Here is a simple way to make letter stencils and raised
letter cards. All you will need are several sheets of
craft foam, available at
craft stores or on
Amazon, a pair of scissors and card stock paper (old file
folders also work well). Choose the letters for the stencils. A student that I
have been working with is learning the capital letters L and F, so I made
stencils/raised letter cards for those letters.
Write the letter on the foam and cut it out. Take care to
keep the letter “cut out” intact. To make your raised letter cards, just glue the “cut out” to a rectangular piece of
card stock. (I like to laminate the card stock first).
First, have the child trace the raised letter card with
their index finger. While tracing, pair the motion with verbal cues for forming
the letter. The “Handwriting Without Tears” language is good. For example, for
an F, say “long line down, top across, middle across.”
After several tracing trials, have the student write the
letter using the stencil while verbally repeating “long line down, top across,
middle across.” For tracing, the child can use a marker, crayon, or even a
“squiggle” pen. You want it to be fun!
Finally, have the student write the letter without the stencil using the verbal prompts. Gradually fade your verbal prompting.
The great thing about these materials is that you can use
them over and over again!
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