Yes, very typical. Is she in preschool at all? If not, you can work with her through a free web site that I used with my trio for nearly 3 years. It's called Letter Of The Week. Go to www.letteroftheweek.com and find the section for your child's age. They have weekly lesson plans set up to help learn letter and their sounds. You can tweak it any way you'd like.
The simplest way I did it was to use a bulletin board, or you can use your fridge or tape on the wall, and every Monday we'd start with a letter. First week we did the letter Aa. You can post up flash cards or print off this letter and tape it to the wall. Every day, for 5-15 minutes, discuss the letter Aa and the sound it makes. Mention Aa words like apple, ant, animal, etc. Then have her color an Aa word picture like an apple or an ant and write the word across the top or bottom, underlining the letter Aa. "a" That week you could take a field trip to a place that matches that letter. We went to an apple orchard. You could go to the grocery store and show her how many different types of apples there are and the different colors. You could go visit animals at a zoo or pet store. You could cut up an apple and discuss the different parts like the stem, skin, core, seeds. Believe me, they pick up on things easily and quickly so this would not be beyond her.
Every day review what you've done so far in the week. You can line up all the pictures she colored and take them down the following Monday when you start a new letter. Many moms have made letter books for their children. You can put a page with an Aa picture that they colored and fill it in every week.
The next week do the letter Bb and it's sound. Color boats, bugs, bears, babies, etc. Go to a local marina to see boats. Go see an old barn. Search for bugs outside and examine them and then let them go. Go to a butterfly farm. Discuss how bees make honey. Always talk about the letter Bb and the sound it makes.
She may not remember everything but it'll be in her head when kindergarten starts and she will remember. A light bulb will go off and it'll start making sense. It's also a fun time for the two of to spend together and it can take as little as 5 minutes a day. But keep the letter of the week posted so she can see it during each day.
After the first month you can gather up flash cards and quiz her on the letters she already learned and review.
The best thing is that it's free. There is also a Yahoo group of theirs you can join for suggestions. You can continue this through out the summer and incorporate the letters into outside activities that you do.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets