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Psshh03
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| Posted: Sept 16 2013 at 12:21pm | IP Logged
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My 5 1/2 year old DD and I started Kindergarten this year. I am encountering lots of "problems" which I don't know if they ARE problems.
First, her attention span is awful, even for a 5 1/2 year old. I never noticed it until we started formal lessons this year. This could explain her "issues" listening to what we tell her as well...
I have already scaled back her reading program because it seemed like too much for her. We are using AAR level 1. She knows all her letter sounds and can identify capital and lowercase letters. Her issue with reading is blending. If she were to sound out TAN, she would say /t/ /aaaaaa/ /unnnn/ with exaggerated spaces. (She knows /n/ is nnnn but can't say it while blending) We've tried singing when we are blending and it does help, but I find she just waits for me to help and its hard to help demonstrate without making it painfully obvious the right word, at which point she pops up and says "tan!"
Instead of worrying about reading, we've focused more on math which she was enjoying. We are using Rightstart Level A. Today, Monday, after two days off, she doesn't remember what we did last week and is giving me wrong answers or guessing. Even after I told her that 8 is 5 and 3, she couldn't tell them what 5 and 3 was.
I'm not sure what to do! She is my oldest so I have no experience and I did not study teaching in college. I'm worried she has ADD or an LD. I've tried to talk to my husband and when I mentioned taking a break, he made it VERY clear that wasn't an option (he does struggle with meeting the children where they are and not thinking of them as little adults).
Any wise words to help???
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JodieLyn
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Well to start with I don't do this type of work in K.. more first grade.. so taking into account that I would be working with a slightly older child.
I would back up a bit.. rather than trying to sound out "tan" I would teach the component parts.. like "an" and "on" and "in" and maybe the sounds of "pa" and "pe" and "pi" so that she's able to work from larger parts.
AND I would add in sight words. Sight words are wonderful because kids feel so accomplished by learning them and frustration levels go down and they can do more work rather than less. Look up the Dolch sight words.
Also have you checked out starfall.com? Fun way to practise reading skills.
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JodieLyn
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As for math.. children this age think very concretely.. pull out math manipulatives (you can buy fancy ones or just use a bag of dried beans) and count out the numbers and combine them and recount them. For a special treat use m&ms that she gets to eat at the end of math time 
And count everywhere.. if you're scooping out cups of flour.. have her help you count the scoops. Count the number of steps from place to place.. count anything that comes to mind.. the better grasp she has on the concrete the easier it'll be to picture it in her mind when you start moving to more abstract concepts.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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SallyT
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It *could* be a maturity issue. Many, many things do not gel at 5 1/2. My own youngest daughter was similar in her inability to remember the. most. basic. math. facts. at that age. She was also a slower reader than any of my other children -- even at almost 10, in 4th grade, she's still reading a lot of her schoolwork aloud to me rather than reading it to herself. She's finally a fluent reader (which was not the case this time last year), and *can* read to herself, but she definitely doesn't devour books as my older three all have done. And for the longest time, I thought the switch was never going to flip at all . . . And even my voracious readers did not read until after they were six. Not a single early reader in my bunch, which has meant exactly nothing in terms of their long-term academic development.
I think maybe I'd watch and wait before being too worried about a disorder? Regarding her attention span, is it just schoolwork where you see the problem, or is she super distractable *in general* -- as in, even if she's playing she can't stay focused on one thing? I'd be watching overall patterns of behavior, in all situations and not just school, for indications of ADD, for example. It can be hard to discern a pathologically short attention span from, for example, the need to be moving while thinking. A lot of boys are kinetic learners, but girls can be, too.
I would persevere for a while, I think, but gently, and without making these things flashpoints for anxiety or pressure. Keep reading lessons very short and to the point, and don't worry about her performance. Ditto math lessons. If you have to go over and over the same territory, or keep coming back to it, then do that. But keep it short. Meanwhile, do lots of reading aloud. Lots and lots and lots of enjoying books together. Make sure she has lots of books to look through on her own. Find mathy games to play together, ones where you roll dice and move spaces -- at least one of my kids learned addition that way.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can ease back a little on the formal school elements without taking an absolute break from school -- you can just say that you're making learning more holistic, or something! And you're giving your child some time to mature, and yourself some time to see more of the lay of the land before you really start to worry.
