An Initial Plan for Learning Letters

I'm the kind of person who perseverates.  I stay up late working on whatever is on my mind.  I lie in bed thinking about it.  I can't attend to conversations because I'm planning everything out in my head.  In essence, I'm a little bit of a mess, but that's how I roll!

I've been giving more thought to my recent post about learning letters and some of the research behind it.  (Actually, that's all I've thought about.)  In my previous post, I mentioned that the 2001 article by Wood and McLemore shared instructional strategies for teaching early literacy.  I'd like to share a few of them with you.

Sing songs that target the alphabet or specific sounds.  DLTK has a list of free letter songs and rhymes.  Heidi Songs is a DVD that has a song for every letter of the alphabet.  It also includes the sound of the letter and letter formation.
Read alphabet books.  There is no shortage of alphabet books!  Katrina Lybbert  and Anna from The Measured Mom share lists of books by letter.  A few that we love to read in our house include Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault; Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC by June Sobel; Peanut Butter and Jellyfishes by Brian P. Clearly; Alphabet Mystery by Audrey Wood; and  and Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book.
Focus on letters that have special meaning.   Letters in your child's name, the beginning letter of a
favorite animal or food are great places to start.
Use games that focus on letters and sounds.  Games such as Boggle Jr., Spell It Out!, Spot It! Alphabet, Super Why or Eric Carle's ABC games, puzzles, or anything you already have at home are perfect!  I also found some great online resources: PBS Kids, ABCya!, and eLearning Industry which provides a list of 14 free alphabet iPad apps for kids.
Keep plastic, magnetic, or wood letters available for your child to manipulate.

After reflecting on everything the last 24 hours, I've decided to begin with the letters in my daughter's name.  I'm collecting my thoughts and resources for the letter B: babies, bubbles, books, balls, bananas, and yes…bacon (one of her favorite foods)!   We'll see where the first day takes us!

Now to end with a little humor...