Confusing B's and D's While Reading

Hi M., my oldest son struggled with the same thing at first. My girlfriend teaches Kindergarden (she has also taught First and Second grades) She said that is pretty common especially for boys to get confused (even until age 8). She suggested trying a visual (with his hands)...I'll explain the best I can.
tell him to think of "bed"
hold both hands approximately arms length away from body,
make a fist with each hand leaving the thumb out and pointing up toward the ceiling,
This will be a visual of a bed (headboard and footboard)
Explain to him as he sounds out "bed" to look at his hands, this helped my son and after a couple of weeks he no longer struggled.
Take care,
S.

Totally normal. Practice, time, the bed trick have worked for us. Expect occasional mistakes even after he seems to have mastered it. I use the manual, ASL alphabet, as well, to teach my kids letters. When they are stuck, I hold up the right sign and it helps them along.

You can continue to do little games and worksheets but this is a very common confusion for children this age. Most of the time it is something that they just have to one day "get." Watch out for lower case P & Q as well. Don't worry too much about it though...it will come, it's very age appropriate.

I used to be a first grade teacher and saw this a lot with children learning to read and write. You should not worry as it is developmental and can last in some children up until they reach 2nd or 3rd grade. Just keep practicing with him and correct him when he gets mixed up without frusteration so he doesn't feed off of your cues. There are several things that I used to do with the children. I would pour salt/sugar onto a heavier paper plate and have them use their finger to draw the letters in the rough texture, put shaving creme onto an old cookie sheet and have them practice letter formation that way, use white crayon to write on a sheet of white paper then use water color over and it will appear, flashcards, I also would use the saying "b's have a belly and d's have a derriere" to help remember which side of the line had the circle. (1st grade lingo LOL) Using play dough, pipe cleaners, or finding letters in a magazine can be fun. Also in the bath use soap crayons and draw all over the walls. Just be creative and have fun with it and with time your child will get it, like I said it is very common and often times it justs clicks when they are developmentally ready. To each their own and no child is exactly like another, practice can help to reach that place sooner and also leave more time for the 2 of you to bond. :0)
Best wishes

My daughter who is the top reader of her class still gets these confused when writing and she is almost 7. It is something the grow out of over time & practice. I have tried to show her the butt & belly left/right but she still cant grasp it. She even has a d in her name is the funny part. I wouldn't fret it is completely normal.

Hey M.,

Glad to hear that it is common. My 5 year old does the same thing. It's good to see so many people in the education field say that's normal. THanks for asking the question. I'm sure you made a lot of moms breath a sigh of relief!

My son, 8, does the same thing still, and the teachers tell me it's just normal for some kids at this age.

There was a trick the 2nd grade teacher taught us: Touch your middle finger to your thumb - do this with both hands. It's like the position you use to play binoculars, so form the rest of your fingers like that, except the index fingers, which you should raise straight into the air.. Tough the tips of the middle fingers/thumbs loop together. See how this forms a "b" and then a "d"? Show this to your child, explaining that they could also pretend this is the word "bed" - the "b" sound comes first.

Thus, if they have a problem, they can count on their fingers!

HTH!

My son was tested with Child Find. It is an organization that tests pre-school aged children for learning disabilities. My son was mixing his Bs and Ds at the time and the woman who was facilitating the test and is a licensed teacher, said that was a normal pattern in children and that they grow out of it eventually. So I wouldn't worry about it unless he is well into elementary school and still making the same mistake.

That is normal and should disappear between Kindergarten and 1st grade. You can try holding up your hands, making fists, but extending the pointer fingers and thumbs. Touch your thumbs together - this should look like a "bed". So you can tell him to remember the bed and the "b" always comes first in the word bed and faces that way.....the "d" comes last and faces the other way.

Many kids struggle with these two letters. Show your child the word -bed- and then draw a little pillow above the b and a person lying across the e with their feet on the d. Show this to him many times and have him draw the sleeping person on top of the word. This trick helped many of my students. Good luck.

Hi M. - I've told my kids to picture a bed in their mind...that "bed" starts with "b" and ends with "d" and it looks like a bed when you write it. Silly, but worked.

Hey M.,
I had the same problem when I was learning to read and I still remember the solution. Make a 'thumbs up' with both hands (knuckles facing). Your left hand makes a "b" and your right a "d". Teach him the sounds for each and have him refer to them while reading. This should increase his awareness to the difference.

You can show him that if you take a lower case b and add a bump on top of the lower bump, you make an upper case B. You can't do that with a lower case D. Good luck!

I tell my daughters that a small "b" can be turned into a big "B".... they have to imagine it in their heads... hope that helps!

I teach 1st grade and I still have kids that confuse B and D even when saying the sounds of the letters. It just takes time.

I know there was a trick that another 1st grade teacher did last year (if your son knows left and right), she would say B to the right and D to the left.

M..... I work at an Elementary school in the Literacy Lab.(4 school year) I help children from K-6 better their knowlege of letters, sounds and their reading skills. Your child being 5 and reading is very impressive. Keep him reading but do not fret over the mixing of b's and d's. This is very common and will fix it's self over time and lots of practice. I still have 3 and 4th graders that do that. It takes alot of time for them to master b's, d's, p's and q's. Sometimes with the kids I teach as well as my own kids I would show them that if you look at a b it looks like the line has a belly and the d has a butt. You hear lots of giggles but for some that helps.

As I said before do not get worked up that he confuses the two letters as that is very common and will work it's self out with time and practice.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

My son is six and used to confuse the b's and d's when he was writing them for awhile and now he's fine. I think that is normal. Being that your son is only 5, then it's even more normal. Just keep reminding him and don't make a big deal and as he continues to write and read b's and d's, he'll remember which way each of themn goes. Don't panic. I think this is perfectly normal for kids when they begin reading and writing. Good luck.

Unless your 5 year old started reading spontaneously, which some kids do, it's too early to even be thinking about "teaching" reading and strategies. Developmentally, it's not unusual for kids to reverse "b"&"d" up through age 7 or 8, even occasionally after that without it being a sign of a "problem". Since he's already reading, I'd say relax and let him enJoy it.