

Is there anything she really likes to do that you could incoporate the learning into, without forcing the lesson on her?

As an example, we learned our colors helping out in the flower garden. And my brother had a thing for name brands (Oh, it's from Kenner! It's from Mattell! Scary I know.) so he learned his letters by trying to read store signs and labels.

[dawncayden]

Candy Land is a great game for colours.

[klt]

In our PreK class at our daycare, many of the PreKers did not know letters and spelling, and they didn't really "teach" that either. They work on writing readiness, and fundamental reading concepts. They might start working on small words like cat, bed....Some of the girls I know are more advanced than the boys, but they are both truning 5 this fall too. Sooo..... hard to put an age on it. I know many boys going into kindergarten who were not interested in letters and writing at all. My son is 4.5 and is not interested in being "taught" rudimentary letters, sounds, phonics, grammar.....but does things with me or on computer games.

[staceychev]

I don't know about colors, but I don't think you should worry about letters. My sister got a call from her son's daycare/preschool teacher with concern that he doesn't know all of his letters at 3.5 years. I checked with my own DD's daycare teacher/director, and another woman I know whose an early educator, and both said it was really common for kids that age not to know their letters.

This has been posted before, but I really like the PBS Kids devlopment tracker site. It's great to just get a general idea of if your child falls within the broad scope of "normal":
http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopment/

[itsmyturn]

Colors are an abstract thing. It is pretty norm for an early 3yo not to have them mastered.
Playing on Starfall, and using color words during the day are great activities. Keep doing what you are doing and don't worry. She'll catch on when she is ready.

[Cavy]

omg, I can't believe this expectation that kids should know letters by this sort of age. Is this common in the USA nowadays?? Do they need to know by kindergarten??

DS2 played a lot on Starfall before starting school. I think it was good for making the letter shapes familiar to him, but he never learnt them properly until he attended school proper (started just past his 4th birthday, which is the norm in the UK).

[Cascadian]

My oldest, now 5.5, didn't do colours or letter recognition very well at 3 (or 4), but had a scarily exceptional vocabulary.

My now 3.5 year old learned to read a week before her third birthday. READ read, not just word recognition from the shape of it. OTOH her speech/vocab isn't the greatest.

Different kids, different strengths, and most get 'there'.

[itsmyturn]

Is this common in the USA nowadays?? Do they need to know by kindergarten??

Yes, they are supossed to know a few colors and shapes before K, however K does not start until 5 in most states. The states that start younger than 5 may have lower standards.

[Ellien C]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. Totally normal. The kindy curriculum included colors, numbers and letters and in 1st grade DD is still tracing numbers and letters. Nothing to be concerned about at all. Those little minds develop at their own rates. Some get colors and letters, some learn language, others are putting things together and taking them apart, still others are running, rambling and mastering gross motor skills. In the end we all end up getting it.

I don't think you need to "work" on anything or do anything special. Just be there for your child and enjoy their company. Enjoy getting to know her as a person. This is wonderful time.

[Bug-a-Boo's Mama]

K is 3y9m and knows colors, can count to thirteen , but doesn't know what number is which or what letter is which.

[RiverSky]

Very normal. I might start paying more attention by 4 1/2 if a little one still doesn't know colors or letters, but totally not a big deal, IMO. Meanwhile, just read lots and lots of picture books to your child and don't worry about colors at all.

[eepster]

While not knowing these things at 3 yo is perfectly normal, I have this feeling that you should get her eyes checked.

I'm not sure why I feel this. Maybe it's just b/c you are asking, so I feel like your gut is telling you something. Maybe it's just b/c I have a lazy eye, and other vision issues that relate to my dyslexia. Maybe it's just b/c I very recently took my own 3 yo to his first eye exam (he's very slightly far sighted, but not enough to need glass.)

Anyway, even if I'm totally crazy here, it couldn't hurt.

[treqi]

dd knows her colors but every time you ask a color all she'll say is "GREEN!" she also knows a couple of numbers but really only has 1,2,3 mastered in order.... she goes to preschool, none of her teachers have expressed concern and its not like a 3yos arent full of suprises anyways!

[meemee]

you are doing all the right things. give your child time.

honestly there is more to life than colours and letters.

i want you to know that 99% of the kids in my dd's K class did not know their letters. they 'could' write their names (instead of letters they are expected to know how to write their names here) but as a drawing of picture not letter formation. ask them to spell their names out and they couldnt. this was true in all 3 sections of the K class.

out of that 99% 70% learnt all that in K. counting, colours, letters, writing and how to function in a social group, how to work in a team, days of the week, month, year.

the thing here is that - when our children is ready to pick up - they go from knowing nothing, to everything in a really short span. i have seen this innumerable times - just not in my child - but while vollunteering in the K and first grade class. in fact there are a few kids in first grade who still couldnt read 'well' according to school standards, or write well enough.

so while standards are set, they are not stictly adhered to.

i mean there were kids in K who still could not zip up or snap their jacket. they still had a hard time opening their lunch boxes or even their ziplock bags.

while volunteering at first grade i have seen kids go from reading dr seuss to books like the giving tree in a month straight. or even more. something snaps for our children and they go.

if your dd is going to go to ps then i wouldnt worry at all. my dd was in a play based dc/ps. they did not even really encourage letters till dd was 4. they encouraged them to write and know their names for their cubbies. except for a gifted few no one at 3 really knew all their letters.

you are absolutely right teachign ur dd is a waste of time. i really strongly feel this focus on academics is really taking the childhood from our children. at 3 at my dd's ps she was much happier stirring a 'soup' of sand and water and creating her own game of what was in it.

plus some kids are quirky. while they may not know the letters or colours they can 'identify' wierds things. like all the ingredients in the salad you make. or the names of the flowers in your yard.

my friends son went from 'drawing' his name while entering k to reading 3 letter words by the first 3 to 4 months in K. he did not know the alphabets. he could sing them in the alphabet song, but he could not identify them.

[treqi]

oh i think the simple version of what the PP said is what i heard on NPR the other day. when children focus on things its kind of like the glow of a lamp, just gathering information and as we get older the focus becomes narrower and we are able to put the gathered information to use. it was a very interesting story i think it was on Fresh Air.

[abi&ben'smom]

I don't really remember about the colors; but when ds started K, he could only recognize a couple of letters (and not from a lack of us trying!). We weren't too worried because of the other kids in the neighborhood were about the same. (Even the teacher wasn't worried.) They all learned their letters just fine in K.