letters – KiDOTI

Tracing Letters

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 16:45:20 +0000

Tracing letters is an easy way for children to learn to write each letter and it is an important precursor to freehand writing. Also, legible handwriting depends on being able to properly write each letter. The following letter tracing worksheets include step-by-step directions on how to properly write each letter. Additionally, arrows show your child the order in which he needs to draw each part of the letter.

When first introducing your child to the letters of the alphabet, we recommend introducing them in a specific order (beginning with the letters B, M and F!).

Why tracing letters is important

Before children are able to write letters on their own, tracing letters is a great way for them to learn the basic form of each letter. The above tracing letters worksheets are a great tool for practicing tracing letters since these worksheets show the proper formation of each letter with step-by-step visual instructions and allow plenty of opportunity for your child to practice tracing each letter and then attempt to write the letter freehand on the blank lines at the bottom of the page.

Extra tips for using the tracing letters worksheets

As when completing any tracing letters activity, the key is not simply tracing over each dashed line in the letter. The trick to completing a tracing letters worksheet is to ensure your child traces over each dashed line in the correct order. So, as you introduce your child to the letter tracing worksheet for each letter, be sure to highlight the correct formation of each letter by referring to the step-by-step depiction on the top row of the worksheet.

If your child struggles to trace the letter in the correct way, try explaining how many steps there are to writing the letter. Then, as your child traces a letter P, for example, call out the number of the step by staying “Step 1: draw the straight line down” and then wait for your child to do it. Then, call out “Step 2: lift up your pencil and put the tip back at the top of the line,” and wait for your child to do it. Then, call out “Step 3, draw a large half circle arc that stretches to the right and all the way down to the bottom of the line.”

While you are printing out tracing letters worksheets, consider focusing on one letter at a time but printing out two or three copies of the tracing letters worksheet for that letter. That way, your child will be able to practice tracing and writing that letter a few different times to really gain proficiency.

Finding Words with Same Letter

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 16:06:25 +0000

After your child is able to identify each letter when written individually, these worksheets will challenge your child to identify each letter when written as part of a word. Once your child is able to identify individual letters within words and has learned each letter’s sound, he will be ready to start “sounding out” words, which is an important pre-reading skill.

Finding Words Letter B

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Finding Words Letter D

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Finding Words Letter F

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Finding Words Letter M

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Finding Words Letter S

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The importance of letter recognition

The first step of letter recognition is being able to identify each letter when it is printed individually. Once your child is comfortable identifying both the uppercase and lowercase versions of a letter, he can progress to the more challenging task of identifying letters when printed in words.

The goal of the above letter recognition worksheets is for your child to become accustomed to recognizing letters when they are printed as part of a longer word. It is easiest for children to complete letter recognition activities when the featured letter is the first letter of the word, so these worksheets focus on that basic activity.

Tips for using the letter recognition worksheets

When first beginning a letter recognition worksheet, take time to discuss the picture on the worksheet with your child. Say aloud the picture’s name and name the initial letter of the word. Ask your child to repeat the name of that letter so you are sure he understands what letter is being featured on the worksheet. If necessary, you can write the name of the picture somewhere on the worksheet, so your child can refer to it as he completes the letter recognition activity.

Before cutting apart the rectangles at the bottom of the page, ask your child to move his finger across each row, stopping to point to and name the featured letter each time he recognizes it, which may be once, twice, or zero times in each word. You can also read the word aloud for your child, although the focus of these worksheets is letter recognition, not matching the featured letter to the sound it makes or reading entire words.

If your child is able to cut along the dashed lines and cut out the rectangles without cutting the words, you can encourage him to do that. But since this is not a cutting exercise, and the words within each rectangle are important, it may be easiest for a parent to cut the words apart.

When all of the words are cut out, hand your child one word at a time and ask him to decide if that word begins with the featured letter. If he believes the word does begin with the featured letter, ask him to place the word in a colored rectangle on the page. If he does not recognize the featured letter in the word, he can set that word aside. There are only as many rectangles on the page as there are words that begin with the featured letter so your child will realize he made a mistake if, after going through all the words, he either has an empty rectangle on the worksheet without a word in it or not enough rectangles on the worksheet for all the words he selected.

After your child has reviewing all eight words and placed the correct words in the colored rectangles, he can paste down the words to create a finished worksheet.

Identifying Letters

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 15:59:24 +0000

The first step in letter awareness is learning to identify letters from the variety of other characters that typically appear on a page, including numbers, symbols and punctuation. This skill requires strong visual discrimination skills, since many letters look alike and many letters resemble other symbols such as $, &, and @. Children must also learn that letters can be written in either upper case or lower case and in a variety of fonts. The following worksheets will help your child practice identifying letters in many different styles from a variety of other non-letter characters.

Learning to identify letters is important

When a young child first sees letters on a sign or in a book, these are simply random configurations of lines and curves. He must learn to differentiate symbols and shapes from a variety of styles of letters that he will see. This learning is accomplished through practice and exposure to letters and is an important first step when learning to read.

Tips for using these identifying letters worksheets

The three beginning level worksheets can help you assess your child’s knowledge of letters. Let him know that only one figure on each line is a letter. Ask him to point to each letter that he sees. As he points to a letter, ask him to name it or name it for him if he is not yet able to to do that. If he incorrectly points to a shape or number, tell him the name of the shape or number and ask him to try again to find a letter.

The intermediate level worksheets are more challenging, with the addition of punctuation marks and lowercase letters. Direct your child to move his pointer finger slowly across each line, from the left side of the page to the right, stopping at each letter, symbol or mark. Again, ask your child to name the letters as he points to them. If this level is somewhat difficult for your child, you may tell him to first find symbols or marks that do not look like letters and cross those out. Clues such as “a triangle and a square are not letters” can be helpful. If your child needs a lot of direction with this page, point out the letters for him and then come back to this worksheet at a later time.

Children who can name the letters of the alphabet are ready to tackle the advanced identifying letters worksheets. These can be challenging because the letters are also shown in a stylized font. Suggest that your child move his finger slowly across each row as he decides which marks are letters. It may be easier for him to identify the letters if he first crosses out any symbol that he knows is not a letter. Then, he can return to the top of the worksheet and carefully look at the symbols that were not crossed out. If the stylized letters are too challenging for your child, try identifying them by name (lowercase e or uppercase R, for example) and then ask him to find that letter on the page.

Extra activities to supplement these identifying letters worksheets

Use shaving cream to write letters on a bathtub wall during bath time. Cleanup is super easy and kids love playing games in the bath.
When walking through a shopping mall, pause outside each store and ask your child to count the number of letters or words in each store’s name.
A computer keyboard is a great way for your child to practice letters. Using a large font and encourage your child to type his favorite letters.
Reinforce letter names with letter-shaped cookie cutters. You can make letter-shaped cookies, pancakes or pretend cookies with playdoh.
Suggest a letter and ask your child to say the next letter that comes in the alphabet. With practice, your child will not need to begin with A and go through the alphabet each time.
Explain to your child that letters can be printed in different fonts. Show your child letters from headlines in a popular magazine to illustrate a few examples.
Sitting at the computer with your child, say a word and ask him to type the first letter of that word. Or trade roles and have your child suggest a word while you type.
Explain to your child that every sentence has two parts: letters and punctuation. Letters that form words for us to read and punctuation that tells us when to pause, stop, or change our voice.
Explain to your child that a comma indicates when to take a short pause when you’re reading and that a period tells you when to take a longer pause.
Write one or two uppercase letters on index cards for your child to hold as you walk through a shopping mall. Encourage him to spot that letter on store signs as you shop.