Teaching letter sounds order


Literacy Instruction for Individuals with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Other Disabilities


What are letter-sound correspondences?

Letter-sound correspondences involve knowledge of

  • the sounds represented by the letters of the alphabet
  • the letters used to represent the sounds

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Why is knowledge of letter-sound correspondences important?

Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences is essential in reading and writing

  • In order to read a word:
    • the learner must recognize the letters in the word and associate each letter with its sound
  • In order to write or type a word:
    • the learner must break the word into its component sounds and know the letters that represent these sounds.

Knowledge of letter-sound correspondences and phonological awareness skills are the basic building blocks of literacy learning.

These skills are strong predictors of how well students learn to read.

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What sequence should be used to teach letter-sound correspondence?

Letter-sound correspondences should be taught one at a time.  As soon as the learner acquires one letter sound correspondence, introduce a new one.

We suggest teaching the letters and sounds in this sequence

  • a, m, t, p, o, n, c, d, u, s, g, h, i, f, b, l, e, r, w, k, x, v, y, z, j, q

This sequence was designed to help learners start reading as soon as possible

  • Letters that occur frequently in simple words (e.g., a, m, t) are taught first.
  • Letters that look similar and have similar sounds (b and d) are separated in the instructional sequence to avoid confusion.
  • Short vowels are taught before long vowels.
  • Lower case letters are taught first since these occur more frequently than upper case letters.

The sequence is intended as a guideline. Modify the sequence as required to accommodate the learner’s

  • prior knowledge
  • interests
  • hearing

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Is it appropriate to teach letter names as well as letter sounds?

Start by teaching the sounds of the letters, not their names.  Knowing the names of letters is not necessary to read or write.  Knowledge of letter names can interfere with successful decoding.

  • For example, the learner looks at a word and thinks of the names of the letters instead of the sounds.

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Sample goal for instruction in letter-sound correspondences

The learner will

  • listen to a target sound presented orally
  • identify the letter that represents the sound
  • select the appropriate letter from a group of letter cards, an alphabet board, or a keyboard with at least 80% accuracy

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Instructional Task

Here is an example of instruction to teach letter-sound correspondences

  • The instructor
    • introduces the new letter and its sound
    • shows a card with the letter m and says the sound “mmmm”

After practice with this letter sound, the instructor provides review

  • The instructor
    • says a letter sound
  • The learner
    • listens to the sound
    • looks at each of the letters provided as response options
    • selects the correct letter
      • from a group of letter cards,
      • from an alphabet board, or
      • from a keyboard.

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Instructional Materials

Various materials can be used to teach letter-sound correspondences

  • cards with lower case letters
  • an alphabet board that includes lower case letters
  • a keyboard adapted to include lower case letters

Here is an example of an adapted keyboard that might be used for instruction once a student knows many of the letter-sound correspondences.

The learner must

  • listen to the target sound – “mmmm”
  • select the letter – m – from the keyboard

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Instructional Procedure

The instructor teaches letter-sound correspondences using these procedures:

  • Model
    • The instructor demonstrates the letter-sound correspondence for the learner.
  • Guided practice
    • The instructor provides scaffolding support or prompting to help the learner match the letter and sound correctly.
    • The instructor gradually fades this support as the learner develops competence.
  • Independent practice
    • The learner listens to the target sound and selects the letter independently.
    • The instructor monitors the learner’s responses and provides appropriate feedback.

