Teaching basic letter recognition??

[angelmorris]

I have 3 readers and 3 non readers. My 3 older children taught themselves letters long before 5. I didn't do anything to get them there it just happened. My 5 yo on the other hand doesn't know her letters despite me actually making some effort to teach her. I was teaching her a letter a week but she doesn't seem to be retaining that. Also she's watched the letter factory so many times I have it memorized. Neither of these things seem to be sticking ( although my 3yo seems to be retaining it). I'm ready to start teaching my 5yo to read but I can't really move forward until she knows her letters. What have you done in the past to teach your children the letters? Does the fact she's not retaining the info mean she's just not ready? She begs me to do school and wants to learn to read. I'm just not sure how to best teach her.

[Ellie]

I'm ready to start teaching my 5yo to read but I can't really move forward until she knows her letters.

Why? That's part of the learning-to-read process

 

What have you done in the past to teach your children the letters?

Not very much "officially," other than reading aloud and pointing out letters and like that.

 

 

Does the fact she's not retaining the info mean she's just not ready?

No. And one letter a week? That's not very much for a 5yo.

 

She begs me to do school and wants to learn to read. I'm just not sure how to best teach her.

Spalding. Or PhonicsPathways. Or AlphaPhonics. Or OPGTR. Pick one. They're all good. :-)

[mhaddon]

How about teaching the sounds and not the actual letter name? We've had to do this w/ DS. I figure he will eventually figure out the names. Also working w/ capitals rather than lowercase right now.

[mrs.m]

I agree with PP. My DS doesn't know the actual letters but surprised me a few times by saying the sounds. They retain so much more than we think.

[lulubelle]

I've been going through this with my 5 year old too! It is frustrating. He just needs more, more and more. More repetition, more time, more patience. I've been doing the alphabet part of Progressive Phonics (free online!). It has been pretty successful. He picks up whole words quicker than single sounds. He is not ready for Phonics Pathways, which I did with my older ds. I plan to get through the alphabet portion of Progressive Phonics and then move on to Phonics Plaid and then do Phonics Pathways. Some kids just don't pick it up as quickly!

[angelmorris]

I have OPG and plan to use it with her but it says in the first paragraph your child should know the letters both lowercase and capital before starting. So I was waiting to start it until she did.

[MissKNG]

starfall.com is a fun way for letter introduction!

[momto2Cs]

We've been having issues with this too. Phonics Pathways is really helping. My dd still doesn't know each letter by name, but she's beginning to read!

[michelle l]

Do you have your child doing any "writing"? When she draws a picture, ask her what's in it. Go ahead and label items (sun, tree, girl, dog) etc, as well as writing out any sentence/story that goes with the picture. Just do it right on her picture. If you are writing "sun", you can say something like, "Oh, there's an 's', do you hear it? Sssssssun! Can you make one? Here, let me draw one on your hand with my finger. Can you draw one on mine? Oooo, lets draw one in the air! Great!" Then, when you're reading Dr. Seuss or whatever, you can point it out again. "Oh my goodness, there's that 's' again! Do you hear it? Sssssss." See if she can hear an 's' words as you're reading and just make it fun. I think once it starts to click that these letters actually DO something, (they make sounds and we can put those together to make words that other people can read) things start moving more quickly for them.

 

I also disagree with the suggestion of teaching caps first, as most text is in lower case.

 

There is a book by Mem Fox called "Read Aloud Magic" or something along those lines. It's not a curriculum, just gives great modeling for reading out loud to kids in a way that helps them put the pieces together.

[Kuovonne]

My 5 yo on the other hand doesn't know her letters despite ... watch[ing] the letter factory so many times I have it memorized.

 

Is she watching and paying attention to the Letter Factory movie?

Does she know that she can learn her letters from the movie?

Does she still not recognize *any* letters?

 

If all the above are true, it might be a sign of a bigger problem.

[Sherry in OH]

I agree with trying Starfall. It is much more interactive than Letter and Word Factory.

 

Have you tried tactile letters? Sandpaper, felt, or even plastic magnetic letters. You can also try making large chalk or tape letters on the floor or driveway and having her walk the outline of the letter. Read alphabet books and have her trace the letter with her finger and then make the letter in the air. Some children need to be able to feel the letters.

[ElizabethB]

I like to teach uppercase first, too. I think it's better not to read books until you know all the letter sounds and letter team sounds (oi, oa, ai, ar, ph, etc.) anyway, and by then children are usually ready to do both uppercase and lowercase. When you teach uppercase first, there are plenty of signs around to practice with. (STOP, WAL-MART, etc.) They are more distinct and it also makes it less likely that there will be a b/d confusion--B/D is much better, then B/b is a natural transition.

 

I would work on practice writing the letters while saying the sounds. Start out with a few easy letters to blend--M, A, O, E, I, U, R, L, N. Then, you can make some short words like am, an, on, in; no, mo, me, re, mu, lu. L and R after the vowel change the sound of the vowel a bit, so only teach them at the beginning at first. You may find it easiest to teach long vowels first, they have the advantage of having the same name and sound. If so, I would recommend using the syllabary and Webster's Speller, it's a natural fit for that.

[angelmorris]

Is she watching and paying attention to the Letter Factory movie?

Does she know that she can learn her letters from the movie?

Does she still not recognize *any* letters?

 

If all the above are true, it might be a sign of a bigger problem.

 

She does realize the movie is teaching the letters. The only letter she recognizes is A but she knows it as ahhhhh (the sound) rather than A.

 

I guess that's my real fear is that theres a problem. Either with her ability to learn or my ability to teach her ;)

[angelmorris]

Thank you so much for all the advice.. I'm going to try out your suggestions to see if something clicks for her. I think I'll start with the tactile letters ... she's a very sensory oriented person anyways so that's a great idea!