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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Create Name Songs to Teach Preschoolers Spelling of First Names



Has anyone else created a song to help your child learn to spell her name?

I thought that I was soooo creative for coming up with this idea.  And then I mentioned it to my friend, Lisa, and it turns out that she had come up with individual name songs for all three of her kids, to help them spell their names, too!

Aren't we both just brilliant?  And you can be brilliant, too!  Here's how:

First, you try to sing your child's name letter by letter, trying a variety of different tunes.  You can add in lines such as, "That's how you spell _____."  I think it's harder for very short or very long names, but here are some suggestions of good songs to try:


When the Saints Go Marching In - good for 4 letter names, you can just repeat the spelling a few times:
Oh my name's John.
J - O - H - N
Oh my name's John,
J-O-H-N.
Oh, yeah, my name is easy to spell.
John is spelled J-O-H-N


My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean:  good for 5 letter names; For example:
My name is spelled E - L- L -I - S.
My na-ame is easy, you see.
My name is spelled E- L- L- I- S.
Now, spe-eell my name with me.


The Farmer in the Dell - best for 6 letter names:
A -M- A- N- D- A,
A- M- A- N- D- A,
That's how you spell my name,
A- M- A- N- D- A.


Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - good for 7 letter names:
M-A-D-I-S-O-N
That spells Madison.
M-A-D-I-S-O-N
Madison, yes, Madison.
M-A-D-I-S-O-N
That's how you spell Madison.


Row, Row, Row Your Boat - good for 8 letter names
F-L-A-N-N
E-R-Y
That is how you spe-ell
Fla-an-nery


 Good luck!  (And, I'd love to hear how your song turned out!)




What mnemonic device do you still remember from school?

4 comments:

  1. I totally did this for my kids! I did the MIckey Mouse song for my daughter and a made up chant for my son. And I made up another song to learn our phone # and another for our address. :)

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  2. Thanks, Clare! And CC, that's a great idea for the phone # and address!

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  3. These are some very fun and helpful to use for my daycare littles. They are 3-4 and they love sing-songing their names. For my Mackenzie, I found another resource. Just FYI : Jean Warren has some other ideas on her website for longer names also. PreschoolExpress.com

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