I'm about to have to dash out the door, so this is very off-the-cuff -- I just wanted to encourage you mostly not to feel that things are going badly. 5-year-olds can be all over the place, and you can feel that this stuff is never going to get learned . . .
Sally
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CrunchyMom
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Ime, blending specifically is a developmental leap. My oldest was like that at 5. At around 6.5-7 things clicked, and he just got it. I let him work in Explode the Code books at his on pace. He could encode before he could decode. Everytime we tried to do more, it was miserable to us both, so I didn't push any program. But then he got it. I really don't think that pushing a program would have made him get things any faster or earlier. My second is a later reader, and I know he is different thinker. I will do more work with him because he is more mature, but I'm not worried because he's just getting it slower. At 5 1/2, I would not push any program the child didn't want to do voluntarily.
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Mackfam
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I just have a couple of minutes of computer time left, but I really wanted to encourage you!! 
You're doing great!
I'm echoing the insights and ideas that Jodie and Sally have already offered!  Most of what you describe we don't attempt until 1st grade here. And like Sally, I don't consider anything you describe as red flags for anything of concern with regard to her learning abilities - she really sounds like a fantastic 5 1/2 year old! She sounds like she's right on target for some wonderful, light-hearted Kindergarten work! Maybe we could help you brainstorm some things you could do with her - so that your husband is happy that you're working with her in a developmentally appropriate way, and so that your dd doesn't feel frustrated and overwhelmed with work that sounds a bit beyond where she is ready to go academically right now?
Here is our preschool/Kindergarten work, which we try to complete by age 6:
2013-09-16_133350_CM's_formidable_list.pdf
To accomplish this, we:
** Read aloud every day from some delightful picture books.
** Spend some time out of doors every day.
** Try to learn a new song and poem together every month or so.
** Have some activities that my little person can work on independently.
** I do my best to keep my little people alongside me as much as I can throughout the day and we work on our chores together. This lets me really spend time focusing on character, manners and good habits together during this time. That time spent together has been something that has helped my children as they grow into independent learners...and it has helped me over the years as more children are added and I need those children to rely on the good habits they formed alongside me in those early years.
I'm going to recommend two wonderful books that I think will refresh you, reassure you, and inspire you and your 5 yo:
The Early Years: A Charlotte Mason Preschool Handbook - don't worry, you won't find anything here too young or silly for your 5 1/2 year old!
Laying Down the Rails for Children: A Habit Training Companion - this series is wonderful for holding your/my hand and walking us through some great habit formation in the early years. I'm really enjoying this with my younger kids right now and wish it had been around as a help when my olders were little. I reviewed this book/resource in more detail here on this thread.
And now...I need to go exercise some good habits myself, and get back to my duties here! I'd love to brainstorm more ideas with you and the other ladies if you'd like, Psshh03. 
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Jen Mackintosh
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JennGM
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I am not the voice of great experience here, but a few thoughts.
A key way to help your DD on her attention span is time outdoors and reading aloud. Read aloud picture books to start, and then with small chapter books and see how she does.
And I have two seemingly contradictory suggestions. First, not knowing your usual plan, I would mention that screen time really shortens children's attention span. So decrease screen time drastically, and less "cartoon-y" images, which are harder on the brain.
BUT I do highly recommend the Leap Frog videos on learning to read. For both my boys that was a key element in their phonics and learning to read.
Like the wise ladies above, I would pare back the school-y and find alternative ways that makes her excited to learn.
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Barb.b
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Look into: "Happy Phonics". It is an awesome hands-on way to work on reading. Also, I never stressed workbook type books in K. I would find math manipulatives and find a couple "games" with them and work on that. I would have a couple of trays around (floor, table or whatever) each with a different "station". What ever skill you are at you can usually find a hands on activity. You can even find things around the house. One of my kids learned adding and subtracting with toy cars, another loved buttons, I've even seen nuts and bolts used! SO some of my trays would be math, some the phonics games from "Happy Phonics" (this book, believe it or not can be used for YEARS to come!). Think hands on instead of work book.
As some said have a cozy read aloud time; fun art projects, . . .
And the time I would have my K's do anything of the above would be very short!
Don't worry if she doesn't remember what you worked on last week. That is to be expected as K is about taking most of the year to learn a few things!
