For the teachers

I'm not a teacher but have three boys.  I know it's had not to compare but you just being aware and trying different way of learning is a good thing.  The twin that did very well in grade school slept threw high school and the twin that struggled in grade school was on the high honor roll in high school.  All kid learns differently and at different levels.  My eldest that just got his G.E.D because he hated school and up and quit three months before he graduated  makes  more money than I do and is in the process of buying his first home with no help from us. He is twenty three years old.  It will all come together for her I'm sure.   She has a good Mom......[sm=wink2.gif] 

I'm sure she'll pick it all up really fast once school starts, especially if she makes friends with kids who already know those things.  And isn't that what kindergarten is for?[]

Joyce

As a teacher, I think its great that you are involved in your child's education.  As sad as it is, you two are ALREADY miles ahead of most other people.  Of course, it would be great if she were to go into Kindergarten knowing how to spell her name, knowing all the letters, etc.  If that were the case, the rest of the class would be catching up to her.  Yes, this is what kindergarten is for.

Its great that you have tried many different approaches.  Each person learns differently, and it really is best to try to feel out what works best for your daughter.

How enthusiastic are you about it?  Enthusiasm is key.

Have you tried magnetic letters?  Maybe hands on is the way to go.  You can use play dough and stamps... paint... glitter and glue (tedious, yes, but FUN!)  do what you can to make it fun!

A great things is songs, if you do a search on the internet youll find lots....
 
Another thing you can do is get alphabet books.  Point out the letters, read to her every night, have her touch the letters and say the name, etc.  Books should be a BIG part of her life.  Alphabet books are even better for someone just starting to get a hold of it.
 
**Im sure you've started a lot of this already, and I commend your efforts.

Good luck, and Im sure that someone will be along with more help. I teach grades 3-5, so Im not sooooo familiar with grade K.

I'm not a teacher yet, but I will be. I don't really know much about Canada, but in the US, a child couldn't really be denied entry to school for not having prerequisite skills. How old is your daughter? Will she be entering JK at a younger age than your sons? What does the issue with writing her name seem to be? Is she unable to properly hold the pencil? Can she make vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines, and curves? Are you using a wider pencil, or a regular one?
If there is an issue with proper pencil grip, you can probably buy a grip to help her in the store. Also, this is something they used to do for  the preschool kids who had trouble with holding the pencils properly in the daycare I used to work in. They would have the kids hold a cotton ball(the 'baby bunny') in the fingers that were not supposed to be on the pencil. This worked extremely well for all but one child.
If she has trouble with making the lines and curves, practice that before letters. Handwriting Without Tears is a nice program, although i'm sure it's expensive. I really don't know because the school I work at has it. It teaches the prerequisites to making letters first though, and once the kid has that, it does letters. I haven't seen the entire thing other than making copies of it, but I believe it teaches the letters that are made all of straight lines before moving to the letters with curves. You could probably just make her some papers of lines and curves to trace on your own, and when she is doing them well, move back to letters.
As for identifying letters, I really don't know how to teach that to typical kids,so I can't suggest much there. But, the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics toy is really nice. It comes with a set of magnetic letters, and when you put a letter in, it sings a song which repeats the name of the letter and the sound it makes a few times. They also have one called the Word Whammer for making simple 3 letter words that you could get later on, and the letters will work in both of the sets. Other than that, if it's not fun for her, she's probably going to hate it.
Last, when you teach her name, teach her to write only the first letter as a capital, and the rest lower case. If you teach her to write it in all caps, she will have to relearn to write it with the letters other than the first as lowercase. Save yourself  and her the hassle and teach her to write it the way she's going to be writing it her whole life from the start.

a child couldn't really be denied entry to school for not having prerequisite skills.

 
What is J.K?  Is it like preschool?  If it was just a tyopo, in response to the quote above, a school can't deny anyone entry to school at all.  If its pre-k, then they can, but we have compulsory education, you have to go to school, and schools can't turn you away, even if they are filled to capacity.

I think it's Junior Kindergarten, and i'm guessing it's for kids who are too young to enter K that year. If i'm correct about this, I think that is public in Canada, so i'm thinking that she legally can't be denied entry. Hopefully someone from Canada can clarify this. I have a decent knowledge of US Education laws, but i'm pretty clueless about Canadian laws. 

