My goal has been to show parents simple ways to incorporate learning letters into their daily lives with their children. Finding letters in text is a simple letter recognition practice with little prep. Pull out a flashcard, magnetic letter, or just a piece of paper with the uppercase and lowercase form of a letter you are working on with your child. Seeing the letter will help them find that letter in the book you are reading.
Some kids are not interested in this at all. Your first step is to model finding the letter in the text and point it out several times before you invite them to join. Use a pointer or thin sticky notes if you still can't capture their interest. They can stick a note on the letter you are looking for in the text. A great book to start with is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. . In the illustrations, you can find larger forms of the letter, and your child can feel successful, giving them the confidence to look harder at the text.
After finishing the book and your child is still interested in it, try completing the steps below.
Review the text and write down all the words that began with the letter you found.
Suppose your child found the letter inside a word, come back to that word later.
After reviewing the words that began with the letter sound you are looking for, revisit the words with the letter you were searching for inside the word.
For example, if you are looking for the letter a and your child stuck a note inside the word cat, I say, listen, c-aaa-t.
Do you hear the /a/ sound inside the word cat? Then I leave it at that.
If you notice your child is having difficulty reading, contact me. I'll do my best to answer all of your questions and provide assistance in getting your child excited about the magical world of reading.
Comments