Ideas to Practice Letter Recognition

-Read, read, read to them! (especially ABC books)

-Start with the letters in their own name and the names of their classmates. Also, they are very interested in the names of their family members as well. Point to the letters as you spell the names together.

-Spell the word list words as you read them, pointing to each letter. Before they read their Baggie Book, tell them the name of the book and then spell the letters in its name.

-Recite the ABC’s using a chart and a pointer. Say it together. Then have them say it without you as they point to the letters. After a few weeks of pointing to the letters on the chart and saying their names, add the letter sounds as well so the chant was "AA a/a", "BB b/b" and so on. When possible relate these to the children's names such as "BB b/b like Betty."

-Climb the stairs - put a letter on each step. The child says each letter as they climb the stairs (can put on floor if there are no stairs). Say it first or put the same letter on each step until child has mastered a few. Add a few at a time.

-Give child a flash card and have him look for that letter (5-10 times) in the classified section of the paper or in a magazine. Each time he finds the letter he circles it and says the letter.

-Hide and Go Seek – Hide the letters around the room when the child is busy elsewhere. When child returns, have him find the letters one at a time and tell you what letter it is. It’s fun if the letters you hide make a word he knows…like hide the letters of his name, brother’s name, etc. Can child correctly rearrange letters to spell the word?

-If you have 2 sets of cards (or make cards with paper. You need two of each letter), you can play Concentration. Choose several pairs of matching letters and spread them out face down on a table/floor. As child turns over each letter, he must name them. If they match, he wins them; if not, they are turned back over.

-What's Missing - Child places 3-4 letters on the table, identifies letters, then closes eyes while parent removes one letter. Child identifies missing letter. Then parent closes eyes, and lets child remove a letter.

-Make letters out of playdough.

-Find focus letters in magazines and newspapers, cut them out and sort them on a graph of two or three letters.

-Make letters out of pretzels, twizzlers, gummy worms, sour snakes, and other long skinny candies.

-Help choose items you are buying at the grocery store given a hint such as "Get the can that is silver and has a word that starts with C" (carrots).

-Play rhyming games such as "I'm thinking of a word that rhymes with cat and

begins with b (bat)