The beginning of the homeschool year is filled with establishing routines and creating a learning environment. Why not add some back-to-school reading activities that your child will love? Bonus: You’ll gain a lot of insight into what your child already knows and what they need to learn.
Back to School Reading Skill: Letter Recognition
As a reading specialist turned homeschool mom, teaching letter recognition is always my starting point.
Being able to name and quickly recognize all letters is a critical step in learning to read. Adams (1990) noted that children who can identify letters with speed and accuracy have an easier time learning about the sounds associated with letters than those struggling with alphabet recognition. In addition, accurate letter recognition forms the basis for developing decoding skills.
I wanted to set my daughter up for success with a strong letter recognition foundation. Many 5 year olds can identify some letters of the alphabet. (The average number is 14 for those who love a research-based statistic!).
However, sometimes children take time to master this skill. Here are some great ways to kick off instruction at the start of your homeschool year.
5 Reading Activities that Target Letter Recognition
I love starting the homeschool year with fun, engaging activities that pull child in and allow them to see the joy in learning to read. I also want them to experience a feeling of success, so repetition is often key. Here are 5 activities that target letter recognition that will make your child cheer!
Alphabet Arc Mats
An alphabet arc is an arc with the upper or lowercase letters of the alphabet arranged in order. This might seem simple, but there are a ton of effective, engaging, and simple activities that stem from this one sheet of paper!
To begin, have your child match plastic letters to the outlines of the letters on the arc. Practice matching them in sequence, first forwards and then backward. Sing the alphabet song as you move the letters. Have your child say the letter and the sound as they move them. As they move the letter to the correct spot, they should also name the letter. See how the possibilities are endless? But wait! There’s more.
Already interested? Download your free alphabet arc HERE.
Alphabet Arc Activity Cards
When you pair these 20 alphabet arc activity cards with an alphabet arc you’ll create instant lessons that teach letter recognition and letter fluency. Your child will love these alphabet arc activities and games! Here’s a sneak peak of one example.
Runaway Train
Have your child place their finger on the letter A and begin naming each letter. To prevent the train from running away hold up a stop sign during the activity. Your child will stop, providing the letter name. At this point, you could follow up with such questions as, “What letter comes before ____? What letter is after ______?” Your child will begin touching and naming the letters when you lower the stop sign.
Want more ideas? Read my blog post HERE.
Alphabet Chart
No time to pull out the alphabet arc mats and plastic letters? Simply display this alphabet chart in your homeschool space. Point to the letters in random order as your child says the letter name. They can then find them on their own alphabet chart.
Printable Alphabet Flashcards
You can also use this deck of letter cards containing all the letters of the alphabet. Flip through them quickly, having your child call out the letter name. They can complete this letter recognition activity in 60 seconds or less. See how fast they can complete the task. Your child will love trying to beat their latest time!
Short on time and need to squeeze more activities into your day? Then show a letter card to each student before breakfast. They must say the letter name. If you’d like to differentiate this letter recognition activity based on your children’s ages, have some give letter names, others the sound, and more advanced kids can provide the word beginning with that sound. Check out 7 Simple + Fun Activities that Improve Letter Recognition in 5 minutes for more ideas.
Missing Letter Deck Cards
After your child can place all the letters in the correct sequence quickly and accurately, it’s time to move on to the missing letter deck. The decks are similar to flashcards but have a letter missing from a 3 letter alphabet sequence. Begin by using the deck in alphabetical order. Hold up the card, have your child name the two letters on the card, and then say the missing letter. (They can refer to alphabet strips if needed.) As your child progresses, you can shuffle the cards and present them in random order. They will love seeing how fast they can name the missing letters!
The Ultimate Alphabet Arc Bundle for Letter Recognition
You can find these 5 back-to-school reading activities in my Ultimate Alphabet Arc Bundle for Letter Recognition Intervention. This bundle creates instant lessons at your fingertips. Combine one of the 12 different alphabet arcs with an alphabet arc activity card to create engaging and effective games for your child. Use them now as your favorite back to school reading activity and later as the perfect review!
