any tips on helping a 5-year-old distinguish 'd' from 'b'?

[imaginaryfriend]

Just a quick request. Dd's coming on great with her reading and writing but consistently gets d and b mixed up and I wondered if there was a tried and tested old rule for helping.

b is for belly a 'b' has a belly ( when writing) dya see what i mean?

draw a picture of someone lying in a bed. with their head resting on the b and their feet up at the d end

someone else will explain it better than that - I am sure

love the b has a belly. Never heard of that before

But couldn't the b have a belly facing in the other direction just as easily?

b----d like that with the bed thing?

Cool. Any other hints?

There's the bed thing too - b e d

The word bed looks like a bed, sort of. Can't explain it on here but I've used this explanation with 5yr olds before and it has helped

b is written like that to make the head of the bed. And it sounds like b in bed.

d goes at the foot of the bed and sounds like a d.

better explained in rl

oh, I didn't see that others had explained it too

yes 'bed' is quite a useful word - draw/write it with the uprights like head and footboards.

But really, in retrospect what helps most consistently is waiting a year or two more ... most little kids invert d/b and p/q (thats why theres special worksheets on them). So, draw the bed but don't stress about it. [speaking as one who worried groundlessly about dyslexia]

I've tried the b points right, d points left but she's very inconsistent with her right and left hands at the moment.

I'll definitely try the bed idea.

I didn't realise it was common for kids to invert them for a long while. I've been giving dd a (very slight) hard time about it

Try this: show the child how to use their own mouth shape as a cue. 'Make your mouth the shape to say a letter b ..... your lips make a straight line, so you write the letter that starts with a straight line- the b. When you start to say 'd'.... your lips and tongue make a circle (ish) so that's the letter that starts with a circle'

DD still does this at times - again good reader/speller but still mixes b and d at times. We used the technique maverick suggests, after I asked her teacher if there was anything we could do. I also made her a little book mark with the mouth shape and the letter shape on it.

Tried to bed way too - b has a headboard and pillow, etc.

Apparently it is very normal for children of this age to mix those letters up and not really a problem.

Thanks, I'll try all these ideas and wait til it properly sinks in.

Agree with EmsMum that waiting a year or two is the most helpful.

ds reminds himself with 'thumbs up' - left hand is b and right hand is d. I sometimes see him checking when he's writing daddy! Only useful if they're a) confident on left and right and b) remember which way round they go though!

That's a good idea slayerette. Dd's so-so with her right and left.

I agree juules except that b and d come up an awful lot in her reading books and she gets very frustrated when she gets them wrong.

The way we teach DC how to get B and D round the right way is to get Dc to make a B with their fingers on their left hand (thumb touching first finger so its kind of round)middle finger then stands up straight to make the line. Then on their right hand repeat the same way with thumb touching first finger and middle finger standing straight. we then tell DC to sound out the word B E D. This way seems to work for a good few DC.

I agree that b/d confusion is no cause of concern in a child of this age.
'Bed' and the 'mouth thing' good ideas. Could also try 'c before d' - as in, you have to write a c as the first part of writing a d, IYSWIM? - that helps with writing, as long as the letter formation is OK!

I think what helped my son was making sure he knew how to draw d and b correctly.

For example to draw a "d" you start with a curley "c" then go up and then down. With "b" you draw the bat (line going down) and then the ball.

I think its very common and most children out grow it.

Dd was still writing dabby when she was 7. Don't worry about it - it'll sort itself out. Just say "Oh, hang on, which one is that - d or b?" to encourage her to stop and think. Praise like crazy when she gets it right, say "try again" when she gets it wrong. Sorted in no time!

I agree about not worrying at all at 5 but the ways I've used are the bed one already mentioned (doesn't always click in), similar thing using wooden abcde, put fingers in shape over b and d so they can say abcde when unsure, b looks like a bat and ball, and d looks like a drum and drumstick, and remembering that a b looks like a B with the top bit rubbed out. Different ways click for different children.
Sorry if this sounds like total gibberish!!

Exactly the same issue here with DD here. Teacher came up with "book". All the circles together, iyswim. Helped DD enormously.

I've tried everything going and ds still struggles - it'll click one day I'm sure.

These are all fantastic suggestions, thanks everyone!