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Student Example

Krista is 8 years old in this video

  • Krista has multiple challenges, including a hearing impairment, a visual impairment, and a motor impairment. She also has a tracheostomy.
  • We started to work with Krista when she was 8 years old. At that time, she was in a special education class at school and was not receiving literacy instruction.
  • She uses sign approximations to communicate with others. She also uses a computer with speech output (a Mercury with Speaking Dynamically Pro software). Because of her hearing impairment, she does best when she receives augmented input (sign and speech).
  • This video was taken after 3 weeks of instruction.
  • Krista is learning letter-sound correspondences. So far she has been introduced to the letter sounds for m and b
    • Janice is providing instruction; Marissa, a graduate student at Penn State, is learning about literacy instruction and helping to collect data; and Krista’s parents and nurse are watching the session, excited about her progress.
    • Janice
      • provides an array of letter cards as response options
      • says one of the target letter sounds
    • Krista
      • listens to the sound
      • points to the letter that makes the target sound
  • After 3 weeks (approximately 3 hours) of instruction, Krista has successfully learned the letter sounds – m and b.
  • Over the next months, we introduced the other letter sounds gradually. We also worked on recognition of high interest sight words, decoding skills, and shared reading activities.
  • Krista made excellent progress in all activities. Click to learn more about Krista’s success learning literacy skills despite the many challenges she faced.

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Pointers

There are a wide range of fonts. These fonts use different forms of letters, especially the letter a.

  • Initially use a consistent font in all instructional materials
  • Later, as the learner develops competence, introduce variations in font.

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Last Updated: February 19, 2019

Teaching Letter Recognition - What Order to Introduce Letters

Wondering about the order for teaching letters to your little ones? I’m on it!

I feel as though I am always writing about waiting to teach letter recognition. Wait and let little hands get strengthened by other activities. Wait until little minds have had ample time to hear different words and sounds. But a day will come when you SHOULD teach your little ones their alphabet letters of course.

Whether it is when they are 3, 4, 5, or 6, at one point or another they will be ready, and teaching letter recognition will be the name of the game. So, when they are ready, what is the order for teaching letters?

Don’t worry – I have an opinion on that too!

In fact, this is such an important topic, I have created a FREE resource just for you all about teaching letters to little ones. You can grab it right here:

If you are more of a watcher than a reader, I have created a seven-minute video for you all about teaching letter recognition to young children. You can watch right here (or simply keep reading below if you would rather):

 
And just in case the video above doesn’t work for you, you can also watch it right here on YouTube.

When I was in the Kindergarten classroom, I did not teach letter recognition in alphabetical order. I began with “name letters” as these letters hold a very important meaning to children. So for “Sammy,” he learned all about s, a, m, and y.

Once children know their name letters well, I would introduce the other alphabet letters (and sounds) in this order: 

At first, relatively quickly, I would introduce the first row of letters, maybe over a week. Then we do lots of activities playing with those letters: their sounds, shapes, and names. Once they are mastered, we add in the next row. Building and growing, slow and steady.

Starting with the lowercase is helpful, and something I have begun doing—though I haven’t always. Clearly, little ones need to know both upper and lowercase letters, but since so much of the print in our everyday lives is lowercase, I find it beneficial to start in that way.

The letter order is similar to the way the letters are taught in the Jolly Phonics Program. By teaching the letters in this manner, children are able to begin forming words very quickly.  After learning the first 6 letters, kids can make words in the “at,” “an,” “it,” “ip,” “ap,” and “in” word families.

  1. s, a, t, i, p, n
  2. c, k, e, h, r
  3. m, d, g, o
  4. l, f, b, q, u
  5. j, z, w
  6. v, y, x

Introducing the letters and letting little ones begin to make words almost right away creates a huge sense of pride. And since you waited to introduce the letters (you did wait, right?) they are absolutely ready and will be catching on right away, grasping those letter names and sounds easily. If not, perhaps wait a little longer.

I know it is hard (trust me, I know!) but waiting until your little one is ready will save you both mounds of frustration, and ensure your little one loves learning. There is no rush.

Of course, ideas and games for introducing letters can be found all over How Wee Learn!

Ready to start helping your little ones learn their letters? Here are some great ideas and fun games that will have those letters mastered in no time!

Digging Up Letters – Grab some dump trucks, diggers, and pebbles and “dig up” some letter-learning fun with your preschooler! This post shares more information about the order for teaching the letters.

Flying into Letter Recognition – This fun one just requires painter’s tape and construction paper. Pop that first group of alphabet letters (s, a, t, i, p, n) on the ground using painter’s tape and let those little ones throw paper airplanes to learn their ABCs!

