Guest Xapis10 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 My DC struggles with "d" and "b." He knows the difference when he thinks about it, but it's a little problematic when he's sounding out little words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 First of all, this is very common at those ages :) I remember worrying about this myself, as I didn't know this was so common. My ds, now 8, used to struggle with this, but now has no problem at all. My dd, who's 4, mixes them up too. I write "bed" that looks like a bed, and tell dc that the b is where is the pillows are (headboard), and the railing on the d is the foot of the bed. In Getty Dubay Italic Handwriting, dc write b by starting from the top, and d from the middle, so over time, as they practice, they will get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 bed - write it, then draw a mattress on top with the tall part of b/d as the headboard/footboard. If they are backward, the mattress would be a teeter-totter and fall over at an angle or be really tiny so no one would fit. Draw these ways, too. A funny lesson in keeping them straight, and even funnier if (insert DC's name here) is trying to get in to the beds. :) Stick figures can be amazingly hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I heard to say that the line comes first for a b and to have them think about how there mouth makes a b and the circle comes first for d and your tongue makes a circle. It isn't working yet. lol Hopefully eventually it will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 If you have Netflix, find Word World and find the b d episode. They sing a song. It helped my son. It says some thing about line then circle is the letter b circle then a line is the letter d. The animals break a bed and half to sing the song to put it back together. It has lots of b and d words in and is very visual. The show is.on PBS if you don't have Netflix. You may have to watch for a couple of weeks to find it, but the show is great for early readers andspellers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricm Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I like the "bed" approach to remembering b and d but I use a silly trick to make it stick for my kids. Make a "b" with your left hand by extending your index finger straight up to form the top of the "b". Form the bottom circle of the "b" by touching your thumb to your other curled fingers. Make a "d" by doing the same thing with your right hand... Now but the b and d shape together which makes a bed with posters at the head and foot of the bed and say "look, see the bed!! Now you make a bed - where is the b? Where is the d? See how b is pointing? See how d is pointing?" This really helps them figure out which way the b and d letters face - I still see my 1st grader do it every one and a while! rm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 If you have Netflix, find Word World and find the b d episode. They sing a song. It helped my son. It says some thing about line then circle is the letter b circle then a line is the letter d. The animals break a bed and half to sing the song to put it back together. It has lots of b and d words in and is very visual. The show is.on PBS if you don't have Netflix. You may have to watch for a couple of weeks to find it, but the show is great for early readers andspellers. We love World Word here. It really is a very well done show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeplessnights Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 My kids have all had trouble distinguishing them for a while. I don't make a big deal about it. When they're reading I simply tell them, "That's a b" or "That's a d" if they pause and look like they're trying to figure it out. After a few months the pauses lessen and they don't have trouble any more. So I guess for us, practice makes perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 It's very normal for the age. My 7 year old gets them confused in writing, though not in reading (I actually don't remember him ever confusing them in reading). We're working through Spalding handwriting instructions now, and they talk about the mouth positioning mentioned by a PP. We also talk about how 'd' is a "short letter". My 5 year old gets them confused in reading. He also confuses 'm' and 'n' (which he used to confuse in speech, and I think it's related to that). I did the "bed" thing with him, showing him how to hold his hands up like that. Beyond that, I just keep correcting (gently) when we're reading. This will pass. I think learning how to write the letters helps some. Make sure you do it as one movement, not separate ball and stick. So a 'd' would start with a 'c' (or start at 2 o'clock and go counterclockwise), and 'b' starts at the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 This website has a lot of ideas: http://alphabetworkout.com/alphabites/bd-confusion-mr-beady-eyes-rescue I actually use the "Mr. B/D Eyes" picture from this site since the one from alphabetworkout kinda creeps me out: http://boostforreaders.com/mrbeadyeyes.html We have Mr. B/D taped right on the desk so my son can look at it when he needs a reminder. It really has worked for him and he is a lefty with dyslexia. Here is a poster you can print out for the "bed" if you don't want to draw your own: http://activityvillage.co.uk/bed%20poster.