Letter Sounds
The tools your child needs to start reading
It seems that our education system sets hurdles for our children that makes first steps to reading much harder than it needs to be. They are taught 26 lower case letters and at the same time 26 uppercase letters. These letters then have a name “aye” and a sound “a”. This takes a certain level of sophistication and development before a child can understand and navigate these differences.
Sandpaper Letters
Learning the letters is more effective if your child can engage their other senses. By feeling the letters as well as seeing and vocalising the letters helps reinforce the look, shape and sound of letters for your child.
Remember to trace the letters with middle and forefinger together. This will naturally progress to your child writing the letters with an appropriate grip with a pencil.
Three Letter Word Blocks
Once your child is comfortable with the lowercase letters they are ready to read the blue series books. To add more variety these three letter word blocks add another sensory reading activity to keep your child engages.
Print out Letters to Make your Own Games
The best way to teach letters can also be the easiest and cheapest. Simply print out the letter sheet and cut out the letters to play all sorts of letter games. Sticking the paper on cardboard first will help the letters last more than a few days.
Questions that you might have.
- Why is there no letter ‘q’? As ‘q’ essentially only appears as a double letter ‘qu’ it is better introduced later.
- Why are the letters not in alphabetical order? The focus is to learn each letter individually rather than as a rhyme. Letters with more distinct shapes and more distinct sounds are introduced first as I have found these to be easier for the child to remember. Success breeds confidence.