Swat the ABC Balloons – We love using balloons for fun learning games. This alphabet activity is absolutely perfect for preschoolers as it engages the whole body. And we all know 3-year-olds LOVE to learn with their whole body.

Zoom and Sort the ABCs – All you need is painter’s tape and some toy cars for this one. This one uses painter’s tape in a different way; the painter’s tape forms the road while the cars hold the letters. This letters activity for preschoolers is great for introducing capital and lowercase letters. 

Pipecleaner and Popsicle Stick Letters – Forming letters with pipecleaners and popsicle sticks on a homemade sticky board – popsicle sticks can be used for so many purposes!

Skeleton Bone Writing (bending Qtips!) – We use Qtips a lot over here for learning games like this one. Bending those Qtips is a great way to make the curvy parts of the letters. Having children manipulate objects to form letters is a very powerful learning opportunity.

Re-useable Alphabet Paper Chain Games – We use construction paper a lot to make simple paper chains. I like to add velcro to make these chains reusable again and again. Little words can be built and played with all day long. 

Building a Name with Blocks – Duplo building blocks are a favourite here, and they are perfect for this name-building game.

Mail Play! – Mailing friends their “name letters” is a great way to practice letter recognition! Matching letters of the alphabet is a great place to start with letter recognition. First, little ones recognize which letters match, then they can practice forming the letters from a sample, and finally, they can produce it on their own. The order for teaching letters can be the same for all of these steps.  

Dinosaur Bone (Well, Letter) Excavating – Magnetic alphabet letters can be used for so many learning activities, like this fun dinosaur letter excavation!

An A-MAZE-ing Letter Learning Game – Grab that painter’s tape once more! This time we made a fun maze for learning our alphabet letters. 

Now that you are armed with some fun games, have an idea about the order for teaching letters, and have waited for your little one to be ready… it is time to let them learn those letters!

Have fun with this big step with your little ones. And remember, slow is always better. Follow your child’s lead and keep it light and fun. This is the beginning of a lifetime of learning and a love of reading.

Good luck! And remember, I am only an email away with any questions!

Thank you so much for reading friends! I hope you are having a wonderful week.

P.S. Don’t forget to grab your Free Teaching Letter Recognition Guide!

You’ll also love these How Wee Learn best-sellers:

 

Awesome Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers

Gross Motor Alphabet Games for Kids

How to quickly learn the alphabet - learning letters with a child

Letters surround us everywhere. The child sees them in books and magazines, on product packaging, in shop windows. He can't help wondering what it is. Over time, he begins to understand that adults can read, begins to copy his parents, having learned a poem or a fairy tale by heart, and pretending that he is reading a book.

Experts recommend teaching a child to read shortly before school, since at an earlier age his brain is not yet ready to perceive such information. You can learn sounds with it, learn to distinguish them in oral speech, start mastering the alphabet. This pre-letter period is very important, because thanks to it the child will be able to learn to read fluently and understand what he read.

At what age do you start learning letters?

Many parents are sure that a child's development should start almost from the cradle. But neuropsychologists warn that learning letters and numbers before the age of 3 is harmful. At this age, the emotional and sensory sphere should be formed. If we force a child to learn, then we violate the laws of brain development, which can have negative consequences.

No specialist will tell you that at the age of 3 or 4 a child should know all the letters. Of course, if you wish, you can force him to learn the alphabet, but this will not be useful, but, on the contrary, can harm. The brain is ready for reading most often by the age of 5-6, and only in 20% of babies - by 4-5. Before this time, it is not worth studying letters.

But this does not mean that you can forget about the development of the child. At 3-4 years old, you need to work on the development of speech, teach the baby to ask and answer questions correctly, pronounce words, and study the world around him. You need to work on fine motor skills, teach him to dance, form a sense of rhythm, and so on.

These are the recommendations. However, all children are different. If a child has shown a sudden interest in letters, it means it's time to start learning. And it does not matter if it manifested itself late, for example, at 6 years old. The child should want to read, only after that you can study with him.

