differentiating between b, d, and p

[mammabear5]

My dd is 6 and is doing little hearts. We are using Hooked On Phonics to teach her to read and it is working great. The only problem she is having so far is telling the difference between the little b, d, and p. Every time we come to a word with one of the letters in it she guesses which one it is and looks at me to see if she is right. I have tried telling her that the p goes down and the d and b goes up. How can I help her recognize the difference between them? Will it just come with time?

thanks

[EmmaLismom]

My DD is 5.5 and we are having the same issues. I'm guessing it's just something that comes with time. I'll be watching this thread for suggestions though.

Dawn

[water2wine]

My little ones are right handed. I teach them that b and p are friends and the fat part of b and p point toward the hand they write with and the d disagrees and points the other way. Lame but it works.

[inHistiming]

W2W had a great suggestion....I think that visual is very helpful. It is also just a developmental stage I think that all kids go through. I have 3 so far that have gone through learning to recognize letters and read (6 yo currently learning) and they have all done this for a time. My youngest right now will sometimes read a word wrong, but his 'clue' that he missed it is if I do not move my finger from the word and praise him...he'll then give it a second look and try again. Usually after a longer look he'll get it right. This is what I did for my daughter too when she was learning and it worked great for her. Eventually it wasn't a problem. However, there are many ladies here who actually have teaching degrees, so they can tell you for sure. I would assume that there is an age....maybe 8 or 9?....where it might be a clue that there could be something that's actually wrong. Anyway, just wanted to add my encouragement just to correct gently and praise a lot....no need to worry quite yet.

[my3sons]

It helped my dc to trace the letter with their finger as if they were writing it and make the sound as they did it. This physical motion really helped them, and I often saw them trace the letter when they were stuck to figure it out. Eventually, they just knew the sounds. I always pointed out "p" was falling down too (since it is a letter that "hangs" down), and I'd say "p" was "p-p-pretty tired" and sigh loudly. I think this is very common though, so just keep plugging away with it.

In Christ,
Julie

[happy@home]

One idea that I use with my dc is when they are writing the letters for "d" I say "little c then d" to help differentiate between "b" and "d". You start writing the "d" as though you were going to write a "c".
My ds has just turned 7 and still gets the "b" & "d" confused!

[Carrie]

In our public school teaching days, we were told that it was "normal" for a third of the class to still be switching 'b' and 'd' in the third grade! So, sometimes it just takes longer than we'd like for kiddos to get this important distinction down pat.

Blessings,
Carrie