Help for b and d Reversals with “Mr. Beady Eyes Glasses” Trick

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It’s not unusual for young children to need help with b and d reversals. If your child confuses b and d when reading and writing, here’s a trick that will help. 

My youngest daughter was having a lot of trouble with reversals recently, and we came across a cute trick using a drawing called “Mr. Beady Eyes.”  See my drawing below.

This was helpful.  However, it was not as effective if she didn’t have the image in front of her as a reference. 

So, I came up with a “b” and “d” reversal memory trick that my daughter could do with her hands. It complements the Mr. Beady Eyes concept but provides a memory cue that doesn’t rely on referencing the actual drawing.

This trick utilizes a multi-sensory approach. It includes visual, auditory and tactile memory cues. 

Before having my own children, I was a classroom teacher at a remedial school, where we had many dyslexic children. Consequently, I learned the importance of engaging as many of the senses as possible to aid learning.  

Beady Eyes Glasses Memory Trick

One day, my girls were practicing the ASL alphabet. I noticed that the sign for the letter “d” looks just like a written letter “d.”  This gave me the idea for Beady Eyes Glasses.

It’s so simple!  Point your pointer fingers straight up and form round hollow holes with the rest of your fingers and thumb.  Put your fingertips together to form the beady eyes glasses.  You can clearly see the letters “b” and “d,” just like on the Mr. Beady Eyes drawing. 

Most children will get it right away, but if you’re showing a younger child, you may need to explain what beady eyes are.

Also, emphasize to him that “beady” sounds just like the letters “b” and “d.”  You may also need to point out that this tells them the order of the letters.  They are in the order from left to right,  the same direction we read and write.   

Have them put on their glasses for fun. Also, if you have the Beady Eyes Glasses on your face, Mom, the letters will still look right to your child.

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Practice to Check for Understanding

Lastly, practice using this technique with your child to make sure they understand.   You’ll need some paper or a dry erase board.

First, ask your child to write the letter “b” and then the letter “d.”  Have him make Beady Eyes Glasses with his hand before writing.

You may need to remind a younger child to stick up his pointer fingers if he struggles with the hand formation.

Next, you write the letters “b” and “d” and make sure he can identify them correctly.

As an added bonus, your child has just learned the letter “d” in sign language.

The Best Handwriting Curriculum

A great handwriting curriculum for teaching the mechanics of letter formation is Handwriting Without Tears. My oldest child was literally in tears over handwriting in kindergarten. But, when I switched her to Handwriting Without Tears, we never again had tears over handwriting. Amazing!

Handwriting Without Tears has excellent handwriting books for cursive as well as print. I highly recommend these books if you’re looking for a writing course that actually works without frustrating your child to tears.

Related Reading: Child Writing Numbers Backwards? Try This Quick Fix

I hope my Beady Eyes Glasses idea will help you. Please share if you think it will help someone.