Letters and Sounds

Today at home visits, I was asked by most all, "What is the one thing I should be working on with my child." If your child did not have all their letters and/or sounds, this is the answer. I want all students to have a firm foundation in sounds! Vocabulary will come!

If you have misplaced or lost the vocabulary cards I sent home, please let me know and I will send another set! The same goes for the Phonics Song Page. These are the two most important things for you to work on EVERY NIGHT until they have learned the letters and sounds. The report card told you the number of capitals out of 26, the number of lowercase and the number of sounds out of 31. ___/26 ___/26 ___/31

There are 31 sounds because vowels have two sounds!!! Check the number in front of the slash to see how many your child knew. Many of the children know all the names of the letters but really need to work on the sounds.

Remember, I gave the suggestion at Parent Orientation to get two lunch bags. Mark one with a smiley face. Put the letters/sounds your child knows in this bag. Go over this bag each night (for reinforcement). Then try to add 2-3 new letters from the 'don't know' bag. Keep this up until the smiley face bag is full!

Cut up the cards and put them in a bag or bowl. Have your child draw a card. If they draw a letter, have them tell you the name of the letter and the sound that letter makes. Then see if they can tell you something that begins with that sound. If they draw a picture, have them name the picture and tell you the letter that makes that sound.

Get an empty egg carton. With a magic marker, put the letters that your child needs to work on. Get M & Ms, Trix cereal, or something your child likes. Put one in the carton. Have your child shake the carton. If they tell you the name of the letter and something that starts with that letter, let them eat the treat. Then put in another!!

Work with the song sheet nightly. Don't just have your child sing the song. They all know the song. They need to be able to USE the sheet as a resource. After they have finished the song, give them a sound: /m/ make the sound and see if they can point to the picture/letter that makes the sound (Monkey). When playing the letter games, the first thing that should come to their mind is the song picture. Drill them on these pictures. Once they have these down (and many already do), they will be able to transfer to other objects : mouse, moon, etc. But 'monkey' should be where you would begin if they don't know.

I hope these suggestions have helped. Let me know if you need another set of flash cards or song sheets!