Distinguishing between b and d????

[Joyfullyblessed]

Hello,

 

I just wanted to know if anyone had any cool or creative ideas that would help my six year old son figure out lowercase b and d easier. I know it is a common mistake to mix these two letters up, but I would love to figure out something that would help.

 

He mixes them up all the time, and did the same thing last year in K. It is getting quite frustrating for him when he is reading or even writing out words. I want to be able to make it more simple for him, but I am not sure how.

 

Also, when writing, my son draws his lines from bottom to top instead of top to bottom. I know the rules and remind him often, but he still writes from bottom to top.

 

However, his handwriting is just wonderful!!! I really don't see a big problem since it seems to be working for him well. Anyone else have a child that doesn't seem to follow all the writing rules, and yet have very nice handwriting???

 

Any advice is welcome! Thanks and have a great day! :)

[Pata]

My dd didn't always form the letter exactly the way they tell you to and I let it slide. She's doing fine and I'm a much happier momma since I didn't have to fight that battle.

 

As for b and d confusion, b's back comes first, d's doughnut comes first. Worked like a charm for my dd.

[FO4UR]

I had the most success with teaching the proper handwriting strokes, and then dictating the sound /b/ or /d/ and having him write whichever letter he heard. I started with a page with a line down the middle and a sample b on the left side and a sample d on the right side. I would just dictate the sounds in random order, watching closely and correcting if he started to write the wrong letter. I did this for 3min daily for a while and saw huge improvement.

[2_girls_mommy]

We are working on the b/d issue here too. Just yesterday I made a big poster of the the word "bed" turning the word into a bed by drawing a little ruffle under the letters and a stick person lying on top. The lines of the letters are the bedposts. Then under the "b" I made a couple of b words to remind her that this is b. I wrote ball and drew a little ball and boy and drew a little stick figure boy. Then under the "d" I wrote duck and drew a little duck and day and drew a sun and a tree. Those are all b and d words she is familiar with.

 

I also taught her how to hold her hands to help her. If you know how to make the sign language letter "d" with your right hand it looks like the letter d. Then do it with the left hand at the same time and it looks like the letter b. Put them together and it is a visual reminder of the bed.

 

Then I had her go through magazines and cut out pictures of things that start with the letter b and cut out any lower case b's she could find. We hung that up too. Today she will make the d. I hung these and the bed poster in places where she regularly sits to write as a visual clue.

 

Don't know how much success we will have with these ideas, but just thought I would share what I was doing. I like the "backs and doughnuts" thing too. I will share that one today. That sounds a little more simple than the bed picture. But that was the idea I found online.

[mommaduck]

If the left hand holds the ball, it's a "d". If the right hand holds the ball, it's a "b".

 

Just an idea ;) Many times children distinguish left hand and right hand before they figure out b and d.

[Murmer]

Have a stick person that he can see. Draw the stck person with left hand on hip. Have child do it that's d. Draw stick person with right hand on hip. Have child do it that's b. Repeat ad nausem. It really help my kinethestic boys figure out b and d

[Tabrett]

I came up with this and it is helping my dd tremendously.

 

For letter d. How do you open a door? Turn the doorknob (Make the circle (doorknob) of the d. You also turn a doorknob the same direction as you make the circle.) then open the door (draw the line(door).

 

For letter b. To hit a baseball, you first swing your bat (draw the line for b (the bat)) then hit the ball (draw the circle (ball) part of b).

 

This has been the the only trick that has worked with my dd so far.

[ElizabethB]

I have a worksheet and some other ideas to help fix this here:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/dbdb.html

[BatmansWife]

I use the same suggestion about the "bed". When sounding the word bed out, the b sound is first and the d sound is last. And, they can visualize the headboard (the b) and the footboard (the d). If they visualize it the other way around, it won't made a bed (deb).

 

Also, the lower case b can turn into the upper case B. That won't work with the d.

[Amy in KS]

Make two fists and stick your thumbs up. Put the fists together (thumbs will be on opposite ends). It should look like a bed. The left hand is the "b", the right hand is the "d". This worked for my son when the oral clues didn't. I still see him making a bed with his hand when he reads independently.

[lionfamily1999]

I just told the kids that baby b is always running away and little d loves his daddy. B b (see, it's running away) and D d (look at the love).

[3girlssofar]

My dd didn't always form the letter exactly the way they tell you to and I let it slide. She's doing fine and I'm a much happier momma since I didn't have to fight that battle.

 

As for b and d confusion, b's back comes first, d's doughnut comes first. Worked like a charm for my dd.

 

My DD is also having issues with b / d. I think this explanation will be perfect for her! Thank you!

[Guest janainaz]

My ds5.5 also gets confused on b and d. I just correct him. The only thing I've told him is to try and visualize a capital B. If the letter would not make a capital b, it must be a d. I'm not sure how much it's helping, it's just hit or miss with him. Some days he has no issue, some days he messes up every time he sees a b or a d.

 

I watch my ds form every single letter and I correct him instantly if he begins to do it wrong. I would say that the only reason it really matters has to do with learning cursive (as far as I know).

