My step-son is 5 and he doesn't know the alphabet or how to count?

Question

In the few months he has been with us, we have gotten him into a great school and he has made TREMENDOUS leaps and bounds but he is still having issues with counting and the alphabet I have made a sign for him with the alphabet and he loves looking at it before bed. but I want to do a song about counting and the alphabet as well for him... but sadly I am having issues working out how to do a counting song.

I want the song for him to be something that naturally occurs for example we have two eyes, ten toes (blah blah) but certain numbers (i.e three) I can't seem to find anything for...

any ideas from 1 - 20 :) Would be appreciated.

Has anyone else had this issue and had to teach a late bloomer (his real mum just let him play call of duty ... he can kick my butt on call of duty but I can barely understand his speech... and he thinks counting is 1 3 6 7... etc. )

Answer 1

I am a Pre-K Teacher and have taught my kids (32 of them) to count from1-100. It is all about consistency and repetition :) Rote counting is best right now...so count in the car/home/on a walk together and make a song out of it and eventually he will learn how to count certain objects. You can show your son that numbers and counting are all around him such as in the cheerios or legos you let him have or the number of times he sneezes haha. Count EVERYTHING aloud and keep singing your ABC's and believe me, he will catch on by no time. Good luck!

Answer 2

Are you having problems with him knowing the letters in order or him recognizing what letter is what. That is two different skills. If it is letters in order I would sing the ABC song with him a lot and then try and say the alphabet real slow and see if you can alternate saying each letter. Like you say an he says b, you say c, ect. If he is having trouble knowing what letter is what start with his name and teach him the letters in his name and then go on from there and teach him like a letter a week and have examples of words or examples of what starts with that letter. Like a is for apple, b is for balloons or bubbles, c is for cake or cat. These are just examples and I am sure you can think of more words for all the letters of the alphabet. For counting I know that 1-10 I used the rhyme 1-2 tie your shoe, 3-4 shut the door, 5-6 pick up sticks, 7-8 lay them straight, 9-10 the end(or a big fat hen) I also used this old man from 1-10. After he gets the point of counting you can probably move from 11-20 easily. You might want to use some concrete objects like candy, cookies, or blocks to count with. At some teacher education stores they have things called counters and sometimes they are in the shape or teddy bears or something else that can make it more entertaining.

Answer 3

You don't necessarily have to make up a song (though it's an awesome idea). A lot of learning for this age children should come from their environment. When you are eating breakfast, count the animals on the cereal box. In the grocery store, count the apples as you put them into the bag. When you see numbers point them out and help him identify them. Pour some salt or sand into a shoe box lid that has dark paper on the bottom and let him write his numbers with his fingers (this activates multiple parts of his brain and helps cement it more). Do the same thing with letters.

You can use the number songs you already know, like ten little indians, one two buckle my shoe ect. All of these reinforce the order and name of the numbers.

Answer 4

There are a LOT of people who've had questions just like this one.

I spend most of my time teaching my kids or looking for resources to teach them. Children are capable of understanding so much, their minds are like sponges when their young, absorbing all that information. My son is 4 years old, he knows how the digestive system works, all about his white blood cells, and the functions of the red blood cells, he's doing really well at reading and counting. So every time I see a post like this, I write down every link and Idea I've had, it's usually to much to post... ^.^

So I made a web sight, where I posted all the stuff on it. I haven't gotten to do a math page yet, But I'll go work on it tonight now that I know someone might use it, anyway, here is the link:

http://caitlin0139.tripod.com/informationnetwork/index.html

There are a lot of links at the bottom of the pages, some go to educational videos, others to coloring pages. There are also activities you can try that I explain on the sight. It's really basic, my main thought was I wanted everyone to have this information readily available. So when I saw another post like this, I could really help.

All kids deserve a good education, and most parents don't realize that it's their responsibility to make sure they get one. So good job seeing that he's struggling, and being on top of it. The trick is, to make it fun, it sounds like you already know that though. ^.^ Good Luck!

Answer 5

Starfall is great site

leap frog has some great products for letters

Lakeshore has some great products as well

Make it fun!!!

Singing (DR. jEAN, Jack Hartman) all great Cd's

Songs for teaching has great songs

Make counting jar and make him count the objects/change object every day

Circle letters in newspapers/play I spy



Maybe have get tested by a speech threapist

Answer 6

My advice would be to include sight and sound any way you can. There are a ton of toys, video games, and cartoons that make letters and numbers more fun. You can also just buy number cards or placards and hang them in his room like decorations. We bought the interlocking foam floor mat tiles that have letters and numbers on them. Before bed, every night, we'd go through all the letter and numbers with our daughter.



We also read her two or three short stories every night at bedtime and follow the words with a finger. If there's a big word, I'll spell it out, sound it out, and then ask her to do the same thing.



I'm not a big fan of TV shows for kids, but WORD WORLD and SUPER WHY are really entertaining and teach numbers and letters. You can watch episodes on the "PBS kids" website.



Above anything, YOU will be the most important teacher. Going over numbers and letters every chance you get will help him immensely. Do everything you can to make it into a game. You're making eggs for breakfast? Have him count along with you as you crack the eggs into a bowl. You can even use a crayon to write the numbers on the eggs and ask him to hand you number one, number two, etc.



You're doing a good job trying to make it fun with songs. Try to find some songs on the internet or in the educational section at Toys R Us. There are tons out there already.