Psychologists note several signs that indicate a child's readiness for learning:

  1. The child perceives well what he has read by ear and can tell what the book is about.
  2. He knows how to build phrases, pronounce all sounds.
  3. Interested in what is written in a children's magazine, book or poster.
  4. Pretends to read, imitating adults.

If all these signs appear, you can start classes. You can’t put pressure on a child, force him to study, bribe him (“learn the letters - I’ll give you a chocolate bar”) - this will not achieve anything.

In those cases where the interest in letters appeared early, there is no need to give up classes. But do not overload the baby, work with him for no longer than 7 minutes, classes do not have to be done every day, you can take breaks of 2-3 days.

How to start learning the alphabet?

The child began to show interest in letters. No need to immediately load it with knowledge, cramming the alphabet. Move a little. The easiest way for children to remember the first letter of their name. Explain to him what this letter is, what it is called. You can ask him to find this letter in the text. Gradually, he will learn to highlight it, will pay attention to it. The first step has been taken.

Parents now trust their children's education to various children's tablets, phones and other similar toys. Remember that they are teaching letters, not sounds. Toddlers need to be taught precisely sounds, so it will be easier for them to master reading.

A letter is a graphic representation of sound, each has its own name. But learning to read, knowing only the names of the letters, is very difficult. Imagine that the child will need to read the word "ball". How will he do it? Just as he was taught: "beael". And all because he pronounces letters, not sounds.

It is better to start learning with sounds, pronouncing them with the child. Parents themselves should not confuse sound and letter. Sound is what we hear. A bumblebee buzzes - this is a sound, a hammer knocks - this is also a sound. But far from all sounds we can get words. If we clap our hands, the sound will appear, but the word will not.

You can create a word from special sounds called speech sounds. Make sure that the child does not confuse the letter and sound. Explain to him that a letter is an icon that can be seen in a book or drawn on paper. Letters can be seen with the eyes and sounds can be heard.

General recommendations for teaching a child

If you decide to work with a child, remember the basic rule - he should be interested. You can't force him. At this age, the easiest and most accessible way of learning is through the game.

It is difficult for kids to concentrate, to sit in one place for a long time, so classes should be short, 5-10 minutes each. As soon as you notice that he has become bored, switch to something else. If he forgot everything that you went through, do not get annoyed, repeat again until he remembers. If you overload your child with information, he will develop an aversion to learning.

At an early age, a child develops visual-figurative thinking, and only then - abstract-logical. This means that it is useless to draw letters on paper or a board. So you can't learn them. For him, it will be just a set of dashes.

The child needs a visual association. For example, if you are learning the sound "a", you can show him a picture of a watermelon or any other item that starts with that letter. Stock up in advance with soft cubes with letters, bright cards, coloring books, beautiful colored primers.

Do not learn letters in alphabetical order. It is better to start learning with vowel sounds. The letters that are most often found in speech are studied first, then you can move on to rarer ones.

How to learn vowels?

First, explain to your child that all words are made of sounds, just as houses are made of bricks. The more sounds in a word, the longer it is. After that, you can proceed to the study of sounds.

Start with "a" . You can show the baby pictures that show objects whose names begin with this letter. Draw with him the mouth that makes this sound, note how we open it wide. Let him try to name the words that begin with this letter. Do not overload the child: 1 lesson - 1 letter.

Try to consolidate the acquired knowledge. So you go to the kindergarten, you saw a pharmacy, let the kid try to find the letter that you studied. Bought a children's magazine, see if the title has the letter "a" . You can mold a letter from plasticine or dough, cut it out of paper. You can lay it out of sticks or sand.

It will be much easier for you to captivate your baby if you always have blocks with letters, bright books, cards at hand. You can sing a song about a letter or listen to a cheerful verse.

So, study all the vowels one by one. At the end, you can explain that the sounds that you have already learned are called vowels. These are sounds that can be sung. Try to sing together "ah-ah-ah" or "woo-woo" .

Remember that we have 6 vowels ( a , o , y , e , s , and ) and 10 vowels. The letters i , e , i , i consist of 2 sounds. It is better to postpone the study of the latter for later, because there is no sound "i" , i is a letter consisting of 2 sounds. Do not confuse the child so that later educators and teachers do not have to retrain him.

