Grammy's Words of Wisdom
(The Five-Year-Old)

Dear Parents, 

There are a lot of things that fall into place during a child’s fifth year, as they begin to learn to read. I believe it is in this year that the “light goes on”. This is the year where the child begins to realize that reading, writing, speaking, and listening are all related. They begin to realize that the words they speak are the same words that they read and write. This is important for them to know.

The five-year-old child should have some emergent reader skills. During their fifth year they should be able to recognize most of the capital and lower case letters of the alphabet. They should recognize their own name, when they see it printed. They may also be able to recognize the names of family members and close friends. They will be able to “read” their favorite stories from memory. The five year old starts to read pattern books. Those are the books that use the same words on each page only changing a word or two at the end of each sentence. They depend upon and use the pictures on the pages of their books, to help them figure out what the print is saying.

They will begin to recognize words in their environment. As they ride in the car, they may begin to recognize such words as STOP, ice cream, Mc Donald’s, pizza, the name of your favorite grocery store and more.

Within your own home, they may recognize such words as milk, the name of their favorite cereal, their favorite TV show, family member names.

Point out words in their environment that they see on a daily basis. Encourage them to look for and see those words in print. They should know that print is made up of words and that those words have meaning. Make lists of jobs for them. You can put notes in their lunch pails or backpacks. Help them by using a combination of words that they know and pictures. Encourage family members who live out of town to mail them short notes. This always excites the five year old. They love to get mail. They want you to read it to them. After they know what it says, they will read it over and over to themselves. If you eat out, let them see the menu and talk about what it says. All of this lets them see words in print.

They will want you to read them several stories a day. Continue to make your reading time a quiet special time for both of you. Your child may want to participate more in the actual reading of the stories. Let them.

After reading the stories, ask them to retell the story to you. You may want to ask them to tell you their favorite part of the story and why it is their favorite part. Before you read a new story to them, ask them to tell you what they think the story may be about. When you have finished the story, go back and see how well they did at predicting. All of these things get them involved with the story.

About the same time they begin to recognize the letters of the alphabet, they want to know how to write those letters themselves. Help your child learn how to print both capital and lowercase letters.

They will want to write three different ways. They will want you to write while they dictate to you. They will want you to write down what they want to write and they will copy it. They will then begin to start “writing” on their own.

As they begin to write on their own, they will drive you crazy with the question “How do you spell……?” Your response to that question should be…. “How do you think you spell it?” In the beginning you will get some unconventional spellings: iwttslnbs may stand for: I went to school on the bus. Encourage them to try writing on their own at first. As they begin to read more and are more willing to write, then you can SLOWLY begin to push for more conventional spelling of words. This should be a very slow process. Be patient with them and encourage them. They will become discouraged with themselves. Promote their self-esteem. Don’t push them too hard at first.

As a five year old, your child should be speaking in simple but complete sentences. Your child should be able to participate in a simple conversation with another person by speaking and then listening before speaking again. They should also be able to stay focused on the topic of the conversation.

A person from outside of the family should be able to understand your child’s speech patterns. This is definitely the time to discourage all “baby” talk. Use proper pronunciations with your child and encourage them to do the same thing in their speech patterns.

By the age of five, your child should remember on their own to use courtesy words such as: Please, Thank you, I’m sorry, and Excuse me. As the parent, you will need to set the example and use those words when talking to them.

Listening is also a skill your child will show improvement in by the time they are five. By this age your child should recognize when you and another adult are talking. Your child should not be interrupting adult conversations. Your child should know how to patiently wait until they are invited into the conversation. It will be up to you to acknowledge them as you are talking to another adult, or ask them to let you and the other adult finish your conversation first.

Up until this age, your child should be able to listen to stories and short conversations. S/he will be able to follow two or three step directions successfully. They will enjoy carrying on a short discussion about a topic they know about.

It is about this time that they will also be able to listen to more subtle things. They will be able to listen and detect emotion in your conversation. They may not always understand the right emotion, so you have to be careful that they don’t get wrong message from your conversation to them.

They may also hear you say or wish for something in your conversation and try to make one of “wishes” come true. They are always trying to please their adults. Sometimes trying to please you backfires for them. Be careful. Listening is also a new skill for them. It is not always easy for them to understand what they are hearing.

As you immerse them in print through reading, writing, speaking, and listening they will begin to emerge into a reader, writer, and conversationalist. Be patient with them, but constantly encourage them to read, write, listen and speak. Turn it into a fun time for you and your child. All four of these areas should be practiced daily. The five-year-old child usually enjoys the challenge of all four areas.

Good communication is one of the most important life skills an adult needs. It is needed in our relationships with family, friends and coworkers. Helping your child become a great communicator (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) will not only help them in your family, but also in their lives as they grow and develop into productive adults.