Step021.htm/18DEC2001

Step 21, 22, 23

Click here to hear the sounds of h, k and b.

After an l, you can only add on a bit further along the line. You cannot come down and then go backwards to make a d. A k has 2 (not 3) starts, down‑off, then in‑out‑off.

Have the pupil practice writing the letters h, k, and b, first, using the dot to dot guide above, then on lined paper.

When k is at the end of a short, one‑syllable word with a short vowel, we must put a c in front of it. Practise writing these words:

pack peck pick lock duck

rack deck tick rock (stuck)

back neck lick mock buck (bucking bronco and

hack kick dock slang for a dollar)

tack nick puck (used in ice hockey)

Learn b : bat and a ball.

For older children and adults who have confused b/d, you show that they are NOT the same. Only one starts at the top, a b. You draw a straight line down (a bat) and on the right of it you draw the ball, so that the bat can hit the ball along the empty line (to write) or along the line the way we read (to read). The pupil must think: "Bat and a ball, ‑ b.

d is different. It starts with a c and it is the only letter where we draw up to the tall part, and do not start with a down movement. I ask if the child knows a.b.c.d. If he does, I show him how to tap out the a. b with his non‑writing hand, and then draw the c and keep going to make a d; to get a d right, he must say to himself, a‑b‑C‑D.

Set out the alphabet card, and add h, k, and b, making 23 letters.

Choose Activities from the Contents page.