How to learn consonants?

After you have learned the basic vowels ( a , y , and , o ) you can move on to the consonants. You need to start with the simplest consonants ( b , p , m , n , t , g ). And here again we remember that we are teaching the child sounds, not letters. We know what to say0065 em ”, “ en ”, “ be ”, but children do not need to know this yet. The child must learn that this is the sound " mm " or the sound " nn ". After the baby learns simple consonants, you can proceed to the study of hissing.

Just like with vowels, knowledge needs to be consolidated. Children may confuse letters. To prevent this from happening, play associations. You can ask the children to think of what this letter looks like. Look for objects on the street that resemble this letter. For example, you walked past the horizontal bar, it is shaped like the letter " p ”, or look at the doorway, also resembles “ p ” in shape. Fold it out of pencils, look for it in store signs.

Alphabet learning techniques

There are several popular methods for teaching children to read and memorize the letters of the alphabet. You can use them, especially since specialists worked on them. But, no matter what method you work with, it is important to remember that your classes should not resemble lessons at school.

Children at this age should play and get the information they need through games. Therefore, after a short training part, immediately proceed to an interesting, gaming one. Creative activities are also very useful, with the help of which you not only study letters, but also develop the child’s fine motor skills, improve his drawing and coloring skills, and strengthen the ability to use scissors.

Games and games

There are many games to help you consolidate your knowledge. We will give a few examples.

1. Find the words with the right sound . You need to prepare cards that show different objects. The child must choose among them those in which there is a studied sound. First, you can simplify the task: ask him to find words that begin with this letter.

2. Catch the sound . To stretch a little, mother and child walk around the room. Mom calls different words. As soon as the child hears a word with the desired sound, he stops and claps his hands.

3. Think of the word . Ask your child to come up with as many words as possible with a certain sound. You can do this in turn, for example, first the mother calls the word, then the baby.

The task needs to be complicated, that is, the sound can be not only at the beginning of the word, ask him to come up with a word in which this sound will be at the end or in the middle. For example, you are learning the sound "a". First, you select words that begin with this letter - apricot, orange, then those that end in "a" - Moscow, jellyfish or contain the sound "a" in the middle - mosaic, eye.

4. Determine where the sound is hidden. You need to draw a simple word scheme: three squares connected to each other. Each square denotes its own: the beginning of the word, the middle and the end. Put this word scheme in front of the child, give him a chip.

You name different words, and he must show on the diagram where the sound that you pass is located. For example, if you called the word "watermelon" (you can show a picture), the child must put the chip in 1 cell, and if the word "fox" - then in the 3rd cell.

5. Ball game . An adult throws a ball to the child and calls different words. If they have a letter being studied, he catches the ball, if not, then he does not catch it. To begin with, you can use words in which this letter is at the beginning, then complicate the task, that is, it can be in the middle or end.

Author's methods of learning the alphabet

There are several recognized methods of teaching reading, each of which can be devoted to a separate article.

Zaitsev's cubes

The basis of Zaitsev's technique is a game, that is, children simply play with cubes (there are 52 cubes of different sizes in the set) and at the same time learn to read without making any effort. These games can be started from 6-12 months old, but up to 2 years old they are used like regular blocks, and children after 2 years old can start making words.

Zaitsev's main unit is a warehouse. It can consist of a consonant and a vowel, or a single letter. The basis of this method is the warehouse principle of reading. In addition to cubes, a large warehouse table is also used.

This technique has many advantages, the main of which is that any child can be taught to read. But there are also disadvantages, for example, over time, children will have to be retrained, because they remember that letters are indicated by one color, and the teacher enters his own colors, for example, red is a vowel. In addition, the child is used to the fact that words are divided into warehouses, and not into syllables. Yes, the benefits are very expensive.

Doman's cards

The neurosurgeon Glen Doman developed his technique for children with CNS disorders, but then it was also used to teach healthy kids. He recommends teaching children to read not by letter, but by words, since letters mean nothing to him, and words have real designations.

