My daughter has just turned 4? Thinking of starting to gently teach her phonics?

Question

Any advice? Is it too early to go through letters with her, we would like to give her an advantage before she goes to school in Sept 2008? Can anyone recommend any learning programmes aimed at pre schoolers? Tips/hints? We are not pushy parents and aim to make any learning very relaxed and only at our daughters pace. Help anyone as we don't really know where to start? Are there any recomended websites?

Answer 1

If you don't want to spend a lot of money you can simply write the alphabet on a piece of paper. Each day for a few minutes point to the letters and say the name or the sound: Capital A little a. Say the sound three times when reviewing sounds: a a a, b b b. My son learned the alphabet this way in a few months at 4. then you can show them how to sound out a blend. ba can sound out b b b a a a b a ba. my son mastered blends in a month and was ready to begin three letter words. Many children are just happy you are doing something with them and if you keep it short they enjoy the game.

Answer 2

There's a really good cd-rom called 'dr seuss's abc'.  I used it a lot with all of my kids - my local library had it, and it was their favourite resource of all the stuff they had - each page is so varied, and they can really get into it on their own.

The other thing that I'm really glad we did was to play lots of fingerspelling games.  Touch is the mother of the senses - anything they do with their very own fingers sinks in so much faster than stuff they look at or listen to.

Helen

Answer 3

I just wrote a full page letter and then for some reason I lost the lot, but the gist of it was Look up the institute of Human Potential founded over 40 years ago by a brain surgeon called Glen Doman. Please look either one up on the Internet.

Don"t trust phonetic's it can be very difficult and confusing for a child. Example the letter c sounds like the letter k. Also double letters like aw,ore,or.oor, oar and then some words do not sound the same pay and say then past tense paid, said and lots and lots more. If you take the trouble to look this up I am sure you will not be disappointed or if you want more  information, get in touch

Answer 4

It is never too early to start teaching children phonics and letters. By reading to your daughter everyday this will introduce her letter sounds and word formations. My number one advice would be read to her every single day...it does wonders. Also, when introducing phonics start with the alphabet, make sure with every letter introduced there is also a picture of an object beginning with that letter (A is for Apple). But, be sure not to confuse her by using the same picture for different letters..this is actually very common in alphabet books...so be careful (Example: Show a picture of an apple...A is for apple...the same picture could be used for F is for Fruit)..this confuses the child and hinders the learning. A fun, simple, inexpensive, relaxed game that I grew up playing while learning my ABC's is this: Grab a newspaper, magazine, or anything with words....give your daughter a crayon and let her have a feild day marking- a previously specified letter of the alphabet- everytime she see's it. This will aid in letter recognition and eventually sight words and reading. There are a ton of websites out there...just google phonics...it will be fun looking through all of the different activities the websites have to offer! I'm an elementary education major in my 3rd year...so I live for this stuff. Good Luck with everything!!

Answer 5

Actually, it's never never too early.  

Start with the Leapfrog Video "The Talking Letter Factory"  it teaches letters and the sound they make.  The Letter Factory fridge magnets are great too!

My daughter loves loves loves to do workbook pages.  Get a Pre-K workbook and sit with her and work on them.

Read read read to her.  

There are a lot of online games for her as well - www.starfall.com is a good place to start.  Also PBS kids, especially Sesame Street games and Super Why! Between the Lions games.

Check out this website: http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest...

Also, my 4 y.o. loves her Leapster! Lots of great learning games.

But the best learning is you.  Take time to help her identify beginning and ending sounds and rhyming words in just everyday occasions.  When you grocery shop ask her to find things and give her the clue of the first letter.  Play "I spy" with a letter, cut things out that start with that letter.  Make sure she masters the upper and lower case AND the sound it makes.

Good Luck!!

Answer 6

You are definitely doing the right thing by not wanting to be too pushy. Take cues from your daughter. Most 4 year olds will only want to "work" for a few minutes at a time. But you can get the most out of your time by varying the activities. Try to get as many manipulatives as possible such as magnetic letters, flash cards, and phonics books. Scholastic has some really good ones such as a 3 box set of Clifford books that my kids all love! Sit down and just start with the basics- get her to recognize all the letters. At 1st, just do the 26 letters. Once she has mastered that, then you play all sorts of games! Spread out all the magnetic letters on the floor and call out a letter. See who can find it 1st!  You can also play variations of the game once she knows what sound each letter makes. For example, you can call out a letter and she has to find it and then say something that starts with that letter! Other activities my little ones enjoy are I Spy at the grocery store. "I spy the letter ____!" and of course at the store there are soooo many learning opportunities! Cut out the labels on empty boxes so she becomes familiar with words that are common around HER home. This builds confindence in reading. If you get flashcards, make sure they have both upper AND lowercase letters. They are expected to identify all 52 of them by the middle of Kindergarten where we live. There are so many other things you could do. Just have fun! Remember to take it easy and have fun! By fostering a love of learning at a young age and not making it a chore or a competition, she will excel! She is lucky to have parents like you. Oh, I almost forgot! Jumpstart computer programs are fantastic! We have all of them up to grade 4 and they are really superb- tons of activities- not just with letters/reading but all sorts of math (measuring, numbers, etc..)

