My child’s teacher said to get some magnetic letters… now what do I do with them?

You went to the store, you bought a box of magnetic letters, you put them on the fridge in ABC order, your child sings the song and “knows” them all. Now what? They already seem to know all their letters!

It is very useful for your child to learn songs or rhymes to help them remember things, but do they know the same information without the song or in isolation? (example: all the letters mixed up). In this guide you will find a list of things to do that will help your child learn how to identify letters, learn how to spell words, and learn how to make new words from words they already know.

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So they know the song… now what?

To Learn To Identify Letters:

1. Do Letter Sorts: sort by color, sort by shape—straight letters, round letters, letters with both straight and round parts. Use one set or multiple sets of letters, or use capitals and/or lower case letters. (Capital letters are usually easier to identify at first.)
   
2. Do Letter Identification: Put all the letters up and have the child find the letter that you call out. “Find me the ‘L’ “. With multiples, “Find all the ‘M’s“.
   
3. Mix letters they know with one or a few letters they don’t know and have them find the unknown letter(s). Make sure the unknown do not look like the known: use a straight letter with round letters or a round letter with straight letters.

To Learn to Identify Words:

1. Start with the child’s name. Have them make their name then mix it up like a tornado. Have them practice putting their name back together multiple times. Try to get them to make it quickly, like a race.
   
2. Find words in their name to learn first. If the child’s name is Matt, teach them the word at. If the child’s name is Chris, teach them the word is. If the child’s name is Kevin, teach them in. If the child’s name is Susan, teach them an and us. Start with 2 and 3 letter words that they can make a connection with. You can also use names of people and pets they are close to.
   
3. Learn 2 letter words that you can add to. Good first words are: at, an, in. -at: bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, sat; -an: can, fan, man, ran, van, tan; -in: fin, pin, tin, win
   
4. Learn to make words they can use to write easy books. Good first words for reading and writing are: I, a, is, in, am, to, come, like, see, the, my, we, and, at, here, on, up, look, go, this, it, me, of, and was. Examples: I like my cat. I can see a dog. Use blank index cards to write sentences on and fasten them together with yarn or a stapler.
   
5. Use the magnetic letters to practice your child’s spelling words. Have them make each word, then mix up the letters, then make it back again, until they can do so quickly.

Quick Tips:

Things To Do:

• Sort by color
• Sort by shape
• Sort with known letters
• Make their name
• Find little words in their name
• Find little words in family and pet names
• Make new words by adding a new beginning letter to the known word… change at to cat… an to can
• Learn and practice new words to use in homemade reading books.
  

Hint:

If the letters leave marks on your refrigerator, put them on a jelly roll pan, pizza pan, or cookie sheet.