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SeaStar
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| Posted: June 07 2007 at 7:18am | IP Logged
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I would love to buy a nice wooden moveable alphabet- But I know that I could easily make my own, which would work just as well. I am so drawn to the wood, but then I think I could use the money elsewhere for things I really can't make (like geography puzzles).
Anyone have any strong feelings about this one way or another?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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AndreaG
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No, I am in the same boat as you! And have been since my oldest was 3. I never did buy a wooden one- I made several printed versions- but they were not that popular. Not sure if it was how it was made or just my kids not taking to the whole movable alphabet concept. Recently I bought a set of magnetic foamy letters (blue consonants and red vowels) and am hoping these will get more use.
I seem to remember Primary Concepts had a more affrodable plastic version.
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Meredith
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I am debating on this as well. There is a decent plastic version at M-n-S for $20, I think I will do this and set it up in a tackle box! Plastic Moveable Alphabet
I see the benefit of having the *shaped* letters, whether wood or not for tactile purposes, but I wouldn't say this is a MUST have if you can be happy with the printed/laminated. I will probably do that with cursive when my now 5yo is ready!
HTH!
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Meredith
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Mackfam
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I really feel funny being the lone dissenter here, but I bought my set.  I debated, because I knew I could easily make one with the inexpensive foamy puzzles. At first I thought this would really only have appeal with the youngest - the others already know their letters. But, the more I thought about it, the more potential I saw. First, my 10 yo has some dyslexic tendencies - nothing major anymore, but they're there. It makes writing and spelling more challenging for her. I started envisioning spelling days being spent with the moveable alphabet - no writing involved for her, she can see and feel the letters, and she would just do one at a time that way. Since there are plenty of letters in the box it is possible to spell out longer words. Also, the different vowel/consonant colors will (I hope) allow her to see the relationship the letters have with one another - i before e except after c - and so on. My 6 yo is a natural reader, but for some reason has been stumbling over ee and ea blends. I thought we could use the moveable alphabet to help build phonograms and then let him pick out consonants and vowels to build more words, especially focusing on those phonograms he is having trouble with.
I did want wood for durability, but I was also sold on the fact that there were several letters - all consistent in shape and size. I even considered 2 sets, but in the end decided to wait and see what I got and if it would work. Just my thoughts.
I ordered everything from KidAdvance. I see everyone mentioning other sites, so I'm a little nervous - hope my boxes arrive today sometime so I can check out quality.
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Jen Mackintosh
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: June 07 2007 at 9:11am | IP Logged
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I already have the printed version and it is working well for dd. But she is beyond the stage of needing to feel the shape of the letters.I made the decision to save my money and not to get the wooden set since I already had the printed version and a nice box for it. Honestly I think it is the box that made all the difference in using it! You can see a picture of it in this post.
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Theresa
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Meredith
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Mackfam wrote:
I really feel funny being the lone dissenter here, but I bought my set. I debated, because I knew I could easily make one with the inexpensive foamy puzzles. At first I thought this would really only have appeal with the youngest - the others already know their letters. But, the more I thought about it, the more potential I saw. First, my 10 yo has some dyslexic tendencies - nothing major anymore, but they're there. It makes writing and spelling more challenging for her. I started envisioning spelling days being spent with the moveable alphabet - no writing involved for her, she can see and feel the letters, and she would just do one at a time that way. Since there are plenty of letters in the box it is possible to spell out longer words. Also, the different vowel/consonant colors will (I hope) allow her to see the relationship the letters have with one another - i before e except after c - and so on. My 6 yo is a natural reader, but for some reason has been stumbling over ee and ea blends. I thought we could use the moveable alphabet to help build phonograms and then let him pick out consonants and vowels to build more words, especially focusing on those phonograms he is having trouble with.
I did want wood for durability, but I was also sold on the fact that there were several letters - all consistent in shape and size. I even considered 2 sets, but in the end decided to wait and see what I got and if it would work. Just my thoughts.
I ordered everything from KidAdvance. I see everyone mentioning other sites, so I'm a little nervous - hope my boxes arrive today sometime so I can check out quality. |
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Jennifer, These are all excellent reasons and you're not dissenting at all!! Theresa, I love your moveable alphabet especially for the cool box  That's where I know mine will be attracted to using the material as well!! WE all have to make the right choices for our own families for the money we have to spend and for the progression and learning curves of our own dc and you guys are all doing such a beautiful job, just your enthusiasm alone will be utterly contagious for your dc no matter WHAT the material!!!
I also don't think you should be nervous about your Kid Advance order either (I am ordering some from them), I am pretty sure that all of the sites we are all ordering from and contemplating all have VERY similar (if not the same) distributors!! Please do let us know what your impressions are if you can 
Blessings!
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Donna Marie
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We made a movable alphabet out of stiffened felt. A pair of sharp scissors and a few evenings got the job done. I think I used a template from JMJpublishing. I store it in a tackle box and it has held up amazingly well. Stiffened felt is my favorite medium to play with as fun foam just doesn't cut the mustard here. My kids eat it?
