There are limitless opportunities to use your child’s own name as a pathway to alphabet knowledge. You can use your child’s budding knowledge of letters in his name to help him understand the concept of letter-sound correspondence. Letter-sound correspondence refers to the identification of sounds associated with individual letters and letter combinations. This activity will give your child a chance to use one of his favorite alphabet books and his budding knowledge of letters and sounds to expand his awareness and use of letter-sound correspondence.
- alphabet books
- index card with your child’s name printed on it
Step 1: Ask your child to bring to you his favorite alphabet book.
Step 2: Have him look at the index card with his name printed on it.
Step 3: Ask him to look in the alphabet book to find a word that starts with the same letter as his name. You might say, “Kevin, where is the page with the letter K like the K in Kevin? What are some other words on the page that start with the /k/ sound like Kevin?”
Step 4: If your child can find the first letter of his name easily, see if he can find one or two of the other letters in his name. Follow the same process.
Provide more support. You might say, “Your name starts with the letter K. Let’s turn to the page in the alphabet book that shows the letter K. (Help your child turn to the correct page.) What are some of the other words that start with the /k/ sound like Kevin?” Continue with several other letters in his name.
Ask your child to think of additional words that have the same sounds as the letters in his name.
