Monday, November 30, 2009

Some are smart - others, silly

i was digging around on the internet looking for some alphabet flashcards for Maggie. Yes, Maggie is learning her letters. She has started to identify them off of labels, T-shirts, boxes, her blocks, etc. i was hoping to find a set of flash cards to use with Maggie so that we could have a little play time around letters - reward some of her curiosity with something easier to handle than shuffling through the letters on her blocks.

i found a few sets of flash cards with okay fonts, but i also found someone's not so bright idea: American Sign Language alphabet flash cards. These cards have the letter and the hand sign printed together. There is an important word in that last sentence.

If you know the ASL alphabet, there is this wonderful teaching tool generally located just past your wrist. If you want to teach your kids the ASL alphabet, learn the alphabet and then use your hands as the flash cards.

i know that the flash cards could be used to help an adult as a starter to learn the ASL alphabet, but they were in a section for kids. When i found the cards, they just seemed plain silly to me. Maggie would be served better by trying to read my finger-spelling than trying to interpret the drawings of hands on the cards.

Maggie's favorite letters so far: Z (a fun action letter), X ('x's are everywhere), R, P, Q and sometimes Y.