“ Teaching Your Child The Alphabet”
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Learning the alphabet is a key part of your child's education especially when it comes to learning to read and write. It is
important that children learn not only to recite the letters in
order, but also to recognize letters out of sequence. In
addition, after mastering basic recognition, children will need
to learn the sounds each letter represents and how to write it.
While many parents recognize how important learning the
alphabet is to their child they are not always sure how to go
about teaching the alphabet to their child. Many parents spend
a lot of money on expensive products and programs designed to
teach the alphabet but that really isn't necessary and in fact
may well be counterproductive.
As a literate adult you don't need any tools, programs or books
to help you in your quest to teach the ABCs to your child. You
already possess all you need in your head (your own knowledge
of the alphabet) and in your house. There are three simple keys
to teaching your child the alphabet:
* Make it fun
* Make it real
* Make it regular
The most important rule to remember when teaching young
children is to make sure that learning is fun. If you can make
lessons into a game, a craft, or a song then your child will be
a willing and eager participant.
If you make learning into
something boring or something that looks like work then you
will have to fight your child every step of the way. Your child
wants to spend time having fun with you so why not make lessons
into fun time that you spend together so you both look forward
to the experience? Just because a lesson was fun enough to make
your child want to do it again-and-again does not lessen its
value. Learning can be fun and something that was learned in an
enjoyable way is much more likely to stick with your child in
the long term than a lesson that was forced. If you can make
learning the alphabet fun for your child then you will have
accomplished two very important steps toward your child's
long-term success -- knowledge of the alphabet and an eagerness
to learn.
Young children need to experience their world through their
senses. They do learn in the more traditional ways -- seeing
and hearing -- but often prefer a more tactile approach that
includes touching, smelling, and tasting.
The more you can make
the letters of the alphabet come alive for your child and give
your child access to those letters in a way that utilizes their
senses then the easier it will be to Learn . Also, utilizing the
real world for your lessons will not only save you money but
will also help you teach your child the value of literacy.
Preschoolers learn at an incredibly fast rate but because they
are learning and experiencing so many new things they can
forget what they have learned just as quickly. That is why it
is important to make lessons a regular part of your child's
day. It doesn't mean that you have to set aside a separate part
of the day because often alphabet lessons can take place at the
grocery store, in the car, or at the kitchen table. What is
important is that you consistently introduce the letters to
your child in various forms and consistently reinforce the
acquisition of the alphabetic principle. Even after your child
has mastered the alphabet make sure you periodically review the
letters so they don't lose the knowledge.
If you make learning the alphabet fun, real, and consistent
then your preschooler will definitely have a head start when
the time comes to learn to read.
About The Author: Deanna Mascle shares more tips about teaching
your child the alphabet in her blog at
http://TeachYourChildTheAlphabet.com
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Teach the Alphabet: 8 Fun Tips to Teach Your Child the Alphabet
toddlers activity & kids learning activity for toddler
Knowing the alphabet is a vital precursor to learning how
to read. Children who know the alphabet before entering
school have a natural advantage over children who can’t
identify the letters of the alphabet.
Learning the alphabet
doesn’t have to be an arduous task. In fact, teaching the
alphabet is more effective when you make it fun. Different
children find different activities fun, so try different
teaching techniques. Here are eight tips you can try to
teach your child the alphabet.
1. The Alphabet Song
It may sound very basic, but before you actively try to
teach your child the visual representation of letters,
first teach them the letter names with the alphabet song.
After having sung this with your child several times, then
you can start pointing to letters as you sing the song to
show your child that the letter names actually match
printed letters.
Print out a sheet of large letters and
point to them as you sing. After doing this a few times,
hold your child’s hand and point their finger to the
letters as you sing. Finally have the child point to the
letters on his/her own as you sing together.
2. Point to Letters on Everyday Objects
Every so often throughout the day point to a word you see
and tell your child the starting letter or ending letter.
For example, if you’re out with your child at Walmart, as
you’re walking towards the building say, “Look, Walmart
starts with W.” At the breakfast table point to the cereal
box at talk about the first letter of the cereal name, or
if there’s a logo on your clothes, talk about the letters
of the logo. There are countless opportunities to point out
letters here and there. Encourage your child to point out
letters that he/she knows and make a big deal about it when
the child does this independently.
3. Do a Letter Hunt
Pick a letter as the theme letter for your letter hunt.
Then go around the house, or the shopping mall, or wherever
you are, and find the letter you are looking for in at
least 10 places: signs, books, products, toys, etc. If you
are at home doing this you can actually pick up the items
and collect the 10 things in a pile. Kids will enjoy
collecting the items and then going around helping you put
the items away.
4. Alphabet Coloring Pages
Many children love coloring so much that they can spend
several hours every week coloring. Why not print off some
coloring pages with the letter prominently displayed and
associated with a picture of something that begins with the
letter. Tell your child what the letter is and have the
child repeat it back to you. Then discuss the picture and
explain that the picture also starts with the letter.
5. Alphabet Mazes
Some children aren’t as interested in coloring but really
enjoy finding their way through a maze. While the child is
working on the maze talk to them about the letter and have
them repeat the letter name. Talk to them about words that
begin with that letter. After they finish the maze have
your child try to draw the letter at the bottom of the page.
6. Letters of their Name
Often the first letters children learn are the letters of
their name. Start by just saying aloud the spelling of
their name. If you can come up with a little song for the
letters of their name then the learning is usually much
faster. For example, if your child has a 5 letter name try
replacing the letters of the song BINGO with the letters of
your child’s name. With a 3 letter name you can replace the
first 3 letters of BINGO with the letters of the name and
replace GO with “spells name”. For example, with the name
Pat you can sing “P-A-T spells Pat, P-A-T spells Pat, P-A-T
spells Pat, and Pat is your name.”
7. Tracing Their Name
After they can say aloud the spelling of their name then
make or print out some tracing pages of their name. This
creates a direct association of the shape of the letters
with the letters of their name. This activity strongly
reinforces learning to recognize and print their own name.
Not only are they learning letters, but also early printing
skills.
8. Tracing the Letters of the Alphabet
After your child can read and print their own name, then
he/she can start tracing the rest of the alphabet. This
will reinforce the oral learning of the alphabet with early
printing skills. Either create tracing pages of letters, or
print out some pre-made letter tracing pages. Repetitive
tracing of each letter will solidify their learning of the
letter shapes.
The most important things to remember about teaching your
child the alphabet are to keep it fun and keep at it daily.
You don’t have to work at it for long stretches at a time.
That will only frustrate a child. Teach the alphabet in
little bits at various times throughout each day and you’ll
be amazed at your child’s progress.
About the Author:
Sheila Anderson creates fun and educational printable
activity pages and worksheets. These free printables can be
found at http://www.PrintActivities.com
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