If J.K. is like junior kindergarten.... or preschool... I think your daughter is fine.  I teach first grade, and last yr. I also did Kindergarten handwriting.  Currently, I am tutoring a 4 yr. old with handwriting and letter recognition (so his 7 yr. old brother doesn't feel stupid for needing a handwriting tutor... which he doesn't need if he spends his time and doesn't rush but these people are crazy wealthy and have money to waste on a tutor... the kids go to a school that costs over $30K per kid per yr.)
 
Anyway... some ideas... Letter recognition: Make some bingo boards with various letters of the alphabet on it (Start with only uppercase  if she doesn't know them yet).  Then make a card with each letter on it to use as the "balls".  Pick a letter at random, have your child say the letter if she can, and find it on her board.  Eventually you can make boards with upper and lowercase letters.  Another idea is to make index cards with each letter... make them 3d, like with macaroni, beans, toothpicks, etc.  Let her feel the letters and eventually guess them with her eyes shut. 
 
Handwriting:  Keep letting her trace your dots (or print out pages from [linkhttp://www.handwritingforkids.com]www.handwritingforkids.com[/link]) and then eventually, just do a dot where the letter should start and maybe some other main points, then just where it should start...   Also, you can have her draw the letters in sand, or use a baking sheet and fill it with shaving cream or whipped cream and have her draw the letters in that. 
 
Again, I don't think she is far behind at all, but those are some things I know our pre-k do and I have done!

Something we did in one of my education classes was to show different ways to get kids interested in writing and spelling. 

You could try getting some colored sand and put it on a tray (like a baking tray) and she can trace letters in the sand with her fingers. 

That's all I can think of now since it's late, but I'm sure she would enjoy that.

Good luck and I'm sure it will come to her.  Having involved parents is a great first step![]

ETA:  I just realized that Stacey beat me to it!  Ah, well, maybe it's a sign that you should try the sand thing!

Yup, definitely try the sand thing. I was gonna suggest that as well. It's fun. You could also try making the letters out of play-doh, and if you wanna have some real fun, make your own play-doh first.  

Thanks everyone these are great ideas. I'm going to get right on it.
 
She is 4 and J.K is Junior kindergarten. The teacher asked the parents to help prepare them by getting them to write their names and know their phone numbers. She does not have to know, but they would like her to try. We have the phone number down, (we use a song for that)
 
I had bought some wonderful books for my boys for grade 1 and 2 and 3. They are workbooks that the teachers use. The teacher will photocopy these pages and hand them out to the class. I wish I could get one for J.K and S.K.
 
Thanks again these are wonderful ideas.
 
[] My baby is going to be in school[]

When my boys were pretty little, I taught them how to remember their phone number by making a little song out of it - to the tune of "Here we go round the Mulberry Bush" ...

123-4567 - 123-4567- 123-4567 is my telephone number.  They both picked it up pretty quick. []

Joyce

Look for a Pre-K Jumpstart book... they also have cd rom programs from Jumpstart.  That may help if you want workbooks.  Go into a teacher supply store near where you live and see what you can find there too... and look for books on www.scholastic.com.

I teach in B.C. on a reserve and I've got to say that having an involved parent is the best indicator of later school success.  Some of the kids entering Kindergarten in our school don't know their letters, numbers, or even proper bathroom manners (i.e. wash your hands, shut the door). 
 
Now, I know that you are in a different situation but really the whole point of Kindergarten is teach children their numbers and letters.  Some kids will enter already knowing these things and others won't.  Your daughter will pick it up. 
 
The idea on ABC books is great!  One of the best ways to get kids to start identifying letters.  If you are a scrapbooker or an avid photographer you could create a personal ABC book for her.  I.e.  S is for Sara with a picture of Sara.  Use something personal for each letter of the alphabet or have her help you pick out pictures she would like.  Another great thing is tactile letters.  You make letters out of felt, sandpaper, foam sheets, etc and glue it on an index card.  Put a green dot at the start of the letter and a red dot at the end.  Then your daughter can trace the letters of the alphabet.
 
However, I think the best idea may be just to relax and let her wait until she gets to school.  If your boys are young enough maybe they could play school with her to get her ready.  I know I started to read  because I was sick and tired of everyone else in my family being able to do it, especially my big bro!

Just a thought (ok, two really) can she spell her name, and does she like computer games? One of the boys I work with learned to spell his name because he has his own log on on the computer that he uses so he can play his games. His password is his name. Through a lot of repetition, and because it is highly reinforcing, he learned to spell and type his name on his own (whether or not he could spell his name away from the computer I do not know). That might help with spelling her name if she can't do that yet, but unfortunately it isn't going to do anything about writing it.