You also mentioned that you can barely understand his speech. Make sure you enunciate when you speak and form all of your words clearly with your mouth. He'll see how you do it and start to mimic it. If he says something incorrectly, ask him to watch you as you say it, and then have him repeat it a few times. Make it into a song if you have to. Don't worry about small mistakes (i.e. "Free" instead of "Three") because many of those just take a little time for the kid to refine his motor skills.



Also, for your numbers song, you can make sounds for strange numbers and follow along on a number chart. Just write out the numbers on a sheet of paper and as you say the number, point to it. For example...



If you have one nose and you have two ears, stomp your feet three times! (BOOM BOOM BOOM!) **Point to his nose, point to his ears, point to the number 3 on your chart.**



Finally, write a note to his teacher or meet with him/her. Ask about websites, worksheets, TV shows, games, or books that might help. While you're trying to help teach one kid, that kindergarten teacher is trying to teach two dozen. He/she has been researching learning activities far longer than you. The teacher will be a great resource.



Good luck to you! I hope everything works out and he gets caught up to speed quickly!

Answer 7

at 5 I didn't know the alphabet or how to count due to my speaking problems I learn them all by the age of 7/8. Just do the simple abc song and just counting up to 100. Just keep it up helping him and he will remember it sooner or later.

Answer 8

You can help him by letting him count things around him. like go out and tell him to count the houses in your street. let him count the cars in the street. Get him some m&ms and form number and tell him to count how many are there. by this method he will enjoy the activity and the desire to get candy wil help him learn better. trust me. you will get good results..

Answer 9

Have you heard of unschooling or child led learning? If not, you should look it up. I strongly reccomend it, it worked for my kids. In this case, I would not worry too much about it. He likes call of duty? That's a fun game. Eventually with killstreaks or something, he will learn the order of numbers. I think he will learn letters in his own time. Don't worry about it.

Answer 10

Hey, I couldn't get the ABC's right until I was 6. It took a while since I was still little..I learned by doing bit by bit of the ABC's and they were in chunks. I learned number the same way. Doing them chunk by chunk till I brought it all together. Try helping him learn and practice with your Step Son a few times a week.

Answer 11

Hi! Thanks for being one of those parents who actually care! I have been a teacher for years and it's sad when many parents couldn't care less about where their child is educationally.



As for counting ideas.. Try to figure out what kind of "learner" your step-son is. Does he learn through auditory means (hearing it repeated), visual (seeing a number of something) or kinetically (touching)? Some kids learn through more than one or all of them, but there is usually one way that they learn the best. To find out which is his main focus, you may want to try all three and watch how he responds!



Some auditory ideas are:

- Using rhythm, have your child count something out. For example, when counting a dozen eggs, have him count them out one by one and clap (or snap, tap his foot, etc.) as he counts.

- Chicka Chicka- 1,2,3- A child in my class a few years ago also had trouble with numbers. One day we ready this classic counting book and he was hooked! After that, when he counted he used the rhythm and style of the book!

- Repetition: Kids learn through repetition. I teach my preschoolers through a classic rhyme that we learn early in the year and do a mini-book with as well as chanting/singing the song. It goes: "1,2- buckle my shoe. 2,3 4- Shut the door. 5 & 6- pick up sticks. 7, 8- lay them straight. 9-10 a big fat hen. 1-10- let's do it again!"

- Other counting songs: Some good counting songs are: "5 Little monkeys" (counting down from 5), "6 little ducks", " 10 in the bed", "I can count from 1-20" (LOTS of good ones are found on this cd: http://www.amazon.com/Preschool-Songs-Twin-Sisters-Productions/dp/B000VGAWBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299948570&sr=1-1)



Some visual/ Kinetic ideas are:

- Do an art project! Have him think of or look for (in magazines or even take photos around the house) things that come in a certain number and make your very own "Numbers around the house" book or even a learning poster! (For example, for #2 a great one would be a pair of shoes!, for #12- a dozen eggs, for #8- a spider's legs, for # 3 the number of your family members!, etc.)

- Many visual and kinetic activities overlap...Have him count out things around his room or on the playground- like the number of monkey bars (visual) before he climbs them(kinetic) and have him count them again as he climbs them.

- Another good one is to count steps! We do this every year on our 100th day of school, count the number of steps it takes to get from your front door to the mailbox, etc.

- In my class, I use "counters" (items that the children use to count out a number). An exercise I use regularly is to give each child a large card with a number on it and encourage them to count out that number of (bears, frogs, bottle caps. etc.) and fit them within the number (so it also gives them practice on writing the number) You can get small plastic counting items at the dollar store or educational stores or you can use items you have around the house like coins or his favorite matchbox cars!

- A great number recognition game is to lay the same number cards out on the floor and hide a shape with the number written on it around the room. Have him hunt for the number and match it to its' pair once he finds it. I recently did this game by putting the numbers on pieces of paper into balloons and blowing them up! The children (with adult help popped the balloon to get find their number) It was a lot of fun!





*Repetition is a big key- don't give up! 5 is still a young age and although he seems to be a little behind, your extra effort will make ALL the difference!



Hope some of these ideas help you out!

Answer 12

hey there's an alphabet and numbers songs on dvd's and on the market,this will help you and it is much easier to learn.





http://www.aot.edu.au

Answer 13

start with his name. children like their name , tell him the odd letters. n then count them , write in rainbow colors, to make them remember.

Answer 14

It's because you are a horrible parent. You take no initiative and your vagina reeks of your whore days back in '88. *****.

Answer 15

PUNISH HIM!