Letter Identification...What Can I do...

Many children have not learned the entire alphabet.  Reading Street moves through the identification phase extremely quickly and then we move onto sounds.  You can help your child by learning the alphabet at home.  Here is one of the best ways to have your child practice and not feel overwhelmed.

First, take a stack of letter flashcards (if you do not have flashcards, then you can use index cards).  Make sure the uppercase and lowercase are NOT on the same card; therefore, you should 52 cards.  Go through the cards only once and make two piles: ones your child knows and ones your child does not know.  You should only give them about 3 seconds to tell you the letter (if it takes longer, then place it in the don't know pile).

Second, show your child 2 of the I don't know letters and tell them the letter name.  Have your child repeat the letter name to you.  Place these 2 letters in the stack of the letters your child knows.

Next, every night or twice a night go through the pile your child knows.  When your child can correctly identify this entire pile, go back to the "I don't know pile" and pull our 2 more letters.  Show the letters to your child and tell them their names.  Have your child repeat them to you.  Then go through the pile with your child once or twice a night.

Finally, you can continue this process until your "know pile" has every letter in it and you are working on all 52 letters.  This process makes it less daunting and the child is not having to see all kinds of letters and a lot they may not know.  This also makes it less frustrating on you as you are not having to possibly fight with your child.

If you need any help or guidance or materials, please let me know and I can help out!  We use this process at school too with many children and we have a lot of success.  I will be sending home alphabet identification sheets to let you know how your child did this week!