Confound those confusing letters!

Last month my youngest child was quite ill.

 

Play dough

Image via Wikipedia

 

She lost weight and she lost her appetite.

She also lost ground at school.

Old weaknesses resurfaced.

She struggled again with reading, spelling and maths.

She lost her confidence and joy.

Everything seemed harder.

I have to boost her physically with prayer, tonic and a healthy diet.

At school I boost her with prayer and…

GAMES!

Remedial  Activities.

We play with spinners,

magnet letters,

bean bags, hula hoops

maths rods and counting blocks.

To combat letter reversals I pulled out my old remedial Games for b,d,t,f,p,q reversals .

I was amazed at how quickly we played the games.

Just a few minutes of play and the confusion was gone!

I decided to reinforce this and made a few more new activities.

Click here for this download ~ Confusing Letters Spinner and Activities

Letter Spinner

Mount the pointer and spin!

  • Make the letter with your whole body lying on the floor
  • Form the letter with a stick, hula hoop and skipping rope
  • Form the letter play dough/ in sand on a tray/ with shapes
  • Grab the correct magnetic letter from the row laid out in front
  • Call the letter sound out loud
  • Say the letter name out loud
  • Match the letter to its upper case letter
  • Make the felt letter match the spinner letter

Felt Letters

  • Felt letters are large and durable
  • They can be reversed so this is great to play b/d/p/q reversal games
  • Likewise they can be turned upside down and kids can play with u/n
  • Letter shapes can be built with felt as it sticks in layers
  • Felt board/ a carpet tile works well to display felt letters
  • Make pictures with the letters to reinforce the direction
  • Use arrows to play direction games with felt letters (turn the b to the left – it now is …)

Some dry-wipe marker worksheets

  • Place these pages in plastic protectors and use dry-wipe markers for quick easy games
  • Do just 1 or 2 activities at a time
  • Enlarge the page for younger children

During my formal teaching career I saw many children battle and struggle and “fall through the cracks”  because the system does not offer safety nets for those who can’t keep up.  Children who are given remedial help, label themselves and live with stress, fear and low self-esteem.

Homeschool is the perfect place to build up confidence, boost self-esteem and progress at a pace that the child copes with.  Parents can tailor-make their schooling to suit the child’s learning styles, interests and needs.

I am so grateful that I can quickly respond to my child’s difficulty.  I don’t mind spending a week on the mat instead of her weeping over her notebooks.

Even my middle child joins in because she doesn’t want to miss out on the fun!  And why not?  She can reinforce her skills and boost her confidence.  My children have fun and catch up without even realizing that we are doing therapy.

We keep the sessions short and sweet.  And with repetition, she will quickly improve her skills.

(While these activities were created for remedial work, young kindergarten children will benefit playing these games to boost their pre-reading skills.  Use colours and shapes instead of letters. 🙂 )

Blessings,

10 thoughts on “Confound those confusing letters!

  1. Pingback: Is it b or d? New Posters for b/d Reversal | Practical Pages

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  3. I was just praying with my son this week for God’s help in remembering his numbers as he has been struggling more with number reversals. I am trying not to let it get me worried. Afterall, he is just beginning kindergarten and I have to remind myself that he has lots more experience with letters so they come to him easier.

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    • Lisa, prayer does keep those worries at bay. The moment a child struggles they loose confidence, so it is good to quickly change one’s approach and bring out the games! Specific remedial acitivities consolidate any area of weakness. I’m always amazed to see a child flourish when they have mastered skills and are ready!

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  4. Thank you so much! I have a kindergarten boy and a first grade boy. These letters are proving to be a challenge as we learn to read so I’m extremely delighted to have your two downloads to work with! Many blessings to you.

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