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Write a Letter

There are so many different ways you can write with purpose: lists (grocery list, wish list, checklist, etc.), postcards and letters, journals, menus, signs (traffic, household, labels), and many more.
After years of exposure to all these different written language, adults written form looks clear and organized whereas a beginner’s written understandings may look like zigzags, horizontal lines, and swirls because they view writing in a linear way, and I am writing about this today so you understand that that is OKAY….it is all part of the process. Children’s writing process looks like this:
Children have to experiment with writing in many ways before they start to learn what it is all about. So, today I want you to let your child write a letter on the template provided. Don’t pay attention to any details (letters fitting on the lines, or really letters in general). Let them scribble out the letter if they want. You can keep a notepad next to you and write down everything they said afterwards, but for now let them get carried away! You can learn a lot about what your child does understand from just listening and watching. Does your child make letter-like forms? Does your child try to incorporate letters? Does your child try to sound out words? But do try to observe how your child holds their pencil and what hand they are writing with. They should hold their pencil with their thumb and middle finger, with top-support from the pointer, and bottom-support from the ring-finger.

Letter Template
Have fun!

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Chunks, syllables, and sounds…what’s the difference?

There are soooo many things that I will share about teaching your child to read, but I have to start with the basic pre-reading info to give you a well-rounded understanding of how reading skills are acquired.

So for now, I am going to introduce a new aspect of reading development which also has to do with hearing chunks (word parts) within words….

The more you play with words the more children will get the idea that a word is made up of sounds, the more they will be listening for those sounds.  This gives children experience putting sounds together to make a word.  So, eventually you will be able to say the sounds /c//a//t/ and they will finally hear the word “cat”.  But there are several things we have to establish first, and one of them is parts of a word.

A beginner reader needs to know that some words have chunks in them where they could hear a word (or words) inside of a word.  For example, “cupcake” has the word “cup” and “cake” in it and “bedroom” has “bed” and “room” in it.  As adults, we just label these words compound words, but to children this can open their eyes to what a word can be made up of.

A syllable on the other hand is a way for a child to count how many groups of sounds are in their name or other words.  One way you might teach your child they have syllables (or parts) in their name is by clapping while simultaneously saying the sound “jess (clap)- i (clap) – ca (clap)” and let your child hold up a finger every time you clap and then ask “How many parts are there?”

Then of course there are sounds…every spoken consonant, vowel, or blend like “sh”, “ch”, etc.

I will post more on all of this soon, but for now, here is an activity to help your child start hearing words within words:

compound pictures

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Do you know your ABC’s?

My ABC’s for teaching your child the alphabet:

Always Be Creative

You could spend hours upon hours trying to find alphabet activities online, but really?  I mean, I get overwhelmed with the oversupply of ideas and end up forgetting all of the great ideas I have seen. 

Reality is that kiddos need to learn their ABC’s back and forth, inside and out; it’s seemingly simplistic but when it comes down to it the key is Reinforcement. 

For starters, there are great Alphabet books you need to read to them…”Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” is great for learning letters, lower and upper case; point to each letter as you read about it.  Click here to order from amazon:  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Additionally, go to the Library and check out some other ABC books; children love hearing books over and over because they become familiar with them and feel so confident.

To teach your child each letter of the alphabet, I recommend introducing the letters in their name first, and then working with the other letters one letter at a time.

Here is just one alphabet activity to start with:

Alphabet Color Font PDF

1. Print the letters of the alphabet attachment and make a book by stapling it, hole-punching and putting it in a folder, or if you are fancy, have it bound.  Go through some old magazines with your child and focus on one page of the Alphabet book at a time (I suggest one a day).  Thrift stores sell magazines for about 15 cents if you don’t have any around your house.

2. For the first page, encourage your child to circle all the A’s and a’s they see in the magazine. 

3.  Cut them out for them (it is most likely a little too small for their motor control).  While you are cutting, let your child glue each letter onto the alphabet page it belongs to.

This is a great way for your child to learn a letter and how it looks in several fonts and sizes. 

ACCOMMODATION:  If your child already knows their ABC’s you can do this same book by having your child cut out pictures of things that BEGIN with the letter SOUND.  For example, cut out alligators, and apples to glue onto your Aa page.

Bonus: Make a Cover yourself.  Come up with a title and help your child write their name next to “By:”

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Inside Scoop on Name Writing


Well yesterday (November 13, 2010) I posted a writing activity (in Daily Fun Work) and I have some insight I want to share about this teaching opportunity! When you are teaching your child how to write his/her name you can actually be teaching A LOT more than just tracing.
You have the opportunity to teach your child that there are letters in his/her name. I know this may sound like a very simple observation, but letters are very multi-faceted to children. Let’s talk about all they need to learn about letters:
1. There are a lot of letters! There are 26 uppercase, 26 lower case, and 2 letters “a” and “g” that look COMPLETELY different in a book and children don’t even realize they are the same letters.
2. Letters look different! If I want to write a letter for the first time I have to figure out how the letter is formed. Does it have a straight line, curvy line, both, etc.? Is it tall, short, or does it have a tail? They are learning all these letters and learning how to make them. It is no simple task for a little one. Try to teach them to “start at the top” when forming a letter.
3. Letters have purpose! Each letter stands for a different sound, and some have more than one sound, and some letters sound different than in words you might introduce! This is initially very confusing to teach.
4. Letters can be put together to make words! When just beginning, children don’t understand that there are letters, words, sentences, etc. They have to be taught these print concepts. We get to teach them that their name is a word…just like a word in a book .

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