Friday, October 14, 2011

More Letter Games

Continuing with the learning letters and sounds theme here are some games that I like to play to help reaffirm what my son is learning.

Bingo
Create your own Bingo cards with letters of the alphabet.  Have your child match sound (only say the sound of the letter) or one-to one correspondence (show letter, find letter).  Play with your child.  My son loves finding the card with the "W" on it as it is the beginning letter of his name.  You can print your own bingo cards at: http://www.bingocardprinter.com/bingo_blank.php

Letter Memory Game
Using 3x5 cards cut in half label one set with upper case letters, the other with lower case letters.  Play a matching game matching upper to lower case letters. 

Mama & Her Baby
Something I learned from The Mailbox http://www.theeducationcenter.com/tec/.
By the way, for AMAZING ideas from professionals I suggest you go to an educational supply store and purchase some Mailbox books, or magazines.  They are chock-full of fabulous ideas for hands-on learning for the preschooler.

Using a simple line drawing of an animal in a large size, and a small size, write capital letter on the large animal, and  a lower case letter on the small animal.  Have your child find the "baby" to match the "mama." All mamas and babies should be the same animal otherwise you're teaching mommy and baby animals, not letters.



Letter Hunt
Go to your local library and purchase a few of their fifty cent board books.  If your library doesn't have a section of books they are selling, go to garage sales and pick up cheap picture books with easy to read text on the page (only a few words, easy to recognize print).
Give your child a marker and have them hunt for a specific letter and circle it or highlight it.  Children love doing this because it "breaks the rules" by having them write in a book.  I've done this since I was a teacher to help children learn to read.  After they circle the letters, go back and read the word to them.  Have them listen for the letter sound.  Was it in the beginning, middle, or end.

Genius Resources
Again, The Mailbox http://www.theeducationcenter.com/tec/ is a great resource.
One of my all time favorite books for teaching Phonemic Awareness, is called, conveniently enough, Ponemic Awareness.   The whole book is activities to do.  Some require a group of children as it is geared toward the classroom teacher, but many games can be done with just one child.

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