Answer 7

I work in a nursery which is joined to a school. We teach our children jolly phonics in conjunction with letters and sounds. I am passionate about jolly phonics as I love to teach it and the children love to learn.

Each letter comes with an action and to teach the sound you introduce it using a story.

The teachers guide suggests teaching 5 sounds a week - we teach 2. The children have the letters stuck into a book for practise at home.

In September 10 children went to reception class and most of them knew all 28 sounds we had taught them. (we only had time to teach 28, the reception teacher will revise and continue)

Answer 8

The kids in my daughters preschool learned the alphabet throughout the year in English, Spanish and sign language. It was not pushy at all, but most of the kids already knew the alphabet and such before starting at age 4. I think you should take advantage of the fact that a child of this age has a mind that absorbs like a sponge and teach her as much as you can.

Answer 9

Games are never pushy for kids.  She'll love it.  

Start with her name.  For instance, if it's Sarah, make up a little song.. S, S, Sarah.  Talk about other words that have the S sound at the beginning.  Take a walk and try to find as many things as you can, a Stop Sign for instance and add them to the song.  Draw the S letter in the air, make it with string, draw it in cornmeal, in shaving cream on the mirror and in the dirt.  (the cool thing about string - if you glue it down you can make a book of string letters as she learns them that she can continually trace with her finger)

When she gets to the point that she is ready to write the letter S, draw a snake in an S shape that gradually turns into the letter S as you progress across the paper.  The letter O can be an octupus, B a bee, etc.

There are so many songs and chants that my 3 yr. old loves to sing about letters.  Check out this website:

http://www.littlegiraffes.com/lettersong...

My neighbors son loved to write numbers because his mom taught him all of these verses to go with each number:

Around and round and round we go, when we get home we have a 0.

Start at the top and down we run, that's the way we make a 1.

Around and back on the railroad track, 2, 2, 2.

Around the tree and around the tree, that's the way we make a 3.

Down and over and down some more, that's the way we make a 4.

Down and around and a flag on high, that's the way we make a 5.

Around to a loop, number 6 rolls a hoop.

Across the sky and down from heaven, that's the way we make a 7.

Make an S and do not wait, when we get home we have an eight.

Make a loop and then a line, that's the way we make a 9.

Answer 10

If you are planning on working with her on phonics, I would recommend Saxon Phonics...it may have to be the Kindergarten level though... One thing that I would suggest for you to do first...is get with a Speech Therapist and review the sounds of the alphabet with them.  The reason I suggest this...is because most people put an "A" sound at the end of letters when pronouncing them; consequently, this could confuse a young child.  ...ex... the "R" sound is often made to sound like "RAAA" ; however, it is really "rrrr".  So what happens is when the child learns all of the letters with the "A" sound a the end of them...they try to put that sound in words as they try to decode them (pronounce them)...this is what happens...with the word "read"  ...raeada. Many elementary teachers will, also, teach these letters with the "A" sound too. Be careful of various phonics programs too....I have found a few that put the "A" sound on letters...this is an incorrect pronunciation.  l would, also, suggest working with her on Language for Learning by SRA ( this is a very powerful tool to prepare children for Kindergarten..)

Answer 11

ONLY if she's ready and only if you make it fun. At four children learn best through play, so buy games and play I-spy and make 'alphabet pots' together. Give her lots of praise and encouragement and chances to succeed. She could have 12.5 hours a week of free preschool if you're in the UK, and they will do lots of phonics. If you want to use a book, Jolly Phonics, that gives a multi sensory approach is a good system to use.

Answer 12

Its never too early to start them and phonics is good place to start.  Some of those toys with all the pressable letters on them are in phonics.  Or you could ask your local library reading group for advice

Answer 13

Definetly start early. I learned to read at three, and am one of the best readers in the class. The earlier the better.

Answer 14

Start with the letters in her name.  The more familiar it is to her, the easier it will be.  Teach her to write, identify and sound each letter, one letter at a time.  Be sure to give her lots of praise.  There are larger pencils and crayons to help her grasp and control the writing utensil.  Have fun!