We had the opportunity to work with a 4-year-old child who was behind in recognizing the alphabet.
Our first focus was to guide the parents on how to help the child. We emphasized to the parents the importance of trusting in the child's ability, as children often crave adults' recognition. We asked the parents to encourage the child by pointing out other areas that the child excelled at. We also suggested games that the parents could use to reduce the practice into bite-sized chunks that were fun and could be more easily digested.
As for the child, we saw this as a good opportunity to introduce the growth mindset to her. We reassured her that her efforts won't go to waste and she just needed to be confident in herself. We celebrated every small success she had with recognizing a new letter, and also had a big celebration when she finally remembered all the letters.
The end result was more than just learning the alphabet. The child felt more deeply the unconditional love from the parents, and the parents learned how to turn teaching into a fun activity and a family bonding opportunity.