What's the best way to help kids differentiate between [b] and [d]?

Question

It's a classic problem for so many kids out there. I've seen some creative solutions and some downright horrible ideas that actually make everything worse for the child. I have my own approach but I'm curious what other people have found that works.

Answer 1

I generally have the children hold up their right hand closed. Then I have them say the sound of each letter to hear the letters of the word. For example CAT (K a t) then when the word is said they pull their hand across their chest and say the word.

Answer 2

I have had my students visualize the word bed and hold up their left hand, fingers closed and thumb pointing up to form a b and right hand fingers closed, thumb point up to for a d. Put hands together and you have created bd( bed)- hope this was helpful

Answer 3

Mnemonic devices are always helpful for this kind of thing (I do the same when teaching kids how to read music). Imagine the line in the two letters is your teeth and the circle is the thing that makes the sound. The circle to the left (behind the teeth) is the tongue, which is used to make [d], while the circle to the right (in front of the teeth) is the lips, which are used to make [b]. It works for 'q' and 'p' as well.

Answer 4

One trick of the trade is to have students not lift their pencil up when writing either of the two given letters—instead keeping it on the paper after they write the vertical line as they then draw the circle to the right for ‘b’ or to the left for ‘d’. Then when writing the other of the two given letters, students could be taught to lift their pencil up after drawing the vertical line, then putting their pencil back on the paper to draw the circle to the right for ‘b’ and to the left for ‘d’ accordingly.

I hope this helps! Good luck on teaching Kindergarteners, 1st and 2nd Graders the art of proper handwriting! Believe me, I know what it is like from an instructional angle. 🙂