What is the one thing that just about every kid ever made has in common?
At some point during the ‘learning to read’ process he or she went through a phase where he or she had a hard time telling the difference between the lower case ‘b’ and the lower case ‘d’.
It’s pretty much universal. Also, pretty much universal is the modern day parental response, which is concern that their child is dyslexic.
It’s not dyslexia, it’s just normal. Those two letters are easily confused and it takes a while longer for them to stick. As adult’s who have been literate for many, many more years than not it’s hard to remember what it was like to learn letters.
So let me take you there.
I used to live in Japan and so in an effort to understand the culture around me or at the very least be able to order dinner I studied Japanese. When you live in a country with a different written system you learn what it is to be illiterate. As I studied and studied the Japanese alphabets (yes that’s plural) two letters were really hard for me.
I drew them out here – ‘shi’ and ‘tsu’. Now when you compare them you can observe some differences, but when you see them written in a word without the comparison available it get’s really tough, and you know what? Japanese adult’s can’t see how hard it is any more.
Does that sound familiar to you?
So going back to your child’s struggles with ‘b’, ‘d’ and maybe ‘p’ too. It’s not dyslexia, its just tough and it takes practice. Dyslexia is a bigger issue and there will be numerous signs of it within a child. I have a blog post on potential red flags for dyslexia scheduled for next week.
The good news is, that helping kids get the hang of ‘b/d’ confusion is well documented, not that hard and it starts with fun.
In Notch Hill. The letter ‘b’ is introduced with Baby Ben Nog. Baby Ben, loves to play baseball. So when I’m working with kids I draw this picture.
We talk about how a ‘b’ always has the bat before the ball. The ‘d’ does not. In the ‘d’ you can see Dad Nog’s drum. But to keep it simple I focus on the ‘b’ and when I see a kid pause at a ‘b’ or ‘d’ I give the verbal clue. “Is the bat before the ball?”
There are three keys to being successful with this strategy:
- Start with the image: You don’t have to be an artist to draw a baseball bat and a ball like I’ve done above. Draw it with your child sitting with you explaining as you go. If he or she struggles on a different day, don’t hesitate to draw it again until you feel that he or she has grasped the image and can ‘see’ the image in the mind’s eye when you give the verbal clue. Having your child colour the image you’ve drawn will also go a long way to helping cement it in the brain.
- Keep it simple – I mean really simple: That’s why I don’t go on too much about Dad Nog’s drum. I use the verbal hint “Is the bat before the ball?” and say very little else to let the child sort it out in his or her mind.
- Be consistent: The trigger is always the same “Is the bat before the ball?”. It’s sort of like Pavlov’s Dog, I’m conditioning the child to hear that sentence in their own head even when I’m not around, until eventually of course it will just become as natural to him or her as it is to us.
As with all phases, this too will pass. The key for you is to keep the mood light and playful. Focus on the fun, the graphic, the story & the characters. Be consistent and in time your child will get the hang of it.
Good luck!