How to Teach Kids Differences in Letters?

STARFALL.COM... IT IS AN EXCELLENT WEBSITE.. if you do a letter or 2 each day with her.. she will get it..

letter factory dvd was reeally good too.

They just figure it out. Time is your friend in all things developmental. Just keep saying what the letters are, and they will get it.

We have the Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD and even though we haven't played it recently, my 4 year olds are going around singing it. And they are starting to recognize the sounds associated with letters so if they ask me how to spell something, I make the sounds and have them try to say the letters.

I definitely think it helps that there is a catchy song that the kids like with the DVD. We also used to sing the alphabet with them when they washed their hands. It helped make sure they spent time washing their hands and emphasized the alphabet.

But some letters will be hard to hear the difference for a while. Even when we do M and N, I have to face them and kind of emphasize it so they hear the difference and see what my mouth/lips are doing to make the sound.

How old is your child?

Sing, sing, sing the alphabet!!

Depending on how old your child is...
I used to teach kindergarten so teaching letters is my area! Although, most kindergartens NOW recommend students knowing letters BEFORE kindergarten...which is probably why you are starting to teach them yourself! Good for you!

One thing I used for kids was curves vs sticks. Get letter flash cards and use elbow macaroni and spaghetti noodles (uncooked) to "build" the letters and look at the "features" of the letter. Is the letter made of all STICKS (spag noodles) or all CURVES (elbows) or BOTH? That will help distinguish the different features and eventually the different letters.

Start with the letters in her name and work from there.

You can also get magnet letters and put 4-5 up at a time in a row. Make most of them letter she SOLIDLY knows and a couple unfamiliar/new ones. Have her go from left to right and pull them down, saying the letter as she pulls them down. Then again as she pushes them back up. This builds the "automatic" recognition of the letters. Can also build her name and have her "read" those letters while she pushes down/up.

Any type of FUN letter game. Show her that letters are FUN! Don't just try and pound them in.

*build letters with play doh
*Sand Tray - put a shallow layer of sand in a tray and write letters with her finger
*Sort plastic/magnetic letters (or cards with letters) - all the As in one pile, Vs in another pile, etc.

I am not a fan of a screen teaching letters, but if that is her/your thing than it is better than nothing!
Enjoy!

There are certain sounds that are hard for them til even 8 yrs old, including blends. We were told that our DD was within range of normal, and to play games with her like come up with words that start with those letters and be silly about it vs work. You may also find that she can say it right for particular words but not others, so remind her "like...."

Your child is just over 4, right? Those sounds are harder - my son is in kindergarten and not quite 6. He can say the sounds fine, but occasionally gets confused. Here's a link about the tough sounds:

http://www.babycenter.com/404_should-i-worry-that-my-pres...

Hey A.!

My two year old knew his letters really early... When we get to a letter, I connect it to a word (usually animals). If I write down a B on a piece of paper, he knows B stands for Benny (which is him). He knows V stands for vulture, M stands for Mommy, U stands for Uncle Mike, R stands for RyRy, G stands for Gramma, etc. etc. Maybe let her hold the market/pencil while you write out the letters. My son loves looking at letters and telling me what they are, probably because it is pretty much a game for him to tell me what letters and numbers are. Maybe she just needs more work with it... She can do it! =)

My daughter's name starts with a "v" and when she was first learning her letters, every time she said "v" it sure sounded like "b". BUT, if I questioned with "B?" she would say, "No, V!", although it still sounded like "b" to me. So, depending on age, it's also possible that your child can recognize the differences in the letters, but it's hard to hear the differentiation.