I need a fun way to teach "b" and "d' to 4yo

[NorthwestMom]

Does anyone have a cute trick to help DD remember which lower case letter is which? TIA!

[Emmy]

I made my kids a B & D card and they use it for as long as they need it. Basically it's an index card with Bb and Dd written on it in colored marker. Sometimes I laminate it if I'm feeling up to it lol. They keep it with their school stuff and refer to it as needed. Eventually they don't need it anymore.

[Jacquelyn in NC]

write the word "bed" with lowercase letters. The word actually looks a bit like a bed with a headboard and a footboard. Then by saying the word they can see which is the "b" and which is the "d."

[SilverMoon]

We've used a few over the years.

 

-Make a lower case b with your left hand (pointer finger up, and a d with your right hand, stick 'em together and show the kidlet how it makes a bed.

 

-Little b has a buh-buh-belly and little d has a duh-duh-derriere.

 

-Or the corny but efficient, little b o-buh-buh-bays (obeys) and goes the same way as big B. Little d duh-duh-disobeys and goes the opposite way as big D.

[elise1mds]

Does anyone have a cute trick to help DD remember which lower case letter is which? TIA!

 

My DH used this to help teach my son:

 

BAT before BALL (b)

 

DRUM before DRUMSTICK (d)

 

It worked quite well because you can make the shapes with your hands or draw them on the ground to further illustrate the difference.

[Mrs Mungo]

write the word "bed" with lowercase letters. The word actually looks a bit like a bed with a headboard and a footboard. Then by saying the word they can see which is the "b" and which is the "d."

 

I agree, this is all we've ever needed to do.

[ElizabethB]

I use all uppercase for the first year, then the B/b correspondence takes care of the difficulty, B and D are much harder to confuse. Since it's better for a young student to learn from a whiteboard than a book, you can rewrite whatever you're using to teach on a whiteboard in uppercase easily.

[jenL]

 

-Make a lower case b with your left hand (pointer finger up, and a d with your right hand, stick 'em together and show the kidlet how it makes a bed.

 

 

I taught remedial reading for a couple of years using the Wilson Reading Method (derived from Orton-Gillingham), and this is the technique we used with our students. I use it with ds now.

[Margo out of lurking]

When you say the sound of "b," your lips go in a straight line--the same as when you write the letter "b," you make the straight line first.

 

When you say the sound of "d," your lips are open and make a circle--the same as when you write the letter "d," you make the circle first.

[BikeBookBread]

Phonics Pathways has a good idea:

 

They have a picture of a little bed: The "b" is the head and "d" with the "e" in the middle. I draw this little diagram at the top of each page as a reminder. It has helped my girls immensely!

 

ETA: OOPS! Sorry this idea was posted previously.

Edited October 5, 2009 by BikeBookBread

[Garga]

HWT tells you to teach the kids that b is like a honey-bee. You start to write the h for honey, but then continue the circle for b.

[NorthwestMom]

These are all great! Thank you!!!

[LittleIzumi]

My girls know a lot of sign language. The sign language "d" looks just like a written "d" and the "b" does not. I just have her sign a "d" and check if it matches or not. :)

[coralloyd]

write the word "bed" with lowercase letters. The word actually looks a bit like a bed with a headboard and a footboard. Then by saying the word they can see which is the "b" and which is the "d."

 

We do this. I actually draw the bed on top of the word. I put the pillow on the b. Then when we came to a word that she had a hard time with I would say, "Remember the bed and which one has the pillow ."

[~Tara~]

We use the "bed" trick here too.

[Blueridge]

*b* has a nice straight BACK and a BIG BELLY.

*d* has a DOUGHNUT in the front.

:D