Alphabet Practice

Being able to identify upper and lowercase letters, as well as the sound each letter makes is very important! We recommend practicing this at home! Here are some ways to practice, (***when practicing short letter sounds, make sure you and your student do not add an "uh" sound at the end)

• Use flashcards (you can write these on index cards) to practice naming the letters and sounds.  If using all the letters is overwhelming, choose a few that your child knows, and a few they do not.  Mix them up.  See how many letters they can name. Hold up a card, and have your student say the letter name and sounds.

• Read ABC books to your child (You can find many fun ABC books at your local library.).  

• Sing ABC songs. You can find some GREAT ABC songs/videos on youtube, but be careful some youtube videos say the wrong sounds. Jack Hartmann is a wonderful youtuber who sings all of the letter sounds correctly!

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• Hang a few of the letters your child does not know around the house and have them practice naming them whenever they see them.

• Play “I’m thinking of a letter and it makes the sound mmmm,”  game.

• Have your child use a finger to trace a letter while saying the name and sound.  Use sand, sugar, or shaving cream. 

• Go on a letter hunt.  Pick a letter and see how many you can find in magazines, newspapers, cereal boxes, etc.  Cut them out to make a letter collage or circle them with a marker. 

• Make letters out of play dough. 

• Use water paints or finger paints to practice writing and naming letters.

• Cut out the smaller letters I have attached and practice matching capital and lowercase letters.  Pick a few and ask your child to think of something that begins with that letter. 

• Mix up the letters, put them back in abc order and then point to each letter and say its name and/or sound. 

• Go on a sound hunt.  Pick a letter of the alphabet, tell what sound that letter makes, and find things around the house that start with that letter. 

• Pick a letter of the day and see how many items you can find that begin with that letter sound.