{"id":1361,"date":"2014-12-13T07:01:23","date_gmt":"2014-12-13T14:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/?page_id=1361"},"modified":"2015-07-07T10:09:12","modified_gmt":"2015-07-07T16:09:12","slug":"learn-your-letter-sounds-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/learn-your-letter-sounds-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn Your Letter Sounds: Game"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Louisa

Louisa and Mark<\/p><\/div>\n

Here is an interesting, easy game to help your young ones begin identifying the phonic sounds<\/strong>. All of my children have started their adventure of learning to read with this little game, beginning as early as they are eager to learn their letter sounds (usually 4 years old). They beg for this game over and over.<\/p>\n

Gather pictures of each family member, Jesus, friends and pets. These can be pasted onto a 3×5 card (or scrap of cardstock\u2014often free from the printers). Now write the first letter of each picture’s name in big print on a card.\u00a0Start the game with just 5 letter cards, and several pictures the correspond to each letter. \u00a0Your little one’s name and picture must definitely be included!<\/p>\n

To play the game, \u00a0lay the letter cards in a line in front of your child. Then let him take turns (with you or another child) picking a picture card out of a box. My little ones think it is more exciting if I have them shut their eyes and reach up high into the box.<\/p>\n

As they look at the picture they have chosen, have them say aloud the name and try to match it to the sound made by one of their letter cards. For example, our game has a card with the letter “J”. My child can match the picture of J<\/strong>esus, and the picture of his dog J<\/strong>oey and his sister J<\/strong>ulianna. The letter card “M” collects the picture of M<\/strong>om, aunt M<\/strong>elissa and brother M<\/strong>ark.<\/p>\n

Since family members names are common to the child and they usually can recognize the beginning letter of each name, this makes it a natural place to start in learning the letter sounds. If you are using Explode the Code primers<\/strong><\/a> to help your child learn to read, start with the first letters in that workbook, and continue introducing the letters in the same order for greater reinforcement. Be certain that when you child voices the letter, they \u00a0are naming the phonic<\/em> sound<\/em>, not the letter name<\/em>! \u201cJ\u201d says the breathed sound “j-j-j\u201d not the alphabet name \u201cjay\u201d and \u201cM\u201d says \u201cmmm\u201d not \u201cem\u201d. As your child masters the 5 letter cards, you can add more letter sounds and pictures. This is a fun way to familiarize your child with the capital letters<\/strong> (and the fact that names begin with capital letters!)<\/p>\n

Enjoy!
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"learning-164331_1280\"
\nRemembering Phonics
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"Small
\nMake-it-Yourself Beginning Readers
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"11926\"
\nMy Book of Alphabet Games
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is an interesting, easy game to help your young ones begin identifying the phonic sounds. All of my children have started their adventure of learning to read with this little game, beginning as early as they are eager to learn their letter sounds (usually 4 years old). They beg for this game over and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26,9],"tags":[73,93,161],"class_list":["post-1361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading-articles","category-what-articles","tag-letter-sounds","tag-phonics-games","tag-reading","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/mark24.jpg?fit=277%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-lX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":679,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/punctuation-games\/","url_meta":{"origin":1361,"position":0},"title":"Punctuation Games","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"I've always found language arts workbooks dreadful. I know some children like doing them, but I love English and those workbooks seem to reduce a rich, lovely language to a dull, fill-in-the-blank exercise. I like to make things into a game. \u00a0So, when it comes to learning punctuation skills, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English & Language Arts"","block_context":{"text":"English & Language Arts","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/english-language-arts-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Our Daughter Louisa","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/birthdayclubimagesmall-e1428964764409.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2123,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/letter-confusio\/","url_meta":{"origin":1361,"position":1},"title":"Is it a “b” or a “d”?","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My kids are having a hard time in reading and writing lower case \"b\" and \"d\" and are always mixing them up. \u00a0How do you help kids keep this straight? Answer: I teach them \"b\". \u00a0Leave \"d\" alone\u2014it will take care of itself once they learn \"b\". Have your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Reading","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/reading-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Photoxpress_1306365.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Photoxpress_1306365.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Photoxpress_1306365.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":723,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/egg-carton-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":1361,"position":2},"title":"Egg Carton School","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"I am always looking for ways to \"fun up\" learning, and this one is a hit . All you need is an egg carton to make practicing facts fun. For little ones, you can practice color or number recognition, or beginning letter sounds. Elementary age children can drill their addition\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to Homeschool"","block_context":{"text":"How to Homeschool","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"eggcarton1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/eggcarton1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1289,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/homeschool-kindergarten\/","url_meta":{"origin":1361,"position":3},"title":"A Day in our Homeschool Kindergarten","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Kindergarten has got to be my favorite year of homeschool: sweet little eager minds so anxious to be big and to learn and everything! 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It is most of the numbers 12-98. 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