Letter/Number Recognition Test

Type out a chart with all 26 letters (you choose if you want capital and/or lower case) and numbers-we did 1-10 for now.

Slip the chart into a protective sheet.  Have your child use a dry erase marker and circle letters and numbers as you give them.  

This is a simple way to test if your child recognizes all the letters and numbers.  You can keep track of the ones he/she doesn't recognize so you can work on those.  This can also be used for letter sounds when your child is ready.  Another way to involve your child in the test is to use a deck of flashcards.  Have him/her flip one over, say the letter and sound, and then cross it off of the chart. 

This activity reinforces letter and number recognition.

Addition Subtraction Card Game

A is filling in for L and doing an addition/subtraction game.

Materials:  Deck of cards (minus the face cards), dry erase marker, chart of numbers (as high as you want-mine is copied from a book I already had, but can easily be made in Word or handwritten), plastic sheet protector

Play:  Flip two cards over and add or subtract them.  Mark out the answer. 

Goal:  Mark off all the numbers before you run out of cards.

This activity can be adjusted for any age level.  Use as many numbers as you want and as many cards as you want.  Pull out the smaller numbers to use for a younger child. You can use only addition or only subtraction, or both, depending on what you are working on with  your child.  You can also have two players and use two different colors of dry erase markers or two different number charts.  Be the first to mark out all your numbers.  What if you have already marked out a number and get the same answer?  Be creative! Try subtracting for a different answer. Or place them back in the deck in different spots.  If you are playing with someone else when this happens, this could be your "lose a turn" or "skip a turn".

This activity reinforces counting, addition and subtraction skills, and number recognition.

Letter Match-Up

Using the letter tiles from a previous activity I spread them out for L to match up.  The task was to match the orange letter to the green letter.

After working for a few minutes L seemed overwhelmed with all the letter tiles. So we decided to separate them into two piles.  Now he could see all the orange letters and all the green letters.   

After matching up all the letters, you can take it a step further and have your child put them in ABC order.

Eventually I will make lower case letter tiles and have L match up his capital letters to the lower case letters.  

This activity reinforces letter recognition.  If you complete the last step it also reinforces ABC order.