When teaching young children the sounds associated with each letter of the alphabet, it is fairly easy to practice with a child in almost any situation. For example, while traveling in the car, road signs can be used to identify letters. Once a letter is identified, parents can ask what sound the letter makes. Of course there numerous are games, flashcards, toys, etc. that also provide a good review for learning letter sounds.
However, there is also a common mistake adults often make when teaching children letter sounds. As we all know, each letter of the alphabet, with the exception of vowels, has one specific sound that it makes. These sounds are short sounds, and it is often the tendency of adults to try and make each sound into a word. As an example, the letter “m” says “mmmm”, as in “Mmm, that tastes good.” It does not say, “muh”, but that is how many people will say each sound that letters make when teaching children.
The problem with add the “uh” sound is that it can make it difficult for children to sound out words. For example, the word “fin” does not sound out as “fuh-i-nuh”. As you are working with your child, concentrate on the articulation you are using. Are you making this common mistake? If so, do your best to shorten the sounds, and encourage your child to do the same.
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Written by BRWI Staff on June 25, 2010
Word families are groups of words that have the same ending sound. They are typically three or four letter words such as hug, bug, jug, mug, etc. You can help your child gain confidence in reading using simple word families because he will quickly realize he can read a lot of words when he knows the ending sound. Here is a quick activity you can do with your child to create word family flip boo
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Written by Laura on February 28, 2010
Once your child is able to identify the sounds associated with each letter of the alphabet, and he can identify the letters as they are used as the beginning sound in words, move on to a more difficult, yet similar concept of identifying the letter sounds in other parts of words. For example, the letter ‘d’ starts the word “dog”, it is in the middle of the word “pudd
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Written by BRWI Staff on February 6, 2010
As parents of young children, we have all been on car rides that we wish would end sooner than they are expected to last. This is the perfect game to play in the car when your preschooler is getting bored. The best part is that your child will be learning beginning letter sounds while happily going from one place to another.
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Written by BRWI Staff on October 2, 2009
Most everyone has played the game “musical chairs” at some point in their lives. You may remember the giddiness you felt when you got a chair or perhaps the disappointment in being the person who was “out” when the music stopped. This version of the game can be played with one or more people, and no one ever has to leave the game. The best part is that this game can be u
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Written by BRWI Staff on August 20, 2009
In a family, the people who belong to it all have something in common. They are all related in some way. The same is true for word families. These are groups of one-syllable words that have the same ending sounds. Examples include cat, bat, sat, rat….and bug, tug, rug, dug… Although not all preschoolers may be ready to be introduced to the concept of word families, most children wh
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Written by BRWI Staff on July 24, 2009
My four-year-old son is really into trains. Although he isn’t allowed to play tv games very frequently, we do own a Thomas the Tank Engine ® game for a children’s game system. One of the activities on the game requires kids to select the beginning letter for the names of various trains. The narrator sounds out the name by repeating the beginning sound two times before say the name.
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Written by Laura on July 14, 2009
When children are able to recognize most of the letters of the alphabet, it is a good time to start helping them make the connection between letters and sounds. Try the following activity with your preschooler and make a game out of learning letter sounds.
Cover five large cubes with an uppercase letter of the alphabet written on each side. You will have four extra sides so repeat four of the vo
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Written by BRWI Staff on June 8, 2009
All words are made up of a combination of various sounds. You can help your child identify the beginning or ending sound of a word using poems, rhymes and even tongue twisters. Here are a few activities to try with your child that will get them listening to the specific parts of words.
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Written by BRWI Staff on March 18, 2009
Teaching letters and numbers can be fun for our little preschoolers. Try to teach the letter and the number concepts separately, so they won’t be confused. Here are two fun activities to teach letter and number symbols.
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Written by BRWI Staff on March 4, 2009
