Letter Matchup

Today we are matching letters. Our one-at-a-time lettering (here) wasn't doing much. He would know a letter for a week and then after starting the next letter he would promptly forget the first one. I was kind of thinking maybe he didn't see the connections. Maybe? Maybe he focused on the trees so much he didn't see the forest.

We don't do phonics because of his disordered speech. The sounds don't match the letters so that's all kinds of confusing. He can't sing the alphabet all the way through yet, but he can fill in a missing letter if you stop every so often. 

We tried sandpaper letters. He does like them and he sometimes will put the letters in order for his name, but he struggles with what they are. No way we could do the whole alphabet that way right now.

We tried typing words into YouTube which he LOVED (here). Playdough letters (here). Animal shaped letters. Body shaped letters. Letter songs. But all they just turned into games. I don't think he completely understands that letters make up the words. He will ask what a word says sometimes, but he isn't interested in how they're made. He wants to read but doesn't understand what reading is. And that is the kicker. Otherwise I'd just be content with showing him the letters and give him another year. But he picks up a book and wants to know what it says.

Sigh.

So we've tried all these handy ideas, and all of them above and beyond the pre-k curriculum I've bought and the idea boards I've snatched off Pinterest. Beyond what his teachers tried to do last year.

So we are trying this method: Visual Alphabet. 

I bought 2 packs of Appletters and lined up the alphabet, then had my Boy match the extras.

He did it. Which means we went through a lot of peppermints. A. Lot. Cuz we are still at the one-to-one reinforcement stage.

And it's totally worth it.

Because one day he will read and write. No matter what the Negative Nellies say.



There's a million ways to do this, and we've only tried a dozen so far...


Suggestions????