One parent came to see me a few days ago. She complained about her youngest daughter who always refused to learn on numbers and alphabets. She said that she had tried many ways to help her daughter catch up with the school lessons.
Her daughter is not a slow learner and she does not have any indications of having problems with her motor skills, gross and fine. She can do beading, coloring and pasting very well for her biological age (3 years and 3 months old). She has ability to make friends with others, from different classes at school or different age groups. She’s not afraid to perform a song in front of the class even though she can’t remember the lyrics well. She hates TV but she loves to watch family videos. She can remember the story or the events that she watch from the video, then she will re-tell the story for the whole family.
But … her teacher complains about her behaviors in the class. She does not want to sit still and listen attentively, even though at the end of the week she had a good report form (because she can finish her worksheets and hands-on activities). She also known as one who always checking on her friends’ new hair clips! (for me it’s just a normal activity for a 3-yo girl)…
Anyway, we had chat and I can conclude some points:
1. Her little girl only interested in any activities that has meaning for her and not abstracts (appropriate with her developmental stage).
2. She is not a type of girl who is living her life very academically. So, she won’t bother with anything smells so academia.
3. She’s having a great life with her family and friends. And that’s all that she cares about…
Then, we were making some ways that can be done by that young mother:
1. Create an atmosphere of meaningful learning. So, in order to make a child understands the concept of numbers and alphabets, mother needs to make a story board or attractive number/alphabet boards. Then, teach her daughter using stories, because she can remember story very well. For example, prepare or print out a picture of a mother cat and 5 kittens. Start a story about a mother cat who is protecting her kittens. Ask child to start counting. At the end, mother can ask the child to write the numbers down as exercise.
2. Whenever a child can remember an alphabet, give stickers with connecting pictures (Apple for A) as a reward. Ask a child to collect the stickers in a special stickers book.
3. Treat a child as a human being and not half-adult. A child can enjoy her part of being a child and also learn to be responsible for her life. She needs to know what life is like from her parents. She won’t be able to grasp any abstracts concepts at her stage now.
Hope our session help …
Another lesson learned!
My Writing Paper 