Ideas to Learn Letter Names and Sounds at Home

Before your child knows the letter names or sounds:

1. Alphabet Hunt & Match- find things throughout your house that start with the flashcard letter.

2. Trace - Place tracing or tissue paper over the cards and have your child trace the letters.

3.  Sort - Use the monkey, giraffe, chicken method to sort lower case letters.  (Monkey letters have tails, giraffe letters are tall, and chicken letters are in between.) Or sort by round and straight.  There's no wrong way - you just want them looking at and thinking about the letters.

4.  Make your own set of alphabet cards using index cards.

5. Decorate - use 8x10 paper and make a set of alphabet cards- good ideas on pinterest of crafts to make with each letter.

When your child knows some or all the letter names and sounds:

6. Spread the cards all over the floor.  Call out a letter and have your child jump on that letter.

7.  Work together to arrange the cards in alphabetical order.

8.  Match each card to an object that starts with that letter.

9.  Slap Jack - play Slap Jack using the letters in your child's name as the Jacks.

10. Alliteration Game - each player takes turns choosing a card and listing as many words starting with that letter as they can think of in 15 seconds.  Each word is one point.

11.  Word Game - once they've mastered the alliteration game, move on to listing words that end with the letter.  Once they've mastered that, try listing words with the letter in the middle.

12. Letter Pictionary - One player chooses a card without showing the other player. They draw something that starts with that letter while the other person tries to guess the object and letter.  

13. Letter Charades - same as Letter Pictionary but acting out instead of drawing.