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Learning the ABC's

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Having your child learn her ABC's is fundamental for her to learn to read.


Remember to introduce the lower case letters as well as the upper case letters. The lower case letters are really important because when your child begins to read she is going to see more lower case letters than upper case.

Also explain that the letters may look a little different, so show different fonts of the same letter.

When your daughter is beginning to learn her letters and you are playing letter games don't overwhelm her by putting out all 26 letters. Begin with 1 or 2 that she doesn't know along with 2 or 3 that she does. This way she won't get frustrated and it will reinforce the ones she does know.


Learning Styles Covered

Auditory Learning Style Kinesthetic Learning Style Visual Learning Style








Learning the ABC's Activities


ABC Songs

Tips

Although many children can sing the ABC song, they don't necessarily understand what they are singing.

  • For some young children the letters have no meaning yet, that is they don't know that A, B, C, etc. are letters and that they are used to create words.

  • point to letters l m n o
    A common misunderstanding for many children is that they think LMNO is one letter. In the song these letters are sung together with no pauses, so they sound like one letter.

    Be clear and slow down when you sing this part of the song and if you can point to the letters when you sing this may help remove the confusion.

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Name Scramble

Children want to know how to spell their own names, so scramble the letters of their name and make it a game to put them in order.


Materials:
cards with letters (store bought or homemade)
your child's name written down
unscramble your child's name
  1. Give your child the letters in her name all scrambled up and have her unscramble them.

  2. If she needs help have her name written on a piece of paper for her to look at and compare the letters.

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Fishing for Letters

Materials:
bottle caps/ping pong balls (or some object that floats)
permanent marker
paper clip
clear tape
fishing pole/stick
string
magnet
pool/bucket
chart of the alphabet PDF


Make the "Fish"

paper clip taped to bottle cap
  1. Take the bottle caps/ping pong balls and write one letter of the alphabet on each with a permanent marker.
  2. Tape a paper clip to each bottle cap/ping pong ball.





Make the Fishing Pole

  1. fishing pole with magnet
    Find a long thin stick for a fishing pole.
  2. Tie a string with a magnet on the end of the pole (recycled magnets from business cards or promotions work well).




Go Fishing!

  1. go fishing for the letters of the alphabet
    Fill a bucket/pool with water and place the "fish" in the bucket/pool (water is optional).
  2. Have your daughter "Go Fishing" for letters.
  3. When she "catches" one, have her identify the letter and place it on the chart PDF.

    You can use this to reinforce the letters she knows and add a few new ones. She might have so much fun that she'll keep throwing the letters back in to do it again.

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Pizza Letters Fun!


Materials:
cardboard or pizza board
spring hinged clothespins
marker
stickers
wrapping paper


  1. Cut the cardboard in the shape of a circle (16" in diameter) or use a pizza board.

    Pizza boards can be purchased at a local craft store or just ask your favorite pizza place if you can purchase one for a project for your child. They might even give it to you!



    games using clothes pins and the ABC's
  2. Have your daughter decorate it with wrapping paper and stickers keeping the edge free of decorations.







  3. write the uppercase letters on the board and the lowercase on the clothes pins
    Then write the upper case letters on the edge of the board and the lower case on the clothespins.








  4. Match the pin to the letters on board
    Have your daughter attach the clothes pins of each letter, matching upper case with lower case.






  5. Make it self correcting
    You can make it self correcting by adding a symbol on the back of the board and the clothespin that match. For instance: on the back of the clothespin for the letter b put a red star and then on the pizza board match the clothespin with the upper case B and put a red star on the back of the pizza board above where the clothespin rests.



    As your daughter becomes more comfortable matching the letters, she will be able to do it faster while learning her letters.

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Matching ABC!

Matching Games are fun and simple to make. Remember don't overwhelm her by putting out all 26 letters to match at once. Begin with 1 or 2 that she doesn't know along with 2 or 3 that she does.

Materials:
old business cards, 3x5 cards cut in half or card stock
markers, letters cut from magazines or printed alphabet PDF
    2 sets upper case
    2 sets lower case
tape
scissors
pictures of your child


Make the Cards

  1. make personalized ABC card game
    Take a picture of your child.

  2. Print and cut them to size. 

  3. Tape them to the back of an old business card, 3"x5" card cut in half or card stock. 

    You want to use the heavier paper so they last longer and the letters doesn't show through.

    make 2 sets of upper and 2 sets of lower case letters
  4. You want the deck of cards to consists of 2 sets of upper case letters and 2 sets of lower case letters. So on the other side of the card, you can either:
    • have your child write a letter per card,
    • make a game of cutting letters out of magazines and tape those to the cards or
    • print a set of letters (PDF) and tape those to the cards.

How to Play

  1. Match a lower case letter to an upper case letter, lower to lower or upper to upper.

  2. The cards can be used for: Go Fish, a concentration game and later to make their own words and other alphabetizing games.

Go Fish Game Rules:

  1. Shuffle the cards.
  2. Deal out 5 cards to each player and the rest are spread out between the players in a "pond" to go fishing in.
  3. The idea is to collect a pair of cards that are the same and place them on the table. Once all the pairs are collected the game is over.
  4. Usually the youngest player goes first and asks a particular player if they have a certain card. For instance, "Lucas, do you have an A".
  5. If the player, who did the asking, received a card from the other player, then she gets another turn.
  6. If the player does not have the card he responds, "Go Fish".
    • Now the player, who did the asking, goes to the "pond" and pulls out one card and her turn is over.
    • The turn then goes to the next person to the left (go clockwise – it will help when your daughter is learning how to tell time!).

