LD kindergartener

I am not an educator, but that was my daughter (except for the constant motion). This is a huge red flag for later reading difficulty, not being able to name and recall letters. Stick with her. My daughter started kindergarten knowing 6 letters. She went to special ed teacher 3 and then 5 days a week before kindergarten, and I worked with her at home. Around Feb, after only doing a letter a week, she started to recall them. Beleive me, I would say to myself, ” I don’t know how else to help her to know these.” We did- the “alphabet hop” where I put the letters on the floor and recited them, she had to hop to the letter. (they were also color-coded to the tune of the song- ABCD-one color then EFG another, HIJK another. ect to further help her). I ordered tactile letters and colored them the same way. We wrote them in jello, shaving cream.. I cut them out of sand paper so she could feel them. Every letter she had a cue for. (and still does) K-the kangaroo letter. L is the lollipop letter. The border in her room was the aplhabet, and at night we sang it with flashlights lighting up the letters as we went. One of the biggest things that helped her was playing tic-tac-toe with them. (one of my best ideas) I was F and she was f. Every time we wrote the letter we said the name out loud. So, she heard it, saw it and wrote it about 50 times in 10 minutes. Tic-tac-toe is highly repeatative, and fun!! This helped her the most with her most difficult letters like F. Numbers are difficult for her to recall also, so we played tic-tac-toe with the numbers 9 and 10, saying the name out loud every time. This helps, highly reptative in a short amount of time.
As I said, tihs is from a Mom’s perspective. Maybe you could suggest some of these to the parents, or use them as fillers if you have a few minutes in class.

We’re not asking the child ‘what is the difference between a number and a letter, of course. In any case, I wouldn’t teach numbers and letter together together to such a child. I’d work on numbers alone until she knew 1 - 10. Then I’d go to letters. Can she sing her ABCs? If she can, continue that.

It may take this particular child longer than other children. I’d hold her hand and count while we took steps. I’d count 10 things at every opportunity and it will embed even if slowly.

Go back, as Sara suggests, to readiness skills. She/he obviously isn’t ready to sustain instructional attention and needs a pre-K curriculum.

I agree with Sara…work on numbers, then on letters, or vice versa. I am a special educator and I’ve worked on these types of concepts with a variety of children. Try putting music to them. Many times this is helpful in learning any concept you’re trying to teach. Also, make learning fun. Try making alphabet letter puppets, or having him/her glue various objects, such as fruit loops, beans, tissue paper, etc. onto a paper with the letter written on it. I have also made individual letter booklets, gluing pictures of things that start with a particular letter and having the student tell me a sentence about that picture, then writing it in their book. They like to “read” the book when it is finished, especially since they “wrote” the words. Making your own Bingo cards with the letter or letters on it that you’re trying to teach is also fun, especially if you have a Bingo Prize box! The key is…REPETITION!

I would find it difficult to put an LD label on a K student. We all develop at different ages. I couldn’t read in first grade, was a disappointment to my parents - an embarassment - but I caught up…..now write the books. Be patient, teach to mastery - make it fun.