I introduced the Letterland books and characters to N when he was about a year old, but it was only recently that he started being really into the Letterland series. I think it’s because he is more of an auditory learner, and enjoys listening to the Letterland CDs on car-rides. I started off with the Alphabet Songs and Handwriting Songs, but these days, he prefers listening to the stories in Letterland ABC, Beyond ABC, and Far Beyond ABC.
Letterland is basically a phonic-based approach to teaching reading, writing and spelling, and uses unique characters corresponding to each letter. These Letterland characters transform plain black letter shapes into child-friendly pictograms, and they all live in an imaginary place called Letterland. The stories about each character help children to associate the phonetic sound to the letter, and ultimately aim to guide children to progress to word building, reading, and writing.
For very young readers, I would recommend the simpler Letterland board books, like My ABC of Letters, My ABC of Actions, and My ABC of Animals. The books are sturdier, and easier for little hands to handle, while the text is a lot shorter and simpler. The Letterland characters are also prominently displayed on each page, which will help the younger children to focus on them. You can also get the two Letterland CDs I mentioned earlier, as the songs are quite catchy and fun for kids to sing along to. If you aren’t very good with phonics, the CDs will be useful for you too, as you can learn them with your child.
My ABC of Letters
My ABC of Animals
My ABC of Actions
Once your child is comfortable with all the letters in the alphabet, you can move on to the other books such as Letterland ABC, Beyond ABC, and Far Beyond ABC. N still hasn’t learned to read yet, but he can recognise the different Letterland characters, and loves listening to the stories. Personally, I think that some of the stories might be too complex for him to understand, because they’re about how certain letters make different sounds when they’re grouped with other letters in a word, but I also figured that there’s no harm in exposing him to these lessons now, especially since he likes listening to them. The stories keep him very quiet on car rides, which is always good for the driver, right?
You can complement these Letterland books with activity books like the First Sticker Dictionary, and even card games such as the Make-a-Story Card Game. I like that these make learning more fun, and your child can familiarise himself with the characters through the activities and games.
Letterland ABC
Beyond ABC
N working on the sticker dictionary
N and the story he created with the Make-a-Story Card Game
If you’re looking for a fun way to introduce the alphabet or teach phonics to your toddlers and preschoolers, do check out the Letterland series of books, songs, and activities. I got all our Letterland resources from Book Depository, because it’s cheaper than what I’ve seen in bookstores, plus there’s free worldwide delivery.
PS. If you’re buying any of the above items from Book Depository, don’t forget to create a ShopBack account using this link: https://www.shopback.sg/?raf=2hqBea before you access the Book Depository website! You’ll get a $5 signup bonus, and another $5 with your first ShopBack order. You can also use your new ShopBack account to participate in the giveaway below. Read on for more details!
Happy reading (and shopping)!
Buy the Book Beyond ABC on Book Depository First Sticker Dictionary on Book Depository Make-a-Story Card Game on Book Depository Letterland ABC on Book Depository Far Beyond ABC on Book Depository My ABC of Letters on Book Depository My ABC of Actions on Book Depository My ABC of Animals on Book Depository Alphabet Songs on Book Depository Handwriting Songs on Book Depository
Check out the previous Friday Flips posts HERE. I’ve also created a photo album on Facebook with some other good reads, and will be updating it whenever I come across more books that we enjoy. Do pop by for a look HERE.
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GROWINGWITHTHETANS x SHOPBACK GIVEAWAY!
To mark our 65th Friday Flips post, we are giving away these two book sets from Book Depository, sponsored by ShopBack. You can read more about what ShopBack is about, and ShopBack’s upcoming Perfect 10.10 Sale in my Dayre post HERE. Terms and conditions apply.
Set A consists of some of the Letterland items I’ve just written about, while Set B has three Disney Read-Along Books & CDs. I’ve reviewed some other titles in this series before in this post.
If you’re already a ShopBack user, you need to use a different email address to register for a new ShopBack account via this link https://www.shopback.sg/?raf=2hqBea, in order to qualify for this giveaway.
There are two ways to participate in this giveaway.
Option A (for Dayre users) 1. Sign up for a new ShopBack account via this link: https://www.shopback.sg/?raf=2hqBea 2. Leave a comment on this Dayre post, stating the email address you used to sign up for the ShopBack account (you MUST use the link above), your choice of Set A or B, and tag at least three of your Dayre friends* whom you think will be interested in this giveaway. *Note: Please do NOT leave multiple comments. All tags are to be in the same comment with the required information.
Option B (for non-Dayre users) 1. Sign up for a new ShopBack account via this link: https://www.shopback.sg/?raf=2hqBea 2. Leave a comment on this Facebook post, stating the email address you used to sign up for the ShopBack account (you MUST use the link above), your choice of Set A or B, and tag at least three of your Facebook friends* whom you think will be interested in this giveaway. *Note: Please do NOT leave multiple comments. All tags are to be in the same comment with the required information.
Terms and Conditions: This giveaway will end on Thursday, 6th October 2016, at 2359h, and is open to Singapore residents only. Winners will be contacted via the email address provided when entering this giveaway, and will have 24 hours to respond, failing which a new winner will be selected. All incomplete entries will be disqualified, and all entries will be verified before the winners are announced. To be fair to our sponsor, please note that all fake Dayre and Facebook accounts (accounts set up purely to take part in contests, with no or very few real friends), will be disqualified. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Dayre or Facebook.
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