    Variations of the game: You can also make it more of a challenge by having up to 4 cards for each letter that need to be collected.

Concentration Game Rules:

  1. You'll need 2 cards for each letter.
  2. Shuffle the cards.
  3. Lay the cards in rows with the letter side down.
  4. The idea is to collect a pair of cards that have the same letter.  Once all the pairs are collected the game is over.
  5. Each player gets to turn over two cards, if the cards match they are removed from the table and the player gets another turn.
  6. If the two cards do not match, the cards are turned back over leaving them in the same place.

    As children become more comfortable with this game they learn that if they watch carefully, they can see matches to use on their next turn. Children get really excited when they know of a match with the card that the other player just turned over.

    Variations of the game: You can also make it more of a challenge by having up to 4 cards for each letter that needs to be collected.


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ABC Dominoes!

ABC Dominoes is played just like dominoes but with letters.  Match the upper case letters to the lower case letters.

Materials:
dominoes or old business cards
print out of letters of the alphabet word doc or PDF
   2 sets upper case
   2 sets lower case
tape
scissors


Make the Dominoes

  1. tape letters to dominoes and play the domino game using letters
    Print out the letters of the alphabet.  Print 2 sets of upper case letters and 2 sets of lower case letters. 

    You can change the font and the color if you wish (word doc).  Changing the font helps your child realize that the letters can look a little different.

  2. Cut the letters out.

    use old business cards as the dominoes


  3. Using regular dominoes or old business cards, tape two different letters to each domino/business card. 




    underline the letters that may be confusing for which directions the letter should be
    For letters that can be confusing as to their direction, be sure to put a line under the letter so your child knows which way the letter sits.





How to Play Dominoes

  1. Start with all the dominoes facing down and have each player select 5 dominoes.


  2. The youngest player selects a domino to start with and places it in the center of the table.

  3. match alphabet
    The next player must attach a domino on either end that matches the first domino. If they can't match one, they pick up another domino.


  4. Turns are continued until no one can match any letters or all the dominoes have been picked up.


    play dominoes with the upper and lower case letters
  5. This can be played in a number of ways.
    Match the same letter for
    • the upper case letters to lower case only.
    • the upper case letters to upper case only.
    • the lower case letters to lower case only.
    • or either case (upper and lower).

    You son can also just match the dominoes up making fun paths with them.

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Re-enforcement Activities


The following are activities that use a variety of learning styles. Finding out which one your daughter enjoys doing and helps her retain the information is half of the fun.

  • In the car:
    When driving around town, you can play the classic car game of spotting the letters in the alphabet or just focus on one letter and let her count how many times she sees it.
  • With her body:
    Have her make the letters with her body. Some letters might require more than one person but let her figure out what she can do to make each letter. It can be fun to have a group of people make the letters together.
  • Alphabet walk:
    Write each letter of the alphabet on a separate sheet of paper and make a path to walk on in alphabetical order. Let her help set them up in whatever design she would like - curves, with spaces between, around the couch or down the hall.
  • Caterpillar walk:
    Let her make a caterpillar. Write the letters on paper circles then have her create the caterpillar using the letters as the body, put the letters in alphabetical order (put antenna on the letter a).
  • Dot-to-dot:
    Make dot-to-dot pictures for your child to complete using pictures in magazines or books. Lay a piece of paper over the picture and decide where the starting point is. Mark it "Start", add a dot and an "A" then follow the lines of the picture and put a dot and a letter each time the outside edge starts to bend or curve. If you run out of letters before you have finished the outline, continue with lower case letters. Then add any detail lines that aren't part of the outline that would enhance the picture when it is done. Or purchase a book with alphabet dot-to-dots.
    • ABC Dot-To-Dot    PDF
  • Movement:
    Have your child come up with movements for each letter. For instance: she needs to move like an alligator for a, bounce for b, climb for c… To remember each one, have her make a chart. Then you can make a game out of it using a set of the alphabet cards or write the alphabet on Popsicle sticks. She can draw out a letter and have to do the corresponding movement for the letter.
  • Game board, plus movement:
    Make a game board with the alphabet written on the path and she needs to draw a card to move (like Candy Land but with letters). Within the alphabet cards are some wild cards that she has to move like the letter on the next card. Having her help make the cards, game board and movement will make playing the game even more fun!
  • Letter Sort:
    Sort the letters in a scoop of alphabet cereal, identify each one. Then let her eat them!

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Tracing Activities

Give your daughter an opportunity to trace the letter in a variety of mediums. Not only will it help to imbed the motion in her brain, it will be fun! Here are some ideas that you can use:

  1. Similar to many of the activities for practicing spelling words, your child can practicing writing her letters using:
  2. Have her make the letters in the air with big arm motions.
  3. Paint the letters on a sidewalk using water and have your daughter identify the letter before it "melts" away."

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ABC Books

  1. Fill your daughter's world with books including ABC books. Read to her daily and often. Have books on tape available so she can listen to a story over and over again as she wants to in order to absorb the vocabulary and the rhythm of the words.
  2. When reading an ABC story for the first time, read through the whole story then go back and find things that start with the letter on the page.
  3. ABC books come in many topics – one for every child's interest from dogs to space and just about every state in the nation.
  4. Go to the library to find a wealth of books to select from to make it more interesting for both of you.
  5. A favorite of many of my students is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. I had one student that would climb into my chair and listen to the book on tape over and over again while she turned the pages! That was the beginning of her becoming an awesome reader.

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Assessment


When the letters of the alphabet are listed in random order and your daughter can completely identify each letter by itself, then you can feel confident that she knows her letters and is ready to go on to learning her letter sounds.

November 20, 200

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