Teaching
By jhoannapena
@jhoannapena (342)
Philippines
July 5, 2007 4:15am CST
How do I start teaching my 4 years old daughter to color neatly and start reading 3 letter words.
Please help!
4 responses
@wmaharper (2316)
• United States
5 Jul 07
As far as coloring, I suppose you could demonstrate it for her, and see if she can mimick you. Reading, i'm not really sure. Does she know the alphabet? Can She recognize all the letters? If not, get her started on that. My son is almost 3, we are working through the alphabet at this time. we are about 1/2 way through right now, and he knows what sound each letter makes, and what letter it is. After they are at that part, I suppose it's all about giving them an opportunity to learn, and showing them how to phonetically sound out words. I hope I helped. there are some great resources at your local walmart, (if you have one near-by) THey have workbooks for children, and it will help you get a great start. Good luck!
@jhoannapena (342)
• Philippines
6 Jul 07
Hi thanks for your advise.
Yes, she knows her alphabet, the sounds she is not all that familiar.
Should I start her with the vowel sounds?
1 person likes this
@wmaharper (2316)
• United States
6 Jul 07
There is a great site that i use for my son, with curriculum. It's great because it's already thought out for you, they learn a new letter, color, shape etc every week. It does have christian influence, so if you are not christian, just omit that. I really like it and it works great for my son. It even breaks it up into ages it's from 0-1 year, 2-4 and then kindergarden and on up. It's great. Hopefully it'll help you.
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/Preparatory.html
@jhoannapena (342)
• Philippines
11 Jul 07
Thank you for your reference. I will make sure and check it out. I am sure its going to help my daughter.
Have a great day.
@ginger73 (30)
• Philippines
5 Jul 07
hi! i'm a mother of a 4 year old little girl too. we have the same problem. what i did was we both color the same picture and then when we are done, we compare our work and of course hers is not done neatly instead of saying that it was not done neatly, i told her that it is ok but she can make it look prettier just like what mama did. my sister who is a teacher said that we should refrain from telling our child that their work is not good, that its ugly etc etc. instead we should encourage then to improve. i know that its hard because sometimes we lose our patience with them but we have to be more careful in dealing with our children because they are looking up to us.
@jhoannapena (342)
• Philippines
6 Jul 07
Thank you for your advise, I definitely will keep that in mind.
I guess patience will play a big role in teaching my daughter to read.
Can your daughter read already?
@jhoannapena (342)
• Philippines
6 Jul 07
I do go with her in school but we are not allowed inside the classroom.
The advise I got from her teacher is letting her practice writing. Which is what I do with her right now. Usually my problem is that when I am the one teaching her she just doesn't pay attention.
It's so frustrating most of the time because I see her worksheet results and they are all perfect scores and yet with me she always makes mistakes as if she is doing it intentionally.
Her teacher spoke with me that my daughter is mature for her age and in fact if she can start learning how to read they will accelerate her to the next level at the middle of the school year.
Of course as a mother it's flattering, I am not going to force her to read but I would like to give her a heads up which I don't know how to do.
What approach do I take? Should I start with the vowels?
@6in12years (305)
• United States
5 Jul 07
Coloring neatly is overrated IMO. Plenty of time coloring and doing other fine motor activities will strengthen her fingers and make writing easier, but I wouldn't critique her coloring, tbh.
IRT reading, some kids are ready sooner than others. Does she understand that letters represent sounds and combine to make words? Does she recognize all the letters? Know their sounds? Once she grasps all that, then you can start with 3 letter short vowel words (cat, hat, bat). I found a word families program helpful for 2 of my children for a brief time. A lot of this is developmental, so not every 4yo is going to be ready to learn to sound out words. Be patient and make it fun. If she sees you reading and enjoying it, chances are good that when she does learn to read she will be a good reader.
@jhoannapena (342)
• Philippines
6 Jul 07
Thank you.
She does know her alphabet, the corresponding sounds of the alphabet is not perfect. She knows some but not all. How do I teach her to combine letters to make a word?
I was doing that to her last night but I don't think I did a good job. How do I make it fun?
