My son is in Kindergarten and a recent parent/teacher conference has shown me that my son is very behind on some of the alphabet letters that he has learned since he started in August.

He seems to do well in class, but once he comes home he forgets about what he learned. Today we printed out A-D on the Alphabet and I had him write each letter down and tell me "this is A" and so on...

After he was finished with A-D I pulled each page in front of him and asked him what they were...He hesitated and said "uhhm, I don't know" and then proceed to call out different letters, then followed by "i forgot"....We did this for well over an hour and at the end included grandma as well..We tried to get him to pronounce the words to the pictures he saw as well as what other objects start with the letter.

It just seems to me that he either has a learning disability or I am just not doing the teaching correctly - otherwords, I'm not sure what I can do to tap into his learning ability..I know he knows what they are and I have no doubt he might be getting confused...but I just need other ways to do this. And, that's what I don't know what to do.

He can however, write, say and spell his name as well as referring other objects that start with letters in his name..

anyway...just need some tips? what have you other parents done to help your child learn to read and acknowledge the alphabet?

Weeeeellll- hmm my son has autism so everything was very repetitive-

we sang the alphabet song- alot-

i had alphabet puzzles- they are made out of wood- they have all different kinds- numbers, etc.

we wrote the letters alot- named things that started with a,b, etc

made it a game- we made the sound that each letter sounds like- just being goofy- it really helped him remember

he knows them really well- but according to him there are no numbers past 100- have any tips for me?

Theres nothing wrong with him...He's very intelligent...Its just he has a different learning style than what schools usually teach. There are 3 different kinds of learning styles...Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic...I believe your son is Kinesthetic...Which means he learns better by DOING, rather than hearing or seeing. Instead of reciting his ABC's and whatnot...Try playing games with him that will help him get a better grasp of whatever it is you want him to learn or memorize. The more hands on it is for him, the quicker he'll retain what you teach him. Make it fun for him, and I PROMISE you he will learn so much faster. Our school system only teaches kids in Visual and Auditory ways...but offer little to those of us who are Kinesthetic. Get creative with it...but make sure he's physically DOING, instead of just watching and listening. Playing is always a good way to do that...and it even creates a deeper bond between ya'll. Try it out, and let me know how great he's doing. I'm rooting for lil man.

My first thought is you are probably making the lessons too long for a kindergarten age child. Their attention span is not that long, about 20 minutes absolute maximum, and may be giving you flase answers to bring the lessons to a crashing end. Look for teaching moments. Pictures of words on wrappers, signs, games, related to foods.

I think you might have more success if you started by teaching the vowels first. They are core to all other words. Playing sing song games of making the varying sounds. And re-inforceing with tastes and smells. Kids are oral and love sweets so maritzaphan (the ones that look like fruits) can help you make a game out of recognizeing letters. Reward sucesses and ignore failures. My son cared nothing about learning letters until we started spelling words around him; he caught on to DQ very fast. lol

Autistic kids have trouble with concepts. If you teach him numbers by saying one hunred and one he may not get the idea of addition. In counting if you say one hundred And one they think you have just started over. Try one-hundred-one. Have him count cheerios or tic tacs or someting he wants more than a hundred. Light bright pegs can help illustrate numbers and sets.

National Association of Adults and Children with Learning Disabilities can recommend alternative teaching techniques.

i had a DVD called 'the letter factory' by leap frog that i played while my daughter was eating lunch.

while it doesn't take the place of hands-on learning and communicating with another person, many kids watch 1/2 hour a day of t.v. at least this is educational and i'd recommend it to anyone.

Great thanks, I will look into that.

So, if I had him draw alphabet letters and then cut them out and paste them onto a board that might help him better?

Well i havent done to much i just sang the alphabet with both of my kids everyday... it didnt take them to long

They also have some cool online games for ABC fun for babies, toddlers and so on. Find one he likes.

You have to make it fun, almost like a game. Plus I think an hour is way to long for his age group. I would do shorter times but do it often. I am telling my age here but, my oldest son watched Sesame Street and he got his letters and numbers right off. Then we would play a number game and a letter game to see if he could remember, sure enough he had it down.
Patience, is the main thing!! Don't get frustrated or act like you are getting angry with him, just remember he is frustrated also.
Good luck and keep singing away!!!