[dsmith]

When ds was in Montessori, they used sandpaper letters. They would sit with the child, and hold their finger, running it over the letter the way it would be formed when properly writing it. They would say the letter sound a few times while tracing it. After a few tries the child would do it alone. This was worked on a few times a week, even if the child knew the letters. They rarely had any reversals at his school. We made our own at home with index cards and glitter glue. As far as starting letters at the bottom, ds started doing this in his next school. I have no idea why, because they never allowed it in Montessori. As he became older and started writing faster, his writing became sloppier. Some of his writing is hard to read, like an o looking like an e because he is starting at the bottom and rushing, so it isn't connected. It's hard to correct when they have been doing it for so long, and it will eventually show.

[DianeJM]

(Not original to me, but) I taught them that for a "d" you make the circle part first; and since the circle goes in the same direction as a letter "o", by the time you finish the circle, and keep going up to make the stick, the stick is on the correct side of the circle.

 

For "b", I taught them to start with the stick and when they get to the baseline, bounce back up to make the circle on the right.

 

Since these are two very different ways to form the letter, there was little to no confusion -- and if they started to form the wrong one, I'd coach them, "no, make the circle first", or, "no, stick first," and the correction was very easy.

That's great, because when I was just learning to write as a kid, we formed both the b and the d by starting with the stick, and I remember being confused.

 

You could also teach cursive first, that should virtually eliminate the problem. I might have done that if I had even thought of it, lol, but learned much too late that there was even an option to teach cursive first. Kinda goes against the tide of how I was taught and how I figured every kid needed to learn to write, but also kinda makes sense. Anyway, I didn't do that, I was too late.

 

All the best to you!

Edited September 1, 2010 by DianeJM

[holdoll]

I use the same suggestion about the "bed". When sounding the word bed out, the b sound is first and the d sound is last. And, they can visualize the headboard (the b) and the footboard (the d). If they visualize it the other way around, it won't made a bed (deb).

 

Also, the lower case b can turn into the upper case B. That won't work with the d.

 

This is what I did for youngest and it worked! :001_smile:

[klmama]

The word "bed" helped sometimes, but what made a bigger difference was learning that when we say "b" our lips start in a straight line, just like on the letter. When we say "d" our lips start out open, just like the circle in the letter.

[Oak Knoll Mom]

The word "bed" helped sometimes, but what made a bigger difference was learning that when we say "b" our lips start in a straight line, just like on the letter. When we say "d" our lips start out open, just like the circle in the letter.

 

You beat me to it! :D I learned this from Jessie Wise at the WTM conference last year. It has made all the difference with my son. And any time he does get b / d confused in his reading, I make him tell me why that letter is a b or d. He has to say "This one starts with a line, just like my mouth when I say /b/" or "This one starts with an open circle, just like my mouth when I say /d/." Explaining this over and over and over has been the best thing for him.

[desertmum]

OMG I wish I had red this threat before. I told my ds that "d" is a letter with a belly and a "b" is a letter with a botty (am I allowed to say this word, or this considered rude?). I am feeling rather foolish...

[Devotional Soul]

Here's the one that worked the best for my ds, courtesy of another mama here a while ago:

 

Bat before ball (draw the line for the baseball bat, then the ball)

 

Drum before drumstick (draw the circle for the drum, then the line for the drumstick)

[BatmansWife]

I just told the kids that baby b is always running away and little d loves his daddy. B b (see, it's running away) and D d (look at the love).

 

 

:lol:

 

Funny! Awww....poor daddy B.

[lionfamily1999]

Between myself and my siblings we always seem to have new walkers running around. Even Luke knows that babies don't really walk... they run :lol: So, for my kids, this is the perfect explanation.

[mich311e]

Make two fists and stick your thumbs up. Put the fists together (thumbs will be on opposite ends). It should look like a bed. The left hand is the "b", the right hand is the "d". This worked for my son when the oral clues didn't. I still see him making a bed with his hand when he reads independently.

 

My son does this too.

[momofabcd]

"As for b and d confusion, b's back comes first, d's doughnut comes first. Worked like a charm for my dd."

 

We have been having trouble with b's and d's, also. I had tried the bed and fists with thumbs up and they weren't working, so I tried the above suggestion this morning with my dd, and it worked like a charm. She got all her "d" and "b" sounds right today.:001_smile:

[ScoutTN]

Great thread. DD is making progress on this, but I'm collecting all this info for DS later.

 

We made easy sandpaper letters by doing fine sandpaper sheets in a die-cut machine at church.

[Annie Laurie]

I was getting worried because my dd still had letter and number reversals at age 7. But sometime in the last year, it's resolved itself and now she never does it at 8. Just wanted to mention that, in case anyone is worrying. I think it's just developmental sometimes and resolves when they get older. Though if my child had any other signs of possible Dyslexia, I would have some testing done.

[sncstraub]

My ds7 went thru the /b/ and /d/ reversal when he was 4 or so. I tried the "bed" trick with the hands and on paper and it didn't help at all. I tried having him write his letters in salt (because his handwriting wasn't good at all then). I told him that the /b/ had a big belly, just like the big B, and the /d/ was dragging a bag behind him. None of that worked really, so I just gave it a rest for a few months and didn't do anymore reading practice. When we started up about 2-3 months later, he had no more problems. He just wasn't developmentally ready.

 

Now my 2nd ds who is 4.5 has good handwriting without much training at all. But he forms his letters the "wrong" way. I've started HWT with him and he can make all of the letters, but I have to watch him closely to make sure that he's doing it the proper way. He really resists the correction though! GRR!

[Underdog]

As for b and d confusion, b's back comes first, d's doughnut comes first. Worked like a charm for my dd.

 

Very cute. I think I will use this. Thanks!