Question:
My kids are having a hard time in reading and writing lower case “b” and “d” and are always mixing them up. How do you help kids keep this straight?
Answer:
I teach them “b”. Leave “d” alone—it will take care of itself once they learn “b”.
Have your child say the word “ball” with you—and then you write a “b” so they see it and make the connection. Pronounce “buh” (the phonic sounds of “b”) over and over. Now, have your child reach up and touch your mouth when you dramatically enunciate “buh”. You start with your lips tucked way into your mouth. Run your child’s finger across the line your lips make when you are ready to say “buh”. It is a definite line. Write the line on the chalkboard in front of him. Do it again, having him touch your mouth. Now have him write that line vertically on the chalkboard or paper. That is the way a “b” always starts: with a line at the lips, and a line on paper. (A “d” is written with the ball portion first, but don’t explain that—it just gets them confused. Just teach “b”).
When I taught “b”, I would watch my children silently writing and see them tucking their lips in to pronounce the ‘b” sound, and trace their finger over the line their lips make, and then write the stick line first on their paper. The rest comes more easily. Saying “start at the top, down to the line, now up and around” can help walk a child through writing the letter “b”. But knowing that memory clue of the line first, that matches the line on their mouths, seemed to help mine the most.
Once they totally master “b”, “d’ takes care of itself. It’s just the opposite of “b”!
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