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Learning the Alphabet: The Foundation for Learning to Read

One of the most important foundation skills in learning to read, write, and spell is the ability to fluently recognize and name the letters of the alphabet.  Research has consistently demonstrated that letter name knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of learning to read and later reading achievement.  Helping children to understand that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language is known as the Alphabetic Principle. 

The progression of development for mastering this principle is as follows:

  • Learning letter names
  • Learning letter shapes
  • Learning letter sounds
  • Learning to combine letter names and sounds to make words

You can help your emergent reader by posting an uppercase alphabet chart or strip in your child’s view.  Have your child sing the alphabet song while simultaneously touching each letter of the alphabet.  Change the tune of the song to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday, or Mary Had a Little Lamb.  Changing the tune will help to ensure that the letters L, M, N, O, P will not sound like one letter.  

Next, help your child recognize uppercase letters by playing the alphabet-sock game.  For this activity you will need a set of 3-D plastic or wooden uppercase letters, an uppercase alphabet strip or chart, and an old sock. Begin by placing the alphabet chart in front of your child.  Have your child touch and name in sequence all 26 letters. Then, have your child place in sequence all 26 letters on the alphabet strip.  Look closely at the letters and talk about the letter shapes, looking for letters with big lines (F, E, P) , letters with little lines (E, B, A), letters with big curves (C, D, G), and letters with little curves (B, P, R).  Now have your child take all 26 letters and place them inside the sock.  Lastly, take turns with your child, reaching inside the sock naming the letter by feel before pulling the letter out of the sock.  NO PEEKING!  If your child correctly names the letter, have them place it on the alphabet strip. If it is incorrectly identified, return the letter inside the sock. Continue taking turns until all 26 letters have been named and placed on the uppercase alphabet strip.  Once your child can fluently name all 26 uppercase letters, repeat the game using 26 lowercase letters and a lowercase letter alphabet strip.  Finally, as a challenge, combine all upper and lowercase letters into the sock and repeat the game using the same process.               

-Beth Jack

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Patient Reviews

LLA Therapy

Patient Reviews

Crystal Scheibe

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Great place, glad we found them. Been going to Medina over 2 months now and he loves Lauryn and Kyler. Wish they had more ABA therapy places available... live in Wooster and long drive everyday.

Karrie Swan LaRock

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My 11 year old son has dyslexia and has made noticeable gains in working At LLA THERAPY. Katie is strong in her approach toward him and also keeps him comfortable enough to perform well. We will continue visiting both the Fairlawn and Hudson offices and recommend them highly.

Ron Monroe

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My 9 year old just completed about 9 months of weekly speech sessions (due to his stuttering) with Matt Hagge at LLA and we are thrilled with the experience and results. What I thought might be a negative (what kid really wants to go to speech class?) was made very positive by Matt, and my son never hesitated or complained when we talked about class. He really enjoyed it and really took what Matt taught him to heart. His speech has been greatly improved and we definitely recommend LLA. Thank you so much!

Heather Dougherty-Pantoja

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My son’s Occupational Therapist, Jess, is an amazing OT! She gives practical tips on working with my son at home and school!

Terri Apgar

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I cannot say enough good things about LLA Therapy. My daughter was a client of Teal Simmons’ for approximately 2 years and was just released from speech therapy! She was diagnosed with Apraxia in 2015 and worked with Teal twice a week. Through Teal’s application of PROMPT therapy, my daughter had age-appropriate speech after one year. All of the staff we interacted with at LLA were absolutely wonderful. They really care about what they do and making sure your child achieves their goals.

Kelli Geisler Davisson

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for my son as well as my family! My son always asks, "When can I go see Ms. Jeannine again, is it Monday??" He has also made huge gains in only 5 months! I would highly recommend LLA and have already shared my experience with friends looking for services!

Victoria Hansford-Price

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We are so grateful for our Speech Therapist Ms.Teal. We have seen a great improvement with our sons confidence and communication abilities since we have started "Prompt" therapy. What we love the most about LLA and Ms. Teal is that Kohl feels comfortable and relaxed which has played a critical role in his progress. Thank you Ms. Teal for all you have done.

Laura Lee Hogsett

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They have helped in numerous ways. Speech, OT and behavioral. I've had numerous compliments on my son's progress thanks in very large part to LLA. I would recommend LLA before I recommend our local children's hospitals, though they are good, they don't have the staff that LLA does.

Amy Furukawa

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We had a great experience with Matt Hagge at LLA! Our Middle School age son was becoming very conscious of his voice, which is nasal due to a cleft palate. Matt helped him to better form his sounds and project his voice in a way that makes the unavoidable nasality less noticeable.Our son is more confident and outgoing & even took on a speaking role in the church play. Matt has the perfect personality to relate with our son, and we would recommend him to anyone needing speech therapy services!

Jessica Havalotti

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for our daughter. I would highly recommend LLA. Miss Grace was so amazing and I can't believe how quickly our daughter showed improvement. Thank you!
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