Does any one know any fun ways to teach my preschool son letter sounds?

Question

My son's teacher informed me that it is critical for him to learn letter sounds before Kindergarten or he will struggle.

Answer 1

The Leapfrog toys are nice... purchase the lower case letters as well.

I also don't recommend TV for learning but my children enjoyed Reader Rabbit: The Alphabet Race DVD and it incorporates letter sounds.

Adding an action with the sound tends to help things "click".  My son's preschool uses ZooPhonics...so as an example...Willie Weasel says /w/ /w/ and they interlock their hands and make a "wave" movement as they say the sound.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I have taught kindergarten and as to whether or not he will struggle, that is debatable, but it is definitely to his advantage to know them.  At the very least it will give him a jump on things.  The key with this age group is consistancy.  Maybe focus on teaching him one letter sound a week.  Also remember that his attention span is only about 3-5 minutes long.  Songs are a great way to start.  Books that introduce the letter and it's sound are also good.  

Make sure that you take advantage of your environment too though.  For instance, when you go over the letter A, plan on eating apples for a snack.  Introduce the apple to the child and let him know that it starts with an a because a makes the (insert sound) sound.  Some teachers plan all of their snacks around whatever letter sound they are teaching that week.  A website that could help with this is http://www.preschooleducation.com/ca.sht...

Another option is to plan a weekly craft around the letter that you want to emphasize.  You could make paper bag puppets for every letter of the alphabet (I can't think of the name of it right now, but there is actually a book that is just for this).  The following website also has some other crafts listed alphabetically that would work.  http://www.dltk-kids.com/  You can also just cut out a large version of the letter that you are working on and have your son decorate it while ya'll talk about what sound it makes.

Once you have moved on to another letter, make sure that you constantly review the letter sounds that you have already taught him.

These are just a few ideas.  I hope they help.

Answer 3

Check out the Learning Palette products sold by Usborne Books.  http://www.ubah.com/g2687 and click on Learning Palette to the left.

This is a self-correcting product, non-electronic, that seems more like a game than learning!  My preschool son loves it, and I hope this summer it will help him get ahead for kindergarten in the fall.  The basic kit is the best deal, since it includes the Palette and 6 sets of cards, including alphabet, vowels, consonants, counting and more.  Have fun!

Answer 4

If you want him to learn quickly try Leapfrog Letter Factory Video. I dont usually recommend tv to learn, but this taught my son in no time and has helped a lot of kids learn their letters. Its a fun show to watch with them too.

Answer 5

Ask the teacher what scheme they will be using in school and use the same scheme this way the child won't be confused. keep it light and fun.

Also when handing him something you can give the initial sound eg "heres your orangejuice, 'o' for orange" again keep it light and fun.

Answer 6

Leap Frog has a magnetic letter toy.  It can go on your fridge and you put in the letters and it sings a little song about the sounds of the letters...

Also, when I helped in a kindgergarten class the teacher had a fun song she would sing to help the kids remember the letter sounds.. I sing it to my daughter who is 5 and she sometimes requests me to sing the ABC song, meaning this one.. it's more of a chant than a song...

"The name is B and the sound is buh"  for the vowels you would say each sound the vowel makes.

Answer 7

try using animal sounds

snakes go ssssss, so use that for the letter s

fish makes bubbles so say buh buh buh (like bubbles) for B

goats go aaaahhhhhh, so use that for A

Answer 8

make a game out of it. I will say what letter has the sound Ssssss. Then my son will get to do the same to me. We do this before bed time when its dark and he doesn't have other things to distrace him.  I also like Hooked on Phonics. The alphabet song does both the names and sounds.

Answer 9

I have been visiting www.starfall.com with my son frequently, and he loves that site.

We also love the FisherPrice web site too.  There is the on-line fun and games section.  They have several phonics games.  I also print out the alphabet letters and we make letter books.    

Also make a huge game about learning the sounds.  Label things around the house with post-it notes.  Make or buy flash cards.  Read the letters off the cereal box together!  How often do you go to your public library?  I bet there is a children's section filled with all sorts of fun letter books.

I have to agree with the other answer that said it's not 100% critical to know all the phonics before Kindergarten.  I am sure that your state K standards have phonics as their end of K curriculum proficiency.  Meaning that throughout the course of K, he will learn all the letter sounds.   It's also developmental.  Every kiddo learnes differently, at his or her own pace.

Good luck!

Answer 10

Make it fun. In my classroom we do the letter and then a song using the letter and sound that letter makes. example -

A makes the sound and you do the sound repeat this and have your son do it with you. Then do words that start with the letter A. Don't forget to use any name in your family that strat with the letter.