Hi dear, welcome back to Azy Reading Journey website. It looks like things are picking up and we are finally finding some activities that is helping Azy to learn the alphabet and enjoy doing so.
We are still using magnetic letters; a lot of magnetic letter and we are seeing how they can be easily used in fun ways to teach kids to recognize the letters of the alphabet.
We started out with the letter “A” and we are now doing “A” to “F,” that’s progress.
Activities For Teaching The Alphabet
We have been trying multiples activities to see which one would work best in holding Azy’s attention. We are still having good days and bad days, but things are looking up because the good days are increasing.
He still wants to play, so we are trying to come up with games to add to the activities and hopefully take the teaching and learning time to the next level.
We are still mixing things up and adding materials that we think are fun ways to teach kids to recognize the letters of the alphabet, to keep Azy interested and engaging.
We are still using:
♦Magnetic letters
♦Double Sided Learning Board
♦3D Wood alphabet letters puzzle board
♦Touch and learn activity desk, double-sided learning board
♦Wipe clean activity book
We have added:
♦LeapFrog Go-with-Me ABC Backpack
♦LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD
♦Mickey Mouse ABC. 123 nesting & staking blocks
♦2-1 Magnetic Matching Puzzle
Materials To Teach The Alphabet
Azy does not use all of the materials every day. We try to use the same materials for a few days, and if he starts to lose interest, we allow him to choose the ones that he wants to use.
This seems to be working, so we will continue doing so for now. When Azy is allowed to choose the materials, he shows more interest in doing the lessons and he engages more.
We are still using the double-sided learning board. It is big enough for Azy to place multiples of the same letter under each other.
He is still identifying the letters and placing them on the board, then he identifies them again and then put the in a cup.
When the letters are in the cup, I ask him to close his eyes and take out a letter.
As he takes the letters out of the cup, he is supposed to put them in order on the board. He does not always gets it correct, so we help him along the way.
The LeapFrog Go-with-Me ABC Backpack scored big with Azy. It seems like he could not get enough of it. He wanted to take it everywhere he was going.
When it was bedtime, he took with him, he took it with him when he was going to daycare. We brought it back home, and took it back when we picked him up.
He is still using it, and loves to use the stylus writing board and erase. He draws on the writing board then slides the eraser up and down to clear the board.
I believe this toy is a fun way to help teach kids to recognize the letters of the alphabet.
I wrote a review on The LeapFrog Go-with-Me ABC Backpack.
==> You can read about it here if you want to learn more <==
Azy Is Choosing Alphabet Activities
Considering that Azy is a very active child who has to be fully engaged so that he does not lose interest, I do not think the LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD will be very effective with him.
He watches the DVD, and sings along sometimes, but most of the times he just sits and watched it. This DVD would work better for Azy if it was telling him to do something.
We started off with Azy watching the DVD on the computer because we though he would be using the keyboard. However, that did not happen, so now he uses the DVD player to watch it.
Azy uses the Mickey Mouse ABC. 123 nesting & staking blocks occasionally to build his tower, as he calls it. He will build it up then hit the blocks to let them fall.
He does have fun with this one. There are ten blocks in the box and each has letters and a number. So, kids have the opportunity to learn both letters and numbers when they use this toy.
Most of the blocks have three letters, and we are using the two larger ones to help Azy recognize the letters “A” to “F.” See video above.
Azy is doing much better with using the Wipe clean activity book than he was doing with the alphabet worksheet. Surprisingly, he is now asking to trace the letters.
This is a great improvement from when he was fussing when it was time for him to use the worksheet. I mentioned before that maybe it was too much for Azy to handle all the letters daily, and now that we are taking them in bite sizes, he seems to be more interested in learning the letters.
Teaching The Alphabet Using Games
At this time, the 2-1 Magnetic Matching Puzzle is Azy’s favorite activity to learn the letters. Each magnet has the letter and an animal for that letter.
When this was introduced, we started out by handing him a letter to put in its corresponding spot on the puzzle board. He announces the letter (for example “A” is for Alligator), then puts it on the board.
We then put the letters in the cup, he closes his eyes, I shake the cup, he takes out a letter, announces it and put it back on the board. We continue to use this method because Azy likes it.
Now, Azy is in charge, he is the one in control of the cup (see video above). We both take turn to close our eyes and take a letter out of the cup, announces it and put it on the board. Sometimes, I announce a letter incorrectly and put it in the incorrect spot.
Azy is now correcting me and showing me where to put the letter. We continue to do this until he wants to stop. Sometimes, we go longer than 20 minutes playing this game.
We stop when he says to stop, many times, he takes a break and comes back to giving orders telling me to close my eyes and take out a letter.
Focusing Problems Are Tumbling
Overall, Azy is doing much better, and we will continue to use the activities that we are currently using, because we are seeing positive results with teaching the alphabet using games.
Giving Azy the opportunity to choose the activity that he wants to use is proving to be very useful. Now that he is the one choosing, he is spending a longer time engaging.
Since he started shaking the cup, I have not gotten another chance to do so. He is now in control of that, and whenever I take it up, he takes it away, and tells me to close my eyes and take out a letter.
Things are looking good, and we are finally moving on up. Azy is starting to settle down, and we want to continue moving forward. We have some ideas, but since he still wants to be the cup master, we are waiting until he is ready for a change.
We do not want to disturb the good thing that we have going on now. In the meantime, we are thinking about finding other games and fun activities that can teach kids to recognize the letters of the alphabet
Thank you for continuing to travel with Azy on his reading journey.
Please let me know what you think about what we are doing, and if you think we are advancing in helping to teach kids to recognize the letters of the alphabet.
Please also share if you know of any games that we can use to help keep Azy moving along. Thanks.
Hello, my name is Jackie. My family members and I are teaching my grandson Azy to read and I am writing about the challenges and the joy that comes from doing so. My goal is to write articles that will encourage and help parents and others who want to do the same for their kids or other children. Thanks for travelling along with us. Blessings, Jackie
Excellent work you are doing teaching kids how to use different methods in order to learn the alphabet. This sounds like these type of methods would work on slow learning and regular children alike . Anything that teaches children how to read and write is very beneficial in so many ways . Keep up the great work.
Thanks Eric
I believe that various methods should be used to find out what will work best for a child. I have to be doing this with Azy because he was not focusing when we were using the reading program. He is doing better with the activities that we are doing, so we plan to continue teaching him this way for now.
Yes, I believe these methods would work for any kids. Once they start to settle down, they will start to learn.
I agree that, “Anything that teaches children how to read and write is very beneficial.” Thanks.
Blessings
Jackie