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Struggling To Learn the alphabet
Is your child struggling to learn the alphabet? You have come to the right place. My daughter Izzy is 5 years old and in Kindergarten. Toward the end of last summer, I started working with her to identify her letters and the sounds they made. What I found out was astonishing!
I learned she could not hear letter sounds accurately. It was frightening, because I had not dealt with that with either of my boys. Melt-downs yes, constant wiggling yes, processing problems yes, but hearing problems no. I was worried because I wondered how I would teach her the alphabet. How would I teach her to read? I had her hearing checked at the doctors and it was fine. What was the problem then??
Our Approach
Before school started, I made my kids their school binders. I had to come up with some strategies to help my baby girl learn her letters. I used a Montessori approach with her this year. I made her a letter book for each letter. It comprised of three pages per letter. First, she had to trace the letter, next she had to fill in the blank with the letter, and last she had to listen for letter sound and circle it. I wanted a multi-sensory approach in teaching her the letter sounds.
During school, she would complete the pages, and then I would go over the pronunciation of the letter sounds. Then, we played letter bingo and letter go fish. I also played a letter matching game, because I wanted to strengthen her memory. That was a huge key to help her remember the letter sounds. My boys were using All About Spelling at the time. I thought maybe if I bought her a small whiteboard and her own set of letters tiles, it would help her with a multi-sensory approach.
Did It Work?
It worked! I am still amazed, but it worked! I really needed to build her memory for her to retain the letter sound and what it looked like. I taught her the letters according to how the Montessori Schools group the letters and not going in order from A-Z . That way did not make sense to her (even though she knew her alphabet song). I spent about 1-2 weeks per group of letters. Here is the grouping I used:
Group 1: c, m, a, t
Group 2: s, r, I, p
Group 3: b, f, o, g
Group 4: h, j, u, l
Group 5: d, w, e, n
Group 6: k, q, v, x, y, z
Izzy felt like she was such a big girl using the same tiles as her brothers. She had her own “Mommy School Time” and she loved it. I started trying to have her spell simple 3 letter words to help with learning the sounds. We started using the Reading Lesson to read, and she is doing amazing. She loves to get her tiles out and spell the words she is reading. She finished Kindergarten and is already starting to read. It is amazing to watch her blossom into a reader!
Success
I think the Montessori multi-sensory approach was key for us. Yes, I do think her brain needed more time to mature in order to learn her sounds and letters, but it was the multi-sensory approach that helped with the maturity.
If your child is struggling with letter sounds and letter recognition, don’t sweat it! We have all the strategies to help you with your child!
Can I make it easier for You? YES
Based on my experiences with my daughter, I decided to make my own program called Creative Littles. It is geared for ages 2-6 years old. It can also be used for children older if they need some extra help. My program is comprised of 3 sections, worksheets, games, and crafts. Creative Littles is filled with dynamic worksheets where you color, write, draw, or cut and glue letters. It is a ton of fun and your kids will love it! If you are interested in finding out more, check out Creative Littles.
Hi my name is Laurie. I am so glad you are here! I am a Christian homeschooling mom of 3, caregiver to my Veteran husband, mom to a son with Autism, community volunteer, travel loving, and blogger. As you might notice, I do not live the “expected life”. Come join my family and other families as we experience Living The Unexpected Life.
