Visual discrimination is an essential skill to be a successful reader and writer. Children need to be able to distinguish between letters that look similar in order to understand that these slight differences cause a change in meaning. For eg, dog and bog mean very different things and yet there’s only one small difference between the two written words.
Distinguishing between common objects helps children start to look for these small details and that will give them greater confidence when they’re learning to read and write.
Pre-Teaching Visual Discrimination
Talk about how to see differences between 2 objects… comparing the size, shape, colour, line details and so on. Start with comparing real objects rather than pictures.
What you’ll need
A copy of this Visual Discrimination printable and small pegs or counters. There are 3 colour and 3 black and white pages.
How to prepare
Print off either the colour or black and white pages, use card or laminate for longer life. Then cut into strips or keep as whole pages if your kids will use counters rather than pegs to mark the odd one out.
How to play
Simply decide which object is different and clip it with a peg, or cover it with a counter. Ask your child to explain what makes that object different. Encouraging them to articulate why they’ve made their decision will help solidify the activity. For eg, saying ‘the cat’s tail is going down instead of up,’ is better than, ‘it just looks different.’
Do you have your printable yet?
If not, you can download it here!
Want to learn more about pre-writing skills?
Visit these links
The Importance of Developing Pre-Writing Skills
The Importance of Developing Pre-Writing Skills (Podcast)
Tracing Lines (Free Printable)
I wish you happy teaching and learning!
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