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 The "bed" helped my olders when they were young to think about which to write 'b' or 'd', but to remember to SAY the write SOUND quickly enough for reading we learned: -If you see the LINE FIRST in the 'b', make a LINE with your mouth to say the /b/ sound -If you see the CURVE FIRST in the 'd' make a Curve with your tongue to make the /d/ sound With that there were no pictures and 'names' of letters to remember while trying to read. It just flowed naturally then! HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillehei Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 AAS has a great article about this: http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/how-to-solve-b-d-reversal-problems/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have also heard to introduce cursive to children with this confusion because there is no way to confuse a cursive b and d. We are using PAL reading right now and they have letter stories for the letters that might help. d is a dog with a tail on his back, and b is the bomb letter (or you could say it is the ball letter if you don't like the bomb idea). My dd6 still has this problem, but we also have our AAS board on the wall, so she will often refer to the board before she writes either a b or a d. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 DD confuses them too. When she reads a word incorrectly, I simply stop her and ask what the letter is and then what sound it makes. (I don't lead her into guessing.) She typically only has problems distinguishing the two when she's reading. I've noticed just this week that she's doing a good deal better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 If it is a writing issue then you can also teach the capital B and the small b take the same form without the top curve. If they know the capitals you can also help them to form a capital B from the small letter one - if they can its a b, if not its a d. My DD has not had trouble with this but if my second child did then I would probably start with the bed approach first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2girls4us Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 My youngest was still struggling with this at the beginning of 1st grade. What finally made it click for her was that for "d" the doorknob comes before the door, and for "b" the bat comes before the ball (with pictures to illustrate). HTH! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 If you have Netflix, find Word World and find the b d episode. They sing a song. It helped my son. It says some thing about line then circle is the letter b circle then a line is the letter d. The animals break a bed and half to sing the song to put it back together. It has lots of b and d words in and is very visual. The show is.on PBS if you don't have Netflix. You may have to watch for a couple of weeks to find it, but the show is great for early readers andspellers. Thanks for the tip! I'm going to look for this episode today and have my DS12 watch it. B's and d's trip him up every day. I have tried everything, including the "bed" thing but the dyslexia is winning. :confused: Hopefully the song will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 My girls were confused with b and d in first grade for a while too. Alphaphonics has a page that is just lower case bs and ds in a grid like a 100s chart. We had them read through the page a couple times a week and it really helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREAMhsMama Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I saw this on pinterest :tongue_smilie: Make a 'thumbs up' with both hands and put your hands together fist to fist - looks like a b and d or bed....i showed this to my dd and she uses it all the time. If she comes to a word she's unsure about, i see her put up a thumbs up really quick as a reminder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommie_Jen Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I saw this on pinterest :tongue_smilie: Make a 'thumbs up' with both hands and put your hands together fist to fist - looks like a b and d or bed....i showed this to my dd and she uses it all the time. If she comes to a word she's unsure about, i see her put up a thumbs up really quick as a reminder! My 5 yr old deals with this too. I am going to teach him this trick! (and try to do some pathetic drawing of a bed on the whiteboard for him.) Any tricks for M/N mix ups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Xapis10 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Wow, thanks for all the ideas! And thanks for going through the trouble of sharing links also - these may help! I'm not overly stressed about it yet - I figured it would be an issue when he was younger and would identify letters in everything he saw (any shape, anywhere!), even if these shapes were making upside-down and backwards forms of the letters. Maybe the brain is too flexible. :) He knows the sign language for some letters, including "d" (which is shaped like it is written), but the mnemonic devices don't come to his mind when reading until I ask him. Maybe handwriting the letters will help. I need to decide what direction to go with handwriting! I didn't really consider the possibilities in this area until now (after already starting on some basic ball-stick). Where is a good discussion on the different ideas about where to start with handwriting?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 My last one learned it with, "Buh-buh-b has a buh-buh-belly, and duh-duh-d has a duh-duh-derriere." The giggle factor made it stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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