For this, whole words are written on the cards in large print (at least 7-10 cm), for example, “mother” or “dad”, which must be quickly shown to the child, voicing each word. With the help of this method, even a small child can be taught to read. Training is necessarily carried out at an early age; after 5 years, the Glenn Doman method no longer works.

Olga Soboleva's Methodology

The principle of this training is based on the "two-hemispheric" work of the brain. The teacher tries to use the dominant type of memory, that is, the material is divided into 3 groups: for kinesthetics, visuals and auditory.

Many of its techniques are also used by ordinary teachers when teaching traditional methods to make it more interesting for children to study. Well suited for creative children and parents, it is not recommended for families where logic and structure come first.

Polyakov's method

Its author came up with 7 steps of learning to read, 70 lessons in total. Each lesson is detailed. They are held in the form of a game, take no more than 10 minutes. Stages 1 and 2 are the study of letters, warehouses, reading in warehouses.

Sergei Nikolaevich Polyakov himself, unfortunately, is no longer alive, but his work was continued by his son, as well as teachers who practice this method. If you wish, you can purchase books that describe in detail how to conduct classes, as well as video files with examples of classes.

Creative exercises

To reinforce the acquired knowledge, it is useful to conduct creative activities. For example, you can make a beautiful alphabet together. We studied the letter - cut it out of cardboard. It is better to choose a dense material. If it is difficult for the baby, you can help him, and the child will decorate - attach beads, groats, sequins, beautiful fabric, etc. to it.

When you have collected the entire alphabet, you can decorate the children's room with it by connecting the letters into garlands, or hang it on the Christmas tree instead of toys. You can cut out paper blanks for letters, and the child must fold the whole letter from these parts.

Preschoolers love to draw and color. You can buy coloring books with letters, he will color them and remember what kind of letter it is. Or ask him to draw with felt-tip pens on paper, with chalk on a blackboard what you have already studied. But at this age, children should not be taught writing, this should be done by teachers in elementary school. The only thing you can teach your baby is to write in block letters.

If you are baking pies, ask your child to make familiar letters out of the dough. You can sculpt from plasticine or clay, decorate figures with cereals or peas. These activities will not only distract the baby from the TV, but also help develop fine motor skills.

Does the child spend a lot of time with the construction set? Let him try to make a letter out of it, which you recently passed. Or he will lay it out from counting sticks, sand, buttons, beans. Just be careful not to push small parts up your nose or mouth.

As we can see, learning the alphabet is not a tedious and boring activity, but a kind of game. If you follow this rule, your baby will not only learn all the letters, but will eventually fall in love with books, magazines, and will read with pleasure.

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How to quickly learn the letters 9 with your child0001

In what order should letters be taught to a child so that he remembers them quickly and correctly? There is no single answer, because all children are different. With one child, the mother studies according to the classic primer and everything is fine, and the fifth alphabet is being bought for another child, but the letters are remembered with great difficulty or are not remembered at all.

Therefore, if you want your child to easily memorize letters and at the same time learn to read in syllables, follow simple rules.

6 tips for learning letters with your child

1. Don't teach letters in alphabetical order with your child

There are letters that are especially difficult for children to read in the middle and at the end of a word. For example: deaf "K, P, T" and syllables with the letters "B, G, D, C, H, SH". Many of these letters are at the beginning of the alphabet. But the child must learn not only the pronunciation of letters, but also learn how to merge sounds into syllables.

2. Memorize vowels and consonants separately

3. Start with the vowels "A, O, U, Y, I"

When the child remembers these vowels well, you can move on to the rest.

4. First study the consonants "M, S, X, W, L, N, R"

Immediately study the consonants "M, S, X, W, L, N, R", then "K, T". And then already - "C, Z, F, B, D, D" and the rest.

They stand out easily at the beginning and end of a word. But the main thing is to simply make syllables out of them. The possibility of prolonged pronunciation of these sounds allows you to gradually switch from one method of articulation to another, from reading a consonant to reading a vowel.

5. Don't learn the letter - learn the sound!

Name the sound, not how the letter in the alphabet is pronounced. For example, "P", not "PE", so that the child does not make mistakes and does not read "PEA-PEA" instead of "PA-PA".

