Sometimes simply having something visual for them to refer to in the classroom helps tremendously. I have seen the poster of a bed. The headboard is the b, and the foot of the bed is the d. I have also seen one that says for b, "bat before the ball," with a picture of a baseball bat and baseball. For the d, it says, "doorknob before the door." You could also teach children to make fists with their hands, palms facing them, and raise their thumbs. In the alphabet, the b comes first, then the d, and we read from left to right. Hope these help!

I use the "see my d" strategy. When writing a d, students have to say "see my d" as they first make a "c" and then make the line down as they finish the letter. Works for my kids!

I teach special education students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Many of my students also mix these up. Provide encouragement for them first to make sure they do not feel "defeated." Next, I would provide modeling. You could even have them use different materials to make the letters. For example, have a small group time where they use wiki sticks or playdoh to create lowercase b's and d's. They could also work to make words using these manipulatives. The students could say the words to classmates. This may help. "Perfect Practice makes Perfect Work."

I have shown students a graphic that shows the word"bed" as an actual bed.Then, I ask these student to write the word "bed" on the top of their paper. i say "put your name to bed!". You'd be surprised how much this helps!

I also teach first grade and I find many students reverse the b's and d's. I teach that there is a baby "b" hiding in an uppercase b, but there is not a baby "d" hiding in an uppercase D. I give these students a name badge on their desk that has the alphabet printed on it, because the a, b, c's posted in the front of the room are not being helpful as a resource for them. I also give these students extra handwriting practice sheets with b and d.

Both of my children had this problem, the oldest has grown out of it (in middle school now). The youngest is in second grade. She is almost there. The teachers have not helped with this. Since she has a "d" in her name. I always have her reflect to her name before writing the "d". This worked for her. So, if there is a word pasted on the desk such as d=dad or b= baby. This will help as their check point before proceeding in writing a word that has those letters.

I have seen teachers who use the word 'bed' to help students remember the direction the b and d go.

Use the acronym BAD as a reminder. Have them say, "this is bad". B.A.D. standing for this is a B And a D.