{"id":2123,"date":"2014-12-02T02:14:07","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T09:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/\/?p=2123"},"modified":"2015-07-07T10:14:02","modified_gmt":"2015-07-07T16:14:02","slug":"letter-confusio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/letter-confusio\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it a “b” or a “d”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\"\"Question:<\/h3>\n

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?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/h3>\n

I teach them “b”. \u00a0Leave “d” alone\u2014it will take care of itself once they learn “b”.<\/p>\n

Have your child say the word “ball” with you\u2014and then you write a “b” so they see it and make the connection. \u00a0Pronounce “buh” (the phonic sounds of “b”) over and over. Now, have your child reach up and touch your mouth when you dramatically enunciate “buh”. \u00a0You start with your lips tucked way into your mouth. \u00a0Run your child’s finger across the line your lips make when you are ready to say “buh”. \u00a0It is a definite line. \u00a0Write the line on the chalkboard in front of him. \u00a0Do it again, having him touch your mouth. Now have him write that line vertically on the chalkboard or paper. \u00a0 That is the way a “b” always starts: with a line at the lips, and a line on paper. \u00a0(A “d” is written with the ball portion first, but don’t explain that\u2014it just gets them confused. Just teach “b”<\/em>).<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0Saying “start at the top, down to the line, now up and around” can help walk a child through writing the letter “b”. \u00a0 But knowing that memory clue of the line first, that matches the line on their mouths, seemed to help mine the most.<\/p>\n

Once they totally master “b”, “d’ takes care of itself. \u00a0It’s just the opposite of “b”!
\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

\"ammonlouisa_firstgrade\"
\nChild Writing Backwards? Letter & Number Reversals
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"11925\"
\nMy First Book of Lowercase Letters
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 child say the word “ball” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2126,"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":[72,129,92,161,115],"class_list":["post-2123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading-articles","category-what-articles","tag-letter-confusion","tag-letter-reversals","tag-phonics","tag-reading","tag-writing","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Photoxpress_1306365.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-yf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1155,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/child-writing-backwards\/","url_meta":{"origin":2123,"position":0},"title":"Child Writing Backwards? 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Answer: I know this can feel upsetting to us moms, to see our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/positive-725842_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C926&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/positive-725842_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C926&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/positive-725842_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C926&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/positive-725842_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C926&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/positive-725842_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C926&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5699,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/homeschooling-assignment-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":2123,"position":1},"title":"Homeschooling Assignment #3","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"All done with\u00a0Assignment #2?\u00a0Are your kids reading more? 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Are you having fun? \u00a0Here's what's next: Assignment #3:\u00a0Teacher's Planner Today, Moms, we are going to capture all those \"I should do this for my child\" ideas that flit through our minds, especially as we are teaching our children, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New to Homeschooling"","block_context":{"text":"New to Homeschooling","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/new-to-homeschooling\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scoutmaster Dad and Ammon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/scoutmaster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1175,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/siblings-progressing-at-different-rates\/","url_meta":{"origin":2123,"position":2},"title":"Siblings Progressing at Different Rates","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What would you do with this situation: The younger child (5) hears something once and never forgets it. 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He has always been later to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/child-315049_1280.jpg?fit=794%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/child-315049_1280.jpg?fit=794%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/child-315049_1280.jpg?fit=794%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/child-315049_1280.jpg?fit=794%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1361,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/learn-your-letter-sounds-game\/","url_meta":{"origin":2123,"position":3},"title":"Learn Your Letter Sounds: Game","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is an interesting, easy game to help your young ones begin identifying the phonic sounds. 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