Preschool Learning

[TonyaW]

My son will be 4 in December. All of his 4 year old friends know how to recognize numbers and letters and are starting to spell. They are in preschool while my son is not. My son can count and sing ABC's, likes to rhyme words, learn about science and nature and machines. Should he be learning to recognize letters and numbers by now? I did sit down and play chutes and ladders with him and after several games he can't really recognize any numbers other than 1 and even that he forgot a lot of the time. My son is not delayed and is actually verbally advanced and did start talking quite well at 1 year old. He is obviously smart in many ways, so I am not worried about delay. I am just wondering if I should diligently start working with him to recognize letters and numbers. My friend mentioned a book, Teaching Your Child to read in 100 Easy Lessons...any thoughts? Are we at the right pace or should I ramp up his learning?

[Lillian J]

Tonya, I realize there are children who enjoy and even seek out learning about letters and numbers at that age, and I see no reason not to help them learn whatever they want, but there's no realistic need for any of it so early.

There have been generations of people who didn't start learning all that till 1st grade, except for maybe the ABC song just for fun, and they ended up with a better education than today's children - not because they learned these things later, but in spite of the fact that they did. The timeline was very different, but there was a whole lot more that got fit into the school years then anyway.

Here's an article by Dr. David Elkind, author of a number of popular books on childhood and education, Professor in Child Development at Tufts University and a consultant to schools, Board Member of: National Parenting Association and Institute for Family Values, National Forum on Leadership in Early Childhood Education, consultant to mental health associations and private foundations. Much Too Early - excerpts from his book, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk.

Here's an excerpt from another book, Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play, by Vivian Gussin Paley, an award winning kindergarten and nursery school teacher of 37 years experience, and author of eleven books - Big "A", and Little "a" - in which she discusses the way in which she's seen these things change, not for the better, during her career.

It's not as if there aren't a lot of delightful and useful things a child that age can be and should be learning - it's just that there's no pressing reason why numbers and letters need to be part of it. I'm not in any way unappreciative of the joys of reading, but I just see any reason to spend so much time trying to get younger children started into it when they can pick it up so much easier and faster later. In the meantime, there are so many wonderful things you can be sharing with your child, and I'm sure you're already doing that. It sounds as if your little boy is enjoying himself and learning a lot - I'd just keep facilitating and enjoying all that with him and not feel pushed to conform to what the schools are doing. Lillian

[TonyaW]

That's pretty much what I was thinking. I want him to learn what he is interested in learning. I felt somewhat inadequate when I saw his friends at a birthday party spelling and writing letters. But I realize overall, my son will retain so much more when he learns what he is interested in and enjoy it in the process...unlike my public school education! Thanks for the articles.

[The Amber Lily]

I don't think there is any harm in doing a few lessons on it, and see how it goes. It's not a bad thing for you to take the initiative to teach him something. Teach while he shows interest, and in x amount of minutes if he's bored or frustrated then move on. Say, "X, I have something cool to show you today." Make picture cards, play snakes and ladders, read recipes, count stairs or leaves - make it fun. You don't have to teach him to read and write in three months, but recognizing letters and numbers is a fairly simply, useful thing. He may not think to bring it up but may enjoy learning and knowing it.

[SundayCrepes]

Read Einstein never used flashcards http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Never...5366320&sr=8-1

Very readable and enjoyable. A study compared kids in an academic preschool and kids in a play based preschool. By the end of kindergarten they were academically the same. The play based kids were more creative and less anxious.

If you don't think he has disabilities, I wouldn't worry about it.

[LuxPerpetua]

Sometimes it really is just a child's own drive and personality. My dd is 4.75 and is advanced academically, not because I have taught her (we're Waldorf-inspired, so if anything, I have tried NOT to teach her these things) but because it was what she was interested in. Usually I have no idea HOW she has picked up some of the things she has (she has always been at home with me, does no extracurricular activities, etc.). Still, I'm not starting any academics until age 6.5. Personally, if your son isn't really interested in it, then I wouldn't press it. I think next year for dd's kindy year we're going to work on how to properly form letters only because she's trying to write now and is forming letters from the bottom-up instead of top-down and I don't want her to get in a bad habit. Or we may not even worry about it then and just let it go until grade 1. I think the absolute best thing you can do is focus on enriching sensory and imaginative play. I think that is far more important than academics at this age.

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by SundayCrepes

Read Einstein never used flashcards http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Never...5366320&sr=8-1

Very readable and enjoyable. A study compared kids in an academic preschool and kids in a play based preschool. By the end of kindergarten they were academically the same. The play based kids were more creative and less anxious.

If you don't think he has disabilities, I wouldn't worry about it.

Here's an excerpted chapter from the book: Bringing the Lessons Home; an article by the authors - How Our Children Really Learn And Why They Need To Play More And Memorize Less; and an interview with one of the authors.

Lillian