Sabin, DaVIS, HETRICK, ANDEREGG, Macalady, walker, darling and Katers

As young children begin to learn letters, it is also a good time to associate the sounds with each letter. Using pictures for this association helps give meaning to the sounds. You’llneed twenty-seen zip lock type sandwich bags, markers, stapler, twenty-seven note cards, magazines, grocery ads, and pencil.

Children first learn the sounds of letters especially consonants at the beginning of words. Vowel sounds for A, E, I, O and U are acquired later.

Create a book

Help your children print the upper and lowercase letters, one on each card using a marker. You can check elementary printing books for proper letter formations– especially a, g and y.

The sandwich bags will be used sideways with the zipper opening to the right. Place one card in each bag. In the left over bag, place a card that has a title “My Sounds Book” and the author’s name. This is the cover. Assemble all the bags, cover first and then in alphabetical order. Staple them on the left side, keeping the zipper on the right. Add some duct tape to help bind the pages.

This next task may take a few days to complete depending on the age and interest of children. Using magazines and grocery ads, cut out pictures and place them in the bag with the corresponding beginning sound. For example, a dog would go into the bag labeled with Dd. You may have only one picture for a few letters such as Xx or Zz.

Your child can also draw a picture to go with a sound like X marks a spot or a striped zebra. They can either dictate or write the word for each picture placed in a bag. You are making a vocabulary/spelling book that can be used for future writings. Keep the book handy to add pictures for an easy quiet activity.

Linking letters, sounds

With this useful and quiet fun activityfamilies are helping children develop beginning reading skills by associating sounds and letters with objects. Writing skills are also being developed as they write words and letters. You are creating a tool that children can use when writing more independently and needing to spell words they don’t know. Children are working with alphabetical order and developing vocabulary, and scissors skills.

Besides an alphabet book, families can use the same concept for numbers. Write the numeral and the number word on bags and help children draw the correct number of objects for a certain number and place them in a bag.

Put the bags in numerical order and add on as children become more proficient with higher numbers. Libraries and book stores have beautiful ABC sound books to emulate.

For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com, Facebook, and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live and pod casts.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Grandparents Teach, Too is a non-profit organization of elementary and preschool teachers from Marquette, Michigan. The writers include: Jan Sabin, Mary Davis, Jean Hetrick, Cheryl Anderegg, Esther Macalady, Colleen Walker, Fran Darling, and Iris Katers. Their mission since 2009 is to help parents, grandparents, and other caregivers of young children provide fun activities to help prepare young children for school and a life long love of learning. They are supported by Great Start, Parent Awareness of Michigan, the U.P. Association for the Education of Young Children, Northern Michigan School of Education, the Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum and the Northern Michigan University Center for Economic Education.