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CatholicMommy
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Here is what we use
I bought 3 of the above sets (used on cheap cookie sheets - one with lines drawn on it, one without, the pieces are stored in a tackle box style container), and we do have a printed laminated set as well. The older children seem more content with the laminated version when the younger children are using the magnet ones, but all the kids do seem more drawn to the magnet ones. With that said, the ONLY set we had for over a year was the laminated one and it works just fine. If not for a generous family friend wanting to purchase materials for us, we'd still only have the laminated version and be quite happy. We still went with plastic to stretch the gift further. :)
~Jessica
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ALmom
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I made a movable alphabet out of the foam alphabet sheets. My biggest concern is that the letters are a bit too small for the younger ages, so if we could have afforded it, I'm sure the real thing would have been nice. Also being stored in a wooden box instead of a bread store tray probably would make it more beautiful and appealing.
At the time I made mine, I had a child who could not read (turns out she had major vision problems) and we knew we needed stuff she could feel. I bought foam alphabets (2 boxes) from a school supply store on sale. These had upper and lowercase letters. One set was blue, and red the other was yellow and something else, so I simply chose yellow for my vowels and the other colors were consonents. It also had punctuation pieces.
It worked fine for us but here were some of the disadvantages:
The lowercasse foam letters are not quite as clear - ie the u and n, d an p, b an q were basically interchangeable because the stems/curves weren't on the foam so this didn't prevent the dyslexic type tendencies here just for that reason. They were also smaller.
Also doing it this way meant that we had tons of consonents - double letters, etc. were no problem but we sometimes ran out of vowels. I could have bought more of the foam letters but since I bought these on sale in a discontinued table, I'm not sure where I would have ordered more.
That being said, when I made the alphabet, I only had access to the true Montessori suppliers and not all these other places you guys are mentioning now. There is no way we ever would have been able to afford the prices so this was the best we could do unless we bought and painted wooden letters from a craft supply store.
My younger children played with making words - we would pronounce whatever they made and they often made things and then asked me if it was a real word. They quickly discovered word families and it was a much funner way to spell. We used the alphabet and my children were not put out by it because it was foam. It worked ok, so it really depends on where you are in your budget.
Janet
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Meredith
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Donna Marie wrote:
| We made a movable alphabet out of stiffened felt. |
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How do you *stiffen* the felt??
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Meredith
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: June 07 2007 at 11:38am | IP Logged
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 THAT is what I thought when I first heard of it. It comes stiff...it is easy to cut and is a starched rectangle of felt. Michael's carries it right next to the regular felt but I got mine in many colors from Bolek's crafts online. I got many sheets of blue and red for the vowels...
I am going to make some of the other presentations with it like a sensorial decanomial layout like at Suzanne's site. Oh! I even made a cursive movable alphabet with it and all of my regular and cursive sandpaper letters ...attached with adhesive spray on matboard. Holds up great!
God love you,
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
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Meredith
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Allright, link me to Suzanne's I've never seen this anywhere on her site...perhaps I'll give it a go
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Meredith
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Donna Marie
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Geometric Decanomial Just scroll down to the Decanomial section...it explains it a bit. I need to get the terms straighter in my head. I spelled it wrong up above and I corrected it.
I just might do the laminated paper though. It may be easier.
here is more
Also known as the Table of Pythagoras
God love you,
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
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Meredith
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Oh, duh?? I already have this printed out, I love this, in fact this is the reason I'm buying the Decanomial Bead Box!!! My kids went nuts when I showed them a picture of a child (lisia's) doing this on the floor!!
Sorry Donna Marie, another brain warp day
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Angel
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I bought my movable alphabet, too, for many of the same reasons you did, Jennifer. When I bought it two years ago, my oldest absolutely refused to write *anything* and his spelling was atrocious. (Actually, it's still pretty bad -- maybe even a learning disability -- but we've made some progress.) My dd was not reading very well either at that point. I tried initially to use magnetic letters, but I couldn't keep them organized. Plus they were pretty small. I bought the wood alphabet from Montessori Outlet (didn't know about these other places then) because I figured it would last through at least 5 kids. My 4 yo child, who was then age 2/3, also really liked it.
My older kids have sort of transitioned past it now, but I think I will put it out again for my 4 yo since he is interested in letters and can now be trusted (I think) to work with it himself (sort of as a substitute for the sandpaper letters maybe).
--Angela
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SeaStar
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Thanks for all your responses- a lot of food for thought. My biggest concern is splurging for the wooden letters and then having the kids not interested in them. I do think the container can make or break this one. Maybe I can try to print my own and then buy the wooden one if the kids really like it. But first I have to sell one house and then buy another 
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SeaStar wrote:
| But first I have to sell one house and then buy another |
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Oh boy do I know all about that!!! Many blessings and hope we could help!!
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SeaStar
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Meredith wrote:
SeaStar wrote:
| But first I have to sell one house and then buy another |
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Oh boy do I know all about that!!! Many blessings and hope we could help!! |
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Thanks- please keep praying for us. I feel like we are stuck in limbo- so many of our things packed away in anticipation of moving... only we haven't moved. I can't wait until we are all together again with dh 
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Meredith
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I am right there with you!! Dh can't make it home this weekend, so we're going to him It's a heavy cross for sure, and I will definatley pray for your peace of mind. Try to remember this is only a phase and it will pass quicker than you think. Mary's mantle to cover you with her grace. Blessings and Big Hugs!!
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Meredith
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lapazfarm
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I am with you, too, Melinda. We are leaving in 2 weeks to be with dh in Alaska for 6 weeks. Then it is me and the kids back here for a year until we can move and all be together.
I know how hard it is and I will add you to my prayers.
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Theresa
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Moveable alphabet- make or buy?
