Two days ago I decided that my next post was going to be on sorting letters of the alphabet because every time I teach letters I make my own sorting mats. This is a great skill for children to practice, not only because it is a grade level expectation for children, but because it is a skill that teaches children how to organize data and focus on grouping based on similarities and differences. When children can do this with letters of the alphabet it gives them a stronger memory recall for the letter formation and the aspects that make up a letter.
Usually the mats I make have three columns and usually look something like this: Alphabet Sorting mat.
Other ways to sort include 1) upper and lower case, 2) tall letters, short letters, and letters “with a tail.” 3) letters in my name vs letters not in my name, etc.
You can make your own game pieces the way she did, you can use magnetic letters, or other loose alphabet pieces you have around the house, or you can cheat all together and buy the following game from lakeshore:
When I teach little ones the alphabet or awareness of the sounds for each letter of the alphabet, I like to incorporate visuals that can represent the letter – like stuffed animals, puppets, or dolls. Each week that I focused on a different letter I had a stuffed animal or puppet as a mascot for the letter all week. I would use the puppet to speak for me: “______ do you see anything that starts with the /_/ sound?” or the puppet would “help me” introduce the letter by telling the little ones how to make the letter, how to make the letter sound, how to match the uppercase letter to the lower, and how to find things that started with the letter-sound by using the puppet as a clue.
When using a puppet/stuffed animal as a tool, it is easy to grab the attention of a child….even if you feel silly at first. It also pays off in the long run because it really helps your little one to recall information about the letter and letter-sound based on the memory of the puppet you used to teach about it. You can write a letter on a small blank card and attach it to the stuffed animal or not. It can be simple or a little more detail-oriented, but just use your resources and take it one letter at a time.
Initiate the stuffed animal letter awareness by stating something simple like: did you know that your doll’s name starts with the letter “s” and it stands for the sound /s/ like silly, spots, stripes, and soda? What other things in our house start with the same sound as Samantha? Maybe Samantha can help us find some other things that start with “s.”
I used a sock puppet snake with some stripes and spots glued to the top as my “s” puppet, because I was given a set of puppets based off of the awesome oldschool books:
They have stories full of alliteration made up about each puppet and DIY puppet making tutorials as well. “Alphabet Stories” is printables. “Alphabet puppets” is for all you crafty people who like to sew.
My niece Kaylee and I went on a “date” to my sister’s beauty salon on Friday. It was “the best date ever” in our words because we went to IHOP, the salon, and my sister’s boyfriend’s Extreme Nutrition afterwards so we had a full day. Kaylee is five, and she enjoys talking in the car to make the car ride seem shorter so we did do a lot of that. But on the way home (a 45 minute ride back) we decided to play the ABC game where you have to find every letter of the alphabet on signs, billboards, license plates, etc. in ABC order. If I noticed a letter I would describe where I saw it “Look at the second word on that billboard” or “It is at the end of the word on the restaurant sign.” And each time we would find a letter, I would ask her to figure out what letter we were looking for next. If she started from the beginning of the alphabet each time I encouraged her to try to start from a later letter in the alphabet to sing the song from there.
We ended up finding every letter, and we found “z” just one street away from my parent’s house so she was beyond excited that we had accomplished our goal. When we got home we shared our experience with the others and tried to remember where we found certain letters on what signs. I then noticed that this game did not have to be reserved for long car rides alone….A lot of cereal boxes have every letter of the alphabet on them somewhere. Even the harder letters to find are on there: “Z” for zinc, “Q” for quality, “X” at the end of the word box. So spend a morning with a permanent marker and a cereal box and see if you can help your little one find and underline every letter of the alphabet on a cereal box. There are so many learning experiences to create from scratch if only you are looking for them 🙂
This picture was taken before we headed out, and before she wiped off the marker chaos her two year old sister designed on her leg haha.
Letters carry so much significance, and at this point in your child’s life, your little one is living in a world of ABC’s. Some people ask me when you should start teaching letter sounds because it can be a little confusing: Do I teach my little one A /a/ apple, the whole alphabet, all the letters and their sounds at once? And when are they ready? Lots of questions or maybe just a lot of trial and error, but there is a lot to teach and sometimes it does get a little crammed together.
Well, being intentional to help your little one learn their letters, sounds, and picture associations (like apple, alligator, etc.) is absolutely praiseworthy….you are already SUPER MOM (or dad).
But here are some tips about teaching these things that can be taught together, but should also be taught separately. What does that mean? Well, it is great to teach the whole alphabet, reading ABC books, and talking about the sounds they make as well as the pictures on the page, BUT it is also great to focus on ONE letter at a time. Not one lesson or the other….BOTH are necessary.
Today’s activity is actually a link to one of my favorite teacher’s Alphabet Art Books. Very hands-on and interactive, and I LOVE it, BUT I want you to make this book ONE page – ONE day at a time. Some people spend a whole week doing a “letter study,” but I am asking you to just wait a day or two before you create art for the next letter. In the meantime, encourage your little one to look for the current letter EVERYWHERE. Play “I spy” with the letter or sound “I spy the letter A” or I spy something that starts with /a/ (when a letter is in “//” you make the letter sound instead of the letter’s name.
I was talking to Casey the other day about the reality of reversals that children have when learning letters, learning to read, or writing words like their name. I know, how many people talk about this kind of stuff on the phone? I can name two.
But the truth is that when children are writing their letters backwards when they already “know” the “right way”, it can be very frustrating for parents and even teachers who are not aware of typical brain development. Reversals such as writing “b” when trying to write “d” or writing the name Jessica “acisseJ” or some form of mirroring the name is NORMAL. Why is that normal? Because the brain makes some of the greatest changes in children throughout their early years. The brain has a lot of maturing to do in the way that children process information, store it into their brains, and recall the info from memory.
But there is hope…here are some of the ways that you can help your kiddos get through this process: 1) teaching pre-reading skills in sequence, 2) teaching letters and numbers using hands-on forms of the letters so children can use more than one of their senses, 3) repetition of one letter at a time instead of introducing “d” and ‘b” together, etc., 4) NOT getting frustrated when they make mistakes or have reversals 5) helping the process of maturing the brain through exercise and interactions.
You want your little one to enjoy the process of learning and a big part of their brain development includes your POSITIVE GUIDANCE. I want you to imagine if you were in China tomorrow, with no one who spoke English. As different as the oral and written language is from your own, can you imagine if your teacher was getting frustrated with you while you are trying to learn such a foreign language. You will naturally have to study the basics over and over again, and even after studying, you will still mix things up a bit when you are writing.
So, I hope this gives you a little more insight into your child’s learning struggles that are natural and normal and all that good stuff.
Today’s “assignment” is to be gracious as you practice the basics today!
*This article shares about some typical writing behaviors to expect from a young child. but if you have serious concerns about your child’s learning abilities then consult a specialist.
