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I need ideas for teaching my son to distinguish b and d


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My son, who is four, is plugging away at The Ordinary Parnent's Guide to Teaching Reading. We're up to Lesson 34 - where he's started CVC words and he's doing fine. EXCEPT that he still cannot readily distinguish between a lower case d and lower case b.

 

I've not worried too much about it. But I know I should address it, because things will just get more complicated from here.

 

Any ideas?

 

(ps - hello again! I've been absent a while)

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One of my dd's had trouble with this too (as well as p & q). I taught her to touch each thumb with her middle finger keeping her ring and pinky fingers tucked in behind the middle and to lift the forefinger of each hand straight up.

 

Typing this makes it seem more complicated than it is --- the result is a lower case b on the left hand and a lower case d on the right. Since "b" comes before "d" in the alphabet, I told her "b" comes before "d" on her hands (if you're reading left to right, which you should be.) :) For a short time I would see her making her hand "b" and "d", but it didn't take long before she no longer needed to.

 

HTH!

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What finally worked for my daughter (who's 11 and still has to think about it sometimes) is Mr. Beady Eyes:

 

mrbeadyeyessm.gif

 

If you make his glasses with your hands, you can use the trick wherever you are. The good thing about this one is that they don't have to associate the phonetic sound with the letter, just the name.

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Keep in mind, also, that many kids who have trouble with b/d do so because they are very visual-spatial. Many times they think in pictures. To them, a dog is a dog whether it faces to the left or to the right. A b and a d are the same shape, just facing different ways. (As are p and q.) They don't always naturally think "left to right" in regards to letters, words, and reading. So while some kids do well with the "bat hits a ball" or "dog starts with d and its tail sticks up behind him", many kids that are really struggling with it can easily imagine a bat hitting a ball from any direction, or a dog facing any direction with its tail behind it. I'm not picking on those suggestions, because for most kids, they do the trick. But if you've tried those and it's still not working, this may be why.

 

Like I said, my daughter still will write them the wrong way sometimes, even in cursive! Go figure. But she's an incredible artist who can draw things from any perspective with great detail. :)

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as we wrote a "d" he would "first the drum and then the stick!

 

circle around making a the "c" part of the "d" and say:"first the drum..." Stroked straight up and say, "...and then the..." Stroke straight down and say: "stick"

 

"first the drum and then the stick!"

 

hear the "d" in the word drum?!

 

Don't worry about it though. If he is still writing backwards at age 7...then I would be concerned!

 

Have fun!

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The approach I used with my boys was to have them watch my lips.

 

When we look at the d we see a round shape, and when we form the sound for 'd' our lips are apart and round just like the letter.

 

Conversly, when we look at the b we see a straight edge first, and when we form the sound for 'b' our lips are together, straight just like the letter, and then apart, just like the letter.

 

Try it!

 

Carole

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My daughter would read them correctly but sometimes write them incorrectly. I just printed "Bb Dd" on index cards and taped it up over desks and on the fridge. I let her know it was OK to look at it anytime she wasn't sure which to write and it's helped her.

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Spalding teaches this way:

 

First, b and d are not taught at the same time, but only as the need arises; that often helps keep them separate in the dc's minds.

 

"b" is a tall letter with a short part. It begins with a line written from the top of the space to the base line (the tall part), then back up to the middle to start a circle (the short part). When you say /b/, your lips make a line.

 

"d" is a short letter with a tall part. It begins with a circle (anti-clockwise starting at 2 on the clock), then continues with a line up to the top of the space, down to the base line. When you say /d/, your lips make a circle.

 

Teaching them separately, and having them say the sounds as they write them, helps most dc with recognition.

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Another suggestion is to try the excercise in Brain Gym for this very thing. I have some vs children, and, as Genie posted, those tips that work well for many didn't work for mine. b, p, d & q really are the same thing in different directions. For my ds, I'm just telling him right and left because that helps more, but he asks all the time (he's one to think in pictures, but I'm not totally convinced he's vs because he processes so much more verbally than my dd's do.) I should add that he's good at writing from left to write as a result of doing HWT and starting the reading process with Phonics Pathways. My 10 yo got it after lots and lots of repetition--she fits the stereotypical vs learner profile the best.

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Since she's only 4, I think it's more of an age thing and that she'll most likely figure it out in the next couple of years.

 

 

Now I missed the age in my quick reading. I don't think twice about a 4 yo mixing these up. Normal. I did glance back for the age, but looked for a digit--silly me.

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I don't know whether Letterland is frowned upon as a phonics program or whether, being English I think, maybe it's not well-known in the States, but my kids have all learned these Letterland characters when they were learning their a,b,cs. Ds4 is doing it at the moment. We use other phonics material as well, but he really identifies with the characters and now is very accurate with the letters and their sounds. Because he knows what "Bouncing Benny" looks like with the ear first and then the face, it's easy to remember that b isn't d - "Dippy Duck" faces in the same direction but he has a round body and then a long neck. I was really surprised how quickly he sorted that one, because I've had the same problem with dd6 until quite recently.

 

Jenny

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Thank you, thank you, one and all.

 

There were many great suggestions in here. (You ladies with the derrier and butt method totally cracked me up!)

 

I've decided not to do anything specific at the moment. I have decided to freely tell him whether it's /b/ or /d/ when he comes to a b or a d in his reading. I had been hesitating before because I thought it would help him learn it (it didn't). In the three days I've been freely, happily, and quickly saying /b/ or /d/ as he sounds out words, he has been a much happier reader. And - and - he's 80% accurate with b now. He hesitates with d - every time (looking to me to give him the sound, since he knows I will now). This tells me he is learning to differentiate between them.

 

If he is still struggling with d and b later on, I'll employ the great ideas here.

 

Have I mentioned what a great resource you homeschooling parents on this board are lately? No? Well, I am now.

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  • 2 years later...

We have been using many of the ideas here already posted. I would suggest you start cursive as it is easier to get it written correctly as it is a fluid movement when writing and b d look much different in cursive.

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One of my dd's had trouble with this too (as well as p & q). I taught her to touch each thumb with her middle finger keeping her ring and pinky fingers tucked in behind the middle and to lift the forefinger of each hand straight up.

 

Typing this makes it seem more complicated than it is --- the result is a lower case b on the left hand and a lower case d on the right. Since "b" comes before "d" in the alphabet, I told her "b" comes before "d" on her hands (if you're reading left to right, which you should be.) :) For a short time I would see her making her hand "b" and "d", but it didn't take long before she no longer needed to.

 

HTH!

 

 

We did this too!

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  • 2 months later...
Guest bolsen19

I used this approach with first graders and it worked like a charm. There is a picture book called b and d are buddies that tells a story that children can remember when trying to figure out which direction b and d are facing. The book also comes with ideas about how to reinforce the idea after you read the story.

 

Ideas about how to use the b and d are buddies and also a link to get the book can be found on this website.

Kaylee's Education Studio

 

Hope this helped. :)

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My DD5 mixed b/d up a lot going through OPGTR. We've finished and now that she is writing letters more and doing AAS, plus reading everyday, the mixups are less and less frequent. In the beginning I would just tell her "that's a d", then "try again", then she'd self-correct and now it is automatic.

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