Letter reversals

Letter reversals – b/d, p/q, j

Does your child continue to confuse “b” and “d”, “p” and “q”, or write “j/J” back-to-front? What can you do?

Use as many senses as possible.

Write letters with consistent starting points and directions from the start, and associate each one with its sound. It is very difficult to change this once habit patterns are set.

If you did not make a Textured Letters book for your child when they were younger (see http://successwithreading.com/textured-letters-free/), or if they feel they are too old for this, make the letters b, d, p, q, g and j in red felt, or similar, and glue them on separate cards. Mark the starting points and directions.

Use these cards to practise tracing the letters with a finger. Make sure your child starts at number 1 and goes in the correct direction, then number 2 … Have your child say the sound of each letter, not its name, as they trace the letter without lifting the finger off of the card until the letter is complete (except for the dot on “j”). Practise each letter five times. Learn one letter at a time. Only go on to the next one once your child is very secure with the one you are working on. Then practise them often, until it is no longer a problem.

Five seems to be the optimum number of times to practise a new or difficult skill in a sitting. It is enough to be effective without becoming tedious. 

“Little and often” is best.

Don’t try to learn too many new things at once.

If writing “j” is a problem – just practise “j” with the Textured Letters cards.

OR    “g” and “j” (and sometimes “y”, “f” and/or “z” depending on how you write them) are the only letters that have a curve below the line. The curve always goes back towards the start. (“… down and round …” with the pencil in the video “g” in http://successwithreading.com/level-1-5/.)

So, if necessary, teach and/or practise “g” first because it is not usually a problem. Later, when “g”, associated with the /g/ sound, is firmly established, introduce “j” with a /j/ sound, and point out that the curve goes the same way. But leave enough time between learning the two so that children don’t get the sounds confused.                  

“q” can have a tick that joins it to the next letter. This is quite different from the curves on “g” and “j”.

The above exercises develop muscle memory (like riding a bike or playing the piano) and associate it with the sound.

Check out other ideas for letter reversals in http://successwithreading.com/category/reversals/.