The process to get Morayo to recognize all her letters and now know how to spell and write her name wasn't easy. As a matter of fact, far from it but with time it has gotten better and it is now a lot of fun! In the beginning it was challenging and frustrating but thankfully, it turned into quite a learning experience. It opened my eyes big time to parts of my parenting I had never experienced. There are some things I didn't do right at first but I learned quickly!
Here's some of the what I did/used...
This was one of Hubby's gifts to MoMo for Christmas! It's helping a lot with her writing coordination! |
Some Important things to keep in mind:
When we first got started, one of my early mistakes was yelling when I got frustrated. NOT GOOD! I caught on quickly though because when she got back from school and I told her "Okay! Time for letters", she would immediately start crying because she associated it with my yelling.
Their attention span is SHORT! Keep learning time to max 20mins. Trust me, it's not a lot of time when you're doing fun movements. It actually goes by fast.
There were days I focused only on one letter and it just seemed like she couldn't retain that one letter! Argh! Lol.. Don't give up. You'll be surprised how their memory works!
Use rewards. We've done snacks, stickers, little gifts, trips to the park, Chick-Fil-A and ChuckECheese!
Try not to compare kids!(I know! Says the mom that almost lost it when she found out her boss's daughter could spell and write her name. Lol). On a more serious note, kids develop differently and even if a child is a month older than another, you'd be surprised the difference that one month makes. If you must, there MUST be a healthy balance. In my case I knew MoMo was capable and up to it. I'm glad I didn't hold back.
Make it FUN, FUN, and MORE FUN!
Can't think of anything else right now. It's my bedtime. Ha!
I don't want to miss a big opportunity to give a major shout-out to hubby. Every last method I've used and I'm currently using to teach the kids, he bought it ALL! Of course with the exception of swiped Mr. Turtle, the Easel and YouTube. He goes out to the grocery store and he comes back with these DVDs. I get home, there is a package at the door and it has more educational stuff for the kids in it. Some of this stuff he already got when Mo was still a little baby! I'm more hands on and take on his days he skips sometimes because he is late coming home from work but he has most certainly provided ALL the resources. You go Daddy T!