ABC Parent Letter

Dear Parents and Families,

This ABC, American Sign Language (ASL) and phonics chart was designed to work together with the ABC Phonics: Sing, Sign, and Read!  picture book and song program.  It was developed to provide joyful multisensory literacy instruction in the classroom and at home.  Our children look forward to singing, signing, and reading this song every day! It’s amazing how quickly children learn to recognize and connect letters, ASL signs, and key phonics sounds when they are all linked together through this engaging ABC Phonics book and song.

Research has clearly demonstrated that the brain is uniquely wired to remember large amounts of new information more easily when that information is deeply integrated through the rhythm and melody of a song.  Our ABC Phonics Sing, Sign and Read!  book and song provides that important connection.  You can enjoy learning the “ABC Phonics” song with the help of FREE online ASL video tutorials at Sign2Me.com.

Please post this song chart on the refrigerator or in your child’s bedroom for additional daily practice until your child knows the entire song by heart.  Pay close attention to each key phonics sound; it needs to be crisp and accurate.

This ABC chart will help you:

• Encourage your child to playfully and dramatically practice the ABC Phonics song every day.
• See how quickly and accurately your child can say each letter and sound and sign the corresponding ASL letter and key phonics symbol.
• Guide your child’s fingerspelling and use of ASL vocabulary.
• Invite your child to teach you how to fingerspell each letter.  (Fingerspelling builds small muscle skills for handwriting and playing musical instruments!)
• Compare your child’s finger positions to the ASL signs demonstrated in the song chart and online video tutorials.

Remember:  When first learning these essential foundation skills, it’s important for children to practice each letter and sound consistently using the same ABC key phonics symbols, both at home and at school.  Daily multisensory repetition reinforces and accelerates children’s learning.

Once your child has learned the first portion of the song, invite the child to perform it over and over again for any appreciative audience.  Your child will soon be reading and performing the entire ABC Phonics: Sing, Sign, and Read!  song and will become an ABC Phonics Expert!

Thank you for your commitment to your child’s literacy development.  We hope you create many joyful family memories as you sing, sign, and read together!

Smiles!
Nellie Edge
 (Your child’s teacher)

Permission is granted for teachers to make multiple copies of this letter as a part of the ABC Phonics: Sing, Sign, and Read program by Nellie Edge and Sign2Me Publishers ©2010.  See www.nellieedge.com for more information about our action-research and video clips on “Multisensory ABC and Phonics Immersion.”