They Just Got Here! Relatively Speaking

One of the most frequent responses I say to teachers is, Give them a break, they have only been on earth 5 years!  Teachers laugh but then realize the truth in that statement.   As teachers we want kids to learn everything (some teachers want them to know it before they get to school.)  Parents get frustrated because their child can't do something.  But think about it, they just got on earth like 3 or 5 years ago!  Can we give them a little time to just learn the ways of life?

I know, I know, research shows that children learn so much before the age of 5 and yes, they do.   But, that doesn't mean they learn everything in those first 5 years!  Just like adults, as a child learns something new, he or she tests it against what is already known.  Once a child learns something, that new knowledge is then generalized.   For example, have you seen a child start to make the letter 's' and keep making the line so it now looks like a snake?  That child is testing the limits and thinking, This is an 's', if I make it like this is it still an 's'?  How far can I go before it is no longer an 's'? 

Think of all the things we refer to as a cup, or a couch. Lots of different images come to mind.  In their short time on earth, children have heard adults refer to several different looking objects by one term.  In their young, developing minds, that is true of everything. Take the letter b.   If a 'cup' can look different and still be a 'cup, why can't the letter b also look like, p, d, or q?  Remember, they haven't been on earth that long and they are trying to make sense of what they are learning, checking it against what they already know.  They could be thinking, This is crazy!  We can call all these things a cup but adults are picky about the letter b!

When a child is writing, typically in the beginning, they will start wherever their little hand falls on the paper.  In their mind, if there isn't enough room left on the page, they will just randomly put the letters where there is space.  Makes sense to them. They are not aware, nor care about, left to right.   In their mind, you write on paper, and they did!  If it really troubles you, put a green dot on the left side of the paper and a red dot on the right.  Tell your child to start at the green dot, left side and stop at the right, then go back to the green dot.

Let's give them a few more months on earth before we start to panic.  Yes, there are children with learning disabilities, but there are a lot more children just trying to learn the ways of the world.

Take a deep breath!