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Working in Family Literacy I meet lots and lots of parents. While each parent has a completely unique situation I also notice some similarities and when it comes to how parents are teaching the alphabet at home I’ve also noticed that there are three common pitfalls that parents unknowingly fall into.
Want to make sure that you aren’t falling into these pits? Follow along with this mini series.
Mistake No. 3: Too Much Too Soon.
Every one has met at least one parent in the playground with a 2 year old who knows all their letters and appears to be on a trajectory to be reading War & Peace by Christmas. Fact: In BC the learning deliverable upon graduation of Kindergarten is that kids will know at least 20 letters. Kids are certainly not expected to know the alphabet upon entering Kindergarten. Some do, but not all. Kids typically come to a place where their brain is ready to ‘easily’ learn the letters some time between 3.5 & 6 years old. When they are ready to learn the letters, you will see that they can easily tell the difference between the shapes of the letters. Start by teaching the letters in his or her name. If that goes well try some other useful words like ‘Mummy’ & ‘Daddy’. If it’s going well keep going, if not wait for 6 months and try again. Studies show that kids who learn to read at their own pace are more likely to read for pleasure by the time they are 10 years old, and big picture that’s far more important.
Stay tuned for mistake #2 coming on Tuesday.