Frustration with alphabet cards...

[kayte]

There are so many beautiful alphabet cards for hanging in a child's room or playroom but most are not developmentally correct. Many have objects that start with blends (th, sh, ch) or irregular vowels (any vowel followed by a r). In addition lots of them only have the capital letters --but 95% of the letters in use are lowercase. It's just frustrating. Yes, they are cute but if I am going to take the time to plant the see of an object my child can recall to help produce a sound, it should be the real sound-- like the s in sand not the sh in shell. Even several of the not so attractive sets I have found at school supply stores are not correct.

Sorry for the rant.

[californiagirl]

Here's the good news: I have a perfect set, where all the letters make the right sounds and have cute animal pictures.

The bad news comes in 2 parts. First, it's not cards, but strips, which limits what you can do. Second, it's a New South Wales school standard -- so they're all Australian animals, some relatively obscure, and the phonics are not perfect for America.

Oh, and for DD, the bad news has a third part; I keep forgetting to put it up!

[zoestargrove]

Ha, I thought this was my pet peeve all alone! I ended up buying the eeboo counting birds cards instead. I really love them.

[Ceepa]

It makes sense now that I read this, but I wouldn't know what to look for. Are there rules somewhere for developmentally correct flashcards?

Now curious.

-Ceepa

[kayte]

I used "developmentally correct" loosely--it's not a term for them, just the best way for me to explain it. But it's best if the objects listed start with the most common way the letter is used, it's primary sound. It's the first way your child will be introduced to them in school.

Here's some thoughts...

Vowels should be the short sounds and should not be followed by an "r" (or even an "n" or an "u") . Just think of the the different sound of the o in octopus as opposed to an orange.

Consonants should be the hard sound ---so words that start would c or g should not have an "e", "i" or "y" as the second letter. Think of the different of cat and circus.

No consonant blends --so no word should start with sh, ch, or th (wh is okay as it doesn't change the sound). I remember one year that I taught kindergarten, we had sound themed show and tell. A little boy stood up when it was his turn and said "I know this starts with the right letter but not the right sound. I tried to tell my mom but she didn't get it." He had brought a little people chicken for c. It was pretty funny. He brought the chicken back when we studied "ch" later in the year.

X is always hard--- but honestly, 99% of the time is makes the "ks" sound but usually at the end of syllable (or at the end of a 1 syllable word) so I like it to appear at the end of the word and you just need to be clear when you present that card. There are more options like box then trying to explain that it has 2 options for sounds when it starts a word--but used equally as often..that is almost never!!


HTH

ETA - One more thing---if the card have the spelling of the objects (like the ones from chronicle books) then they should be able to be sounded out --not sight words. I think it's best not to have the words at all. Coming up with phonetically spelled nouns for all 26 letters is hard in English. My daughter's room has a french theme and I am almost tempted to get her a French set--that would be so much easier--- except for the fact that words don't start with K....

[kayte]

I like this option. I haven't seen those but will be on the look out.

[DAKnits]

I totally agree with everything you've said -- that's a pet peeve of mine, too. And why do they use the most unusual animals or objects for a particular letter instead of the animals/objects that they (and I) are familiar with.

BTW, just as an aside, I say the "o" in the word "orange" the same way as I do in "octopus" -- I had to laugh! My parents are from New York and they pronounce it the same way I do, but everyone who lives here in Miami and grew up here, pronounces the "o" the sane way it sounds in the word "oar."

One idea is to make your own set of cards. You could get really creative! It would be a lot of work, but they'd be exactly what you want.

Edited to add: I don't know how good this is, but I found this link...

http://www.instructorweb.com/basicskills/wsp/bwspalphcards.asp#WORKSHEET

[Ceepa]

Thanks for such a great explanation. I put up the alphabet flash cards from Chronicle based on a French dictionary. My intention was one of aesthetics more than learning, but I guess now that DS is getting into the alphabet more I should get another set! Thanks.

Here's the "A" card from our set.
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/36724.jpg

-Ceepa

[kayte]

LOL on the orange thing!!!

How about the a in "apple" verse "armdillo"? LOL!!!

I have been thinking about making my own set. Maybe black and white photography and hanging them in our living room. It would be a lot of work but maybe if I wait until she is a little older it's a project we could do together---hanging a few at a time.

:)

[dules]

Words that start with K in French:

Kangourou, Kilogramme, Kilometre....etc. (sorry for no accents). If they're good enough for the Academie...well...lol.

http://portail.atilf.fr/cgi-bin/getobject_?p.11:27./var/artfla/dicos/ACAD_1932/IMAGE/

Mary

[kayte]

LOL-- so the K and W would have astericks saying that there are not any true French words but some from other languages that French speakers use....

[dules]

Well, again, if the Academie uses it, then I'd suppose the asterisk wouldn't be necessary, any more than using a word that has roots other than English for an word that we use in proper English writing. If each language only used words derived from its own origins...then communication would be pretty tough (you don't see a lot of kangaroos, elephants, or giraffes wandering wild in France, or the U.S.). LOL.


Mary