6. Before buying a new primer, study it well

Pictures should be clear, bright, letters should be large. If you come across incomprehensible, difficult tasks on the pages, it’s better not to take such a book.

In some modern primers, the sequence of studying syllables of different levels of complexity is violated, three-letter syllables and long words are prematurely introduced, incomprehensible syllables come across, for example, “SHMA-SHMU-SHRU-SHRA-SHRO”, even for an adult it is difficult to imagine in which words they meet.

It will be good if you find a primer with a non-alphabetical order of learning letters, and if you do not find it, then simple exercises will help you, which we will talk about next.

5 fun exercises to memorize Russian letters faster!

1. Use associations

What does a letter look like?

For example, you are teaching the letter “A” with your child. Ask what item it looks like. If he can’t immediately answer, fantasize about this topic together. Ask leading questions and let the child answer. For example: “The letter “A” looks like a tree? Or maybe it looks like a house? etc. Try to play association on the street, where you are surrounded by many different objects.

Who does this?

Let's try one more association. For example, shout: “A-a-a-a-a!” and ask the child what it is like when we make that sound. To make it easier for the child, use facial expressions. Then it will be clear that the one who is frightened or the child who cries does it. Or, here's an example with a different letter, say: "Z-z-z-z-z!" and ask which insect does this.

Associations help the child associate certain images with letters and make them easier to remember. Be sure to read our article on how to properly use associative technology in teaching. This article will be your guide.

2. Make letters from your hands and make letters with your own hands

Letters from fingers

Try a very funny game with fingers with your child. This exercise will help you remember a new letter in an interesting way, and at the same time improve brain function and develop spatial thinking and speech.

Make the letter you are learning together with your fingers. For example, "A". To do this, connect the tips of your index fingers, it will turn out like the letter “L”, and ask the child to add the missing element in the middle - let him put his index finger on your “L” and name which letter it turned out. By analogy, you can add other letters of the Russian alphabet.

Your child will definitely like this game! Try other very interesting and useful brain development games for kids. See examples of games here.

DIY letters

This exercise will help to consolidate the learned letters. The point is that the child himself folded the letter from improvised objects.

If you study at home, open the page with the letter that you are currently studying in the primer and ask the child to lay it out next to it, for example, from spoons or pencils, and then say it out loud.

On the street, you can use ordinary sticks or pebbles. Write a letter on the ground so that the child has an example in front of his eyes and ask him to lay out the same one from sticks or stones next to or along the contour.

Such games also develop hand motor skills and figurative memory, which will help the child learn to read by syllables faster in the future.

3. Come up with riddles about letters

Riddles are good for developing quick wit and logical thinking in children. Since when guessing, the child in his mind must immediately compare the image of the object and the conditions of the riddle.

For example: “Two sticks diagonally, and in the middle there is a belt. Guess what letter it is?

The answer is the letter "A".

Download riddles for all letters of the Russian alphabet for free. Your child will have fun and will be able to easily reinforce the letters they have learned.

4. Look for familiar letters around

For example, the child has already memorized the letter “A”. Now you can practice noticing it in everything that surrounds us. If you are walking down the street together, or riding in transport, just draw your child's attention to signs, advertisements and store names and ask them to find a familiar letter in the names.

If you do not live in a Russian-speaking country, then let the child look for familiar letters in his books.

5. Draw and color letters

If your child can't draw a letter yet, draw it yourself and let him color it. There is immediately a double benefit - the motor skills of the hands develop, the work of the brain improves and the letter is remembered visually much faster.

For example, you can make bright cards with letters with your own hands. You will need white cardboard, felt-tip pens / paints / pencils, imagination and a good mood.

Draw the letters on the cards yourself, and let the child color and draw on the cards what the letter is associated with. Simple and fun exercises will help you quickly learn all the letters of the Russian alphabet, pump your hand motor skills and develop your imagination.

In conclusion, if you want to teach a child something, always use a game. Then the child will study with interest and will not have to be forced.


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