How to teach letters

[LeslieG]

I have been working on teaching my 4.5 year old dcg letters for the last 2 months. I introduce one new letter per week and continue to practice letters we've previously learned each week. So far we've just been using our alphabet board and flashcards, and I've been giving her a sticker each time we practice (if she puts in an effort).

We have been stuck on "F" and "G" for the last 2 weeks because she just isn't trying anymore and obviously doesn't care about getting a sticker anymore. She gives up very quickly and just keeps saying "I can't remember" or "I can't do it".

Do you teach the alphabet? If so, how to you do it? Do you have rewards?

[MissAnn]

I have been working on teaching my 4.5 year old dcg letters for the last 2 months. I introduce one new letter per week and continue to practice letters we've previously learned each week. So far we've just been using our alphabet board and flashcards, and I've been giving her a sticker each time we practice (if she puts in an effort).

We have been stuck on "F" and "G" for the last 2 weeks because she just isn't trying anymore and obviously doesn't care about getting a sticker anymore. She gives up very quickly and just keeps saying "I can't remember" or "I can't do it".

Do you teach the alphabet? If so, how to you do it? Do you have rewards?

I use both handwriting without tears and zoo phonics. Love them both! I don't do a letter a week.....I do all letters at the same time. We play different games with letters. I just make the games up as I go. Their favorite is the Walmart Game. I throw letter flash cards all over the play room. Then I act as if I took my kids there on a field trip and they all ran away from me. We go into great detail about the naughty things they are doing.....let all the fish out of the tanks, ride bicycles down the aisles....etc. I have to assign a manager who calls over the speaker to get help in retrieving my kids. Each kids (customer) brings me one kid at a time and tells me who that kid is (says letter name) and then I ask what that kid says (they tell me the letter sound).

[NoMoreJuice!]

Variety

I have a huge variety of alphabet games, marker boards they can trace, foam shapes, etc. I've found that flashcards are so boring and repetitive that they just don't hold interest. My goal is always to have all of my kids recognize letters by sight, be able to copy them by hand, and spell and write their names by the time they go to kindergarten.

I know it's a hefty financial investment, but I would buy these at Lakeshore:

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C927%2C587&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1397229613422

I also have this set for numbers. The kids love them! I also have tons of puzzles, like this one:

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C927%2C540&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1397229680144

I buy things like these because I have a lot of physical learners. I always try to incorporate visual, oral, and physical to cover all the bases of the different learners that I have in my group. Here's a great link to summarize the different learning styles:

http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/826-what-is-your-childs-learning-style

[jenboo]

I don't do letters of the week or have specific alphabet teaching lessons. They learn they alphabet from a variety of activities and every day life.
Here are some examples:
When they draw a picture, I have them write what it is. If its a dog then i write the word dog and we say each letter then they copy it on their paper.
We play alphabet bingo a lot
We point out letters and sounds while reading books
I write letters with chalk outside and they have to pour water onto the letter that I name.
I feel like we constantly spelling, sounding out words, etc.

I also have different toys that involve letters

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=melissa+and+doug+letter+

[daycare]

I teach zoo phonis and have been certified in their program. It is a great program, but the only thing that it does not teach is the names of the letters.

I would start out doing about half of the alphabet the first day and then after that every day we do the whole thing. I would daily sing songs/dances like who let the letters out. you can find it on you tube.

With zoo phonics you can teach the children using a kinesthetic learning approach which involves the entire child, eyes, ears, mouth, body and mind.

It is not just sitting there looking at cards over and over again getting drilled.


If you want to try Zoo phonics, PM me and I can talk to you about it more.

Not trying to gloat or show off, but all of my kids by age 2 know the entire alphabet by both sight and sound.

[MissAnn]

[QUOTE=NoMoreJuice!;450691] I've found that flashcards are so boring and repetitive that they just don't hold interest. QUOTE]

I use flashcards all the time! They get a bad reputation sometimes. I don't ever use them in a boring way or for rote learning. They are awesome for games! You just have to use imagination.

Another game I play (other than the previously mention Walmart Game) is the parachute game. I hold a flashcard up high and pretend he's jumping out of a plane. The kids have to yell out either the sound or letter name before it reaches a certain height when he's going to jump out of the plane. This will cause the parachute to open! It's really really really bad news if your parachute does not open! If the parachute doesn't open the flash card falls to the ground......and then the kids all come close to "him" and say...."are you OK! are you OK?"

Anyway...I know your comment pertained to the boring flashing of flashcards and kids saying the letter and/or sound....I just wanted to share some FUN ways to use them.

[MissAnn]

[QUOTE=MissAnn;450694]

I've found that flashcards are so boring and repetitive that they just don't hold interest. QUOTE]

I use flashcards all the time! They get a bad reputation sometimes. I don't ever use them in a boring way or for rote learning. They are awesome for games! You just have to use imagination.

Another game I play (other than the previously mention Walmart Game) is the parachute game. I hold a flashcard up high and pretend he's jumping out of a plane. The kids have to yell out either the sound or letter name before it reaches a certain height when he's going to jump out of the plane. This will cause the parachute to open! It's really really really bad news if your parachute does not open! If the parachute doesn't open the flash card falls to the ground......and then the kids all come close to "him" and say...."are you OK! are you OK?"

Anyway...I know your comment pertained to the boring flashing of flashcards and kids saying the letter and/or sound....I just wanted to share some FUN ways to use them.

