Reading Aid: Alphabet Booklet

Tutoring has been my bread and butter for a couple of years already (not that I advertise or anything). As a tutor, I make sure my tutee accomplishes his/her assignments, reinforce what he/she has learned in school and supplement the lesson (if there is a dire need to).

During the first few years, I handled learners who just needed some supervision. Meaning to say, they had the basics covered already; they knew how to read, understood the general idea (though, at times, I had to steer them into the right direction) and can very much read on their own. Until  a few years later, I was asked to help out with preschoolers and yes, "reading beginners".

So, how do I go about teaching reading, especially for a beginner? Honestly, I had to tap my inner child and recall how I learned to read myself. But then again, reading has been my pastime for as long as I can remember and its not like these kids share the same inclination.

Well, kids today tend to have a shorter attention span, plus they are visual learners. So, I knew I needed to make my teaching materials well, eye-catching! But here's the thing, I am not very artsy at all (maarte lang!). Then, I remembered my grade one teacher who used this "alphabet booklet" as our reading aid. All the pupils were tasked to make one. My mother actually stayed up all night to make it for me. I can still remember how annoyed she was when I offhandedly told her that I need it the next day! (Hihi, I was so busy playing that I totally forgot to tell her!)

made a draft of how I should do it as I'm not as good as nanay

Anyway, I used it for a time, my younger cousins then had it as a hand-me-down and then my younger brother used it too! I remember bits and pieces of my classmates and I flipping through our booklets and looking for the letters written in the board for our activity. I don't actually remember the scenario in exact detail but I recall we were on our toes! And we did learn how to read, exceptionally well too! (Applause for my grade one teacher; she was strict but really effective!). I can't find the original booklet anymore, but I decided to make one out of scrap during my college days. I stumbled upon it recently and decided to fix it.

While doing so, I thought of making a new one for my Tita-Ninang who I know is having difficulties teaching her granddaughter how to read. Hence, this project.


Mind you, I only used the things that were readily available to me. I absolutely refuse to shell out a single centavo as it would defeat my all time principle of using what I have, hehe. It's up to you how you want yours to look like, if you want to buy your materials and really get into it, no problem. I simply prefer to be economical, quite practical.

So here's what I used:

* old cardboard / used folder or illustration board --- for the cover

* old calendars (big and sturdy kind) --- for the pages

* scraps of cartolina / colored paper ---for the letters

* magazines (optional) --- the letters or just for designs

* art materials (crayons, color pencils, markers, etc,)

* glue / glue gun / adhesive tapes / yarn / ribbons --- for putting them together, duh?!
* paper cutter / scissors
* puncher

* plastic cover --- for the pockets

I used a calendar as the background of the booklet. I found old but sturdy folders and just cut them into halves and pasted the calendars. I covered the front and the back ones with plastic cover as they would serve as the hard covers of the booklet.

I punched holes into the folders and chose a red ribbon to tie them up. Oh, and if you are wondering where I got the pages (with the various quotes), it's from this year's National Bookstore calendar. I just couldn't help myself! It's so cute!!!I didn't color them yet as I figured I could use it as a side activity. I then cut the remaining plastic cover into parts and folded the edges to make a pocket. The size was not exactly uniform as they were scraps. I then cut the colored paper/cartolina into small sizes. I will  write the letters in them.

the pages I used are from this year National Book Store's calendar

cut out letters to spell words and the like

I'm still thinking whether I should put a space for writing my own quotes but I don't want it to look messy. With this in mind, I decided to group the letters into vowels and consonants. I also added two more pockets for the letters  "Ng" and "Ñ" for "Alpabetong Filipino", hihi. Now, that I've rediscovered this, I am incorporating it in activities especially for my summer tutees!