How I Teach My Child with Down Syndrome Word Building with Movable Alphabets

Our journey of learning letter sounds started when my child was about 4 or 5. I have been getting many questions on the videos/posts where I shared how we are practicing writing words (CVC). Once your child knows the letter sounds well, using the movable alphabet can help them in building words.

I’ve found movable alphabet very helpful for teaching my child to write words before reading with the help of sounds. I’ve used them for various learning activities like making words, practicing spelling, understanding sounds and more. Basically, we have been using them to develop phonological awareness, language, and literacy skills.

But at the beginning, using movable alphabet wasn’t interesting for her. So, we began with some enjoyable matching DIY games & CVC puzzles. These games and activities helped her in recognising and becoming aware of sounds in words. If your child is not familiar with the sounds it’s better to start with beginning sounds instead of movable alphabet.

We use movable alphabet in lots of different ways.

I give my child a word card and ask her to find the letters to make the same word. When she finds the letters, I say the word loudly and appreciate her effort.
We use a movable alphabet that includes picture and word cards as well. I show my girl the picture card and repeatedly say the sound of the word. Example, Let’s try to build the word “tap”. Tell me the first or beginning sound of tap, then she looks for the letter “t”. After she finds the letter, she will put it next to the picture. She will do the same with the other letter sounds. Once she writes the word with the help of sound, I ask her to flip the picture. She then checks if the spelling is correct. This part of the activity makes her so happy.
Now, I love giving her the picture card. I watch her spell the word by herself using the sounds. Then, she writes it. If she finds it challenging, I encourage her to sound out the word or repeat the sounds after me. It used to be a little tough for her, but now she’s making great progress. After she writes the word, we have a fun moment. We flip the picture card. We check the spelling together to make sure she got it right!

These activities helped her learn new words. They also made her feel confident about writing them. She started writing with chalk and markers. As she continued to engage in these activities, her vocabulary expanded and writing CVC words became enjoyable activity for her.