Also, where you describe your DD at I would term right on for her age. Very few 5 year olds are doing anything more then knowing letters and counting!
Take the pressure off your and her and just enjoy her!
Barb
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Barb.b
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Sorry, Its just that I did love K with my kids and I thought of more!
1. Have a number of the week. Trace it (think fun like sand or whip cream); count with it; LATER - add up to it. For example if you were on 4 - trace 4, count things to 4 and have 4 things out and 2 circles she/you show 1+3; 2+2; 4+0 on the circles. All week! Make it longer then that if she needs to!
2. work on one type of blend or phonics sound per week (or longer really). You can sing the sound, say the sound. . . maybe matching card games with the sound.
3. If dd likes art both numbers and phonics sounds can be used here! Collages are great for this. As simple coloring of things with that sound. . .
I used to google montessori ideas. I by no means was entirely montessori, but I would look for ideas from montessori web sites and found alot of that type of stuff I could make at home!
I read somewhere that by grade 3 or 4 your can't tell which kids were reading at 4 or 5 and which at 6 or 7!
Oh - 5+3 is not a Kindergarten thing but 1st grade! She should count and concentrate on +1's and the number of the week (starting with 2 maybe)
Barb
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Erin
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JennGM wrote:
| A key way to help your DD on her attention span is time outdoors and reading aloud. Read aloud picture books to start, and then with small chapter books and see how she does. |
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You have received some great ideas already, but I did want to encourage reading aloud for help with her attention span. This may mean starting very small, you may have to read whilst she is playing in the sandpit, standing on her head, but it really, really helps.
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Erin
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mylonite
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My DD is the same way. She turned five in August. I scaled way back and as long as we hit reading (aloud), writing (her name), math (counting), and religion; the rest is gravy.
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Psshh03
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| Posted: Sept 18 2013 at 5:52am | IP Logged
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Thank you so much for all the replies! It's really reassuring to hear!
I chose both of those programs because they are hands on, "fun" without workbooks. We will still work on snippets for continuity sake but I'm going to scale WAY back.
I do love the CM approach and have many of the resources listed already. That being said, we do read aloud a lot and she can sit for hours if I'm reading to her! We just finished little house in the big woods and have moved to the next. Maybe ADD was jumping the gun and she had trouble because it was just too hard. She was also very distracted by her 2 year old brother :)
Im going to focus on everyone's suggestions and really work on habits! Thank you so much for the encouragement!
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jawgee
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mylonite wrote:
| My DD is the same way. She turned five in August. I scaled way back and as long as we hit reading (aloud), writing (her name), math (counting), and religion; the rest is gravy. |
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Very similar here.
My DD was 5 in May. I would say she is a young five, though. Here are some things she does:
-read-alouds (we just finished Black Beauty as a family)
-Scripture memory (as a family - she sits in)
-handwriting, she loves to try to form her letters
-religion (so far she likes the stories and activities in Pflaum's Gospel Weeklies)
-math games (VERY informal)
-light phonics lessons when we read a picture book (I'll choose a few words for us to sound out together. Just the CVC words at this time)
-nature journal
Other than that, she likes to color/draw and she likes to work on puzzles.
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pumpkinmom
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I have nothing to add because you have received wonderful responses. I just wanted to back others up and say blending at her age may be too much. My boys were 6 and first grade before they were able to blend. They are both reading above grade level now.
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Cassie
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setonmom
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My son had a lot of trouble with blending. What I did was break it down into smaller steps. That is, instead of T-A-N I would have him practice /ta/, /te/, /ti/,etc, and /an/, /en/, /in/ etc. One consonant and one vowel.
I was actually taught with the system used in Sing, SPell, Read and Write ( the creator of the program taught at my school). Anyhow, in that system, you learn to blend two letters at a time before you go to three letter words.
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Marie
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I just want to add that I also use AAR and we're on year 2 of it. My mistake last year with my K student was to go to fast. I wish I had slowed down the lessons and just done more repetition. 10-15 minutes a day, wiggly or not. We're having to review a lot this year because the fluency is 't there. So take your time and do the same lesson a few days in a row. Even break it up into 2 five minute sessions if that works better. AAR is a wonderful interactive program! I would stick with it but expect the wiggles! My 6 year old is still bad!
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: To wait or trudge on????