I LOVE Zoo Phonics! My kids all know the names and sounds too. Love the Zoo Phonics song too! Oh, and the "hard workers!" ......so fun....so hands on. I pair it with Handwriting Without Tears and am so happy with both.

[Unregistered]

personalize

My dcks start out learning the first letter of their own name, the name as well as the sound. Sometimes they will trace the letter out in the carpet, or in sand, or any place that leaves a mark.
Next they learn the first letters of their friends names, their siblings or mom or dad - for some kids, that is M and D ) but others know their parents first names. We branch out from there.
We also do a "letter-of-the-week" basket, where kids bring any item that starts with the letter, or any place they found the letter, like on a puzzle or toy or cereal box or book. We mix it up when kids/parents forget, by using body parts to make a letter I personally ALWAYS have a V with me. X too. And lots of others

Another fun thing is to use their bodies to make letters - a fun cooperative lesson. Some are easy (T, L) and some are hard (B, Q) but it's always interesting to try.

I always emphasize the letter sound, and it actually seems to help them learn faster than just learning to recognize the letter. I also always do the "capital-lower case" of each letter, but I never worry if they write their names in all caps. The year before K, I show them a "special" way to write their name - the Kindergarten Way and they just eat. it. up. and quickly make the shift to a capital initial letter, and lower case for the rest.

When they are learning letters AND sounds, you can also have them guess letters as you read. We usually guess something from the title of each book we read. It's all done playfully, not stressfully, and not a big deal if they are wrong. It also helps them learn those outlier letters who have more than one sound, as well as combinations like th, sh, ch, etc.
Occasionally I'll have kids raise their hand each time they think they hear a letter as I read. Usually this works best with a familiar book, so that they aren't trying to do too much processing at once.

There a lots of ways to "teach" them letters, though I think of my job as "exposing" them to letters. My most valuable tip, though, is to start out with initial letters of people they care about.

[spinnymarie]

We do a letter a week for specific writing and sounds, plus games and things with all the letters.

For you, though, if you want her to pick them up before Kindergarten (in August? I assume?) I'd go with a letter book. Every day. It should have the capital letter, a photo that goes with the sound, and then a lowercase letter.
Each day she should read it and trace each letter as she names them and says the sound, and also says what the picture is. She should read the whole book like that every day (so all the way through to Z).

It would look like this: A (apple picture) a. And she would trace her finger over the letter like you would write it and say A, ahh, apple, a, ahhh (the a sound).

Then play games with letters. Do you have a computer or phone she could play letter games on? My guys picked a lot of them up through this. I also recommend the Leap Frog Letter Factory. Its a short movie all about the letter and their sounds and has catchy songs. We sing the song every day with our calendar stuff.

And I wouldn't stop short of a bribe either - if she gets 20 stickers for reading her book each day she can get something. Even just a certificate of learning or something. One thing I know - it is hardest for kids to sit down and learn with their own parents. They do it well for teachers, tutors, etc, but it is the most difficult with their own parents

[DaisyMamma]

I use both handwriting without tears and zoo phonics. Love them both! I don't do a letter a week.....I do all letters at the same time. We play different games with letters. I just make the games up as I go. Their favorite is the Walmart Game. I throw letter flash cards all over the play room. Then I act as if I took my kids there on a field trip and they all ran away from me. We go into great detail about the naughty things they are doing.....let all the fish out of the tanks, ride bicycles down the aisles....etc. I have to assign a manager who calls over the speaker to get help in retrieving my kids. Each kids (customer) brings me one kid at a time and tells me who that kid is (says letter name) and then I ask what that kid says (they tell me the letter sound).

This is aadorable! I'm going to do it today!

One thing I know - it is hardest for kids to sit down and learn with their own parents. They do it well for teachers, tutors, etc, but it is the most difficult with their own parents

Yes! So true. I thought I was going to do it all myself this year with me dd. Did not happen! She goes to someone else's daycare to learn

[AmyLeigh]

I have been working on teaching my 4.5 year old dcg letters for the last 2 months. I introduce one new letter per week and continue to practice letters we've previously learned each week. So far we've just been using our alphabet board and flashcards, and I've been giving her a sticker each time we practice (if she puts in an effort).

We have been stuck on "F" and "G" for the last 2 weeks because she just isn't trying anymore and obviously doesn't care about getting a sticker anymore. She gives up very quickly and just keeps saying "I can't remember" or "I can't do it".

Do you teach the alphabet? If so, how to you do it? Do you have rewards?

She may no longer be interested in learning letters. Can you take a short break from the academics? I would just focus on other "f" and "g" things. Since we are in spring, it may be a good time to focus on flowers with green leaves, green frogs, etc.

[butterfly]

You've gotten lots of great ideas already. I wanted to add that when I'm teaching letters, my focus isn't really on letters. Letters are tied into our lessons. I started out trying to do the flash cards and focus on letters primarily too, but the kids were bored to death. They weren't learning and I was frustrated.

Start with the kids names. Help them learn the letters in their names. When the letters are associated with something they can relate to, it's more fun.

I labeled everything. But I didn't put much focus on those labels or letters. We first did their names. Once they learned the letters in their names, they'd get excited when they'd see those letters around the room on other things and that was a great way to transition into other letters.

I then will start some of the other things that were previously mentioned.

I've also recited the letters in their name in a sing-song way, it made it more fun and then they were more likely to remember the letters and how to spell their names.