Letter of the Week: D
Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 3:20PM
Vlinder CT PLLC in Holiday, Letter of the Week, Lunar New Year, dragon, letter 'd', letter of the week

January 27 - 31
Letter of the Week: D
Theme: Dragons (Lunar New Year)

January 31st marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year celebration (for 2014), welcoming in the year of the horse.  Dragons play a big role, which we are going to use to incorporate the letter-sound 'd' into our Lunar New Year theme for the week.  The Chinese think of dragons as helpful, friendly creatures.  The dragon is linked to good luck, long life, and wisdom.  Lunar New Year dragon dances are performed to scare away evil spirits.  Did you know that the dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese Zodiac and is considered the luckiest of all the animals?  Want to learn more?  Start with this UK-based child-friendly educational website:  TopMarks.

/d/ is one of the earlier developing speech sounds.  ‘D’ is a consonant sound which most 3 year olds have mastered.  From a speech perspective, ‘d’ is a tip tapper.  Just as with ‘t’, the tongue is doing the work to make this sound.  The tip of the tongue makes solid contact with the gum ridge behind the top front teeth, trapping air between it and roof of the mouth, Image from the LiPS Program by Lindamood-Belland then a little burst of air (and sound) is released as the tongue quickly withdraws.  ‘D’ and ‘T’ are sound brothers; they are made exactly the same way.  Well, exactly with one difference.  /d/ is the noisy brother (voice on – vocal cords vibrate – to make this sound).  Hold your hand to your throat as you say /d/; you should feel vibration from the vocal cords.  Now say /t/ (a quiet sound); feel the difference?

In therapy:  We will be reading 'd'/dragon (Lunar New Year) themed books, doing ‘d’/dragon themed activities, and exploring the letter name, letter sound and letter symbol for 'd'.

Suggestions for home:  Sprinkle ‘d’ throughout the week.  Pick out a variety of activities that appeal to your child (and you!).  Kids learn best through active experiences.  And multi-modal learning helps make stronger and more diverse connections in the brain, which helps with retention and recall.  Most important, have fun!

BOOKS


FOOD
Eating the Alphabet - D:  Consider adding some “d” foods to your menu this week.  Here are a few ideas:
     dates     dessert     dumplings     deviled eggs     dip

     dill pickles     donuts     dried fruit     danish

Feeling adventurous?  Make Devil's Food Cake with your child!

ACTIVITIES
Scavenger Hunt:  how many ‘d’ things can you find around the house, while shopping at the market, in a magazine or store ad flyers?

Field Trip:  


Be a letter detective:  hunt for the letter ‘d’ in a variety of texts (books, magazines, newspaper, road signs, license plates)

Community helpers:  learn about doctors, divers, delivery people

Sensory Play:

APPS

Do you have other fun ideas to add to our ‘d’/dragon (Lunar New Year) theme?  I’d love to hear!

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Article originally appeared on vlindertherapies (http://vlindertherapies.com/).
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