Getting Ready A

This video is made for kids, so your child can watch it with you. It's also a good model for how to teach these skills.

Getting Ready A

What this lesson is about

Your child learns that talking is made of sounds, and that we make them with our lips, tongue, teeth and nose. They also learn the voice check: some sounds buzz in your throat and some don't. The lesson ends with the first writing shapes, circles and curves.

Try it

• Make /m/, /p/, /t/, /f/ and /n/ in front of a mirror and notice which part of the mouth moves.
• Hand on throat: /m/, /v/ and /n/ buzz, while /s/, /f/ and /sh/ don't. Take turns guessing before you check.
• Hold your nose and try /n/. Does it stop?
• Draw big circles in the air, then on a table, the floor or a palm.

Shapes this lesson

• Circle: start at the top, curve to the left, and keep going all the way around.
• Curve: a piece of a circle, like a smile or a little hill. Make lots of different ones.