Teaching your children the letters of the alphabet is one of the 5 Pre-Reading Skills Kids Need To Be Successful Readers. When your kids have Letter Knowledge, they can identify both capital and lowercase letters and know the letter names. Children who have letter knowledge also know the most common sounds of the letters.
This is an important pre-reading skill because children who know the names and sounds of letters can decode or sound out words and learn word patterns.
Does My Child Have Letter Knowledge?
A child who has letter knowledge…
- Understands that each letter has its own shape
- Names the letters of the alphabet
- Recognizes capital and lowercase letters
- Knows the letter sounds
Ways To Teach The Alphabet:
Read Alphabet Books
As you know, reading to your children is so important! When teaching them the letters, you can explore alphabet books together. As you read, talk about the shape of each letter and things that begin with that letter. You can introduce the sound that the letters make too. If you are looking for alphabet books, I have made a list of 26 of the Best Alphabet Books. After you read some alphabet books together and your children can recognize the letters, point out letters in their environment (this is called environmental print) such as on cereal boxes, signs on the side of the road, or menus at a restaurant.
Use Alphabet Visuals
Hang alphabet posters up in your children’s bedroom or playroom so they can become familiar with the letters and refer to them when they are learning. You can also put alphabet cards in your children’s play area so they can freely use them when they pretend play. Having magnets on your refrigerator is also an easy visual that kids can play with and use throughout the day.
Sing Alphabet Songs
To help your kids learn the letter names and order, sing alphabet songs. As you sing, say the letter names slowly so your children hear each individual name and learn to not group letters together. LMNOP! You can use the alphabet posters and point to the letters as you say the names so they make the connection between what the letter looks like and its name. There are also a lot of different alphabet songs that you can listen to like the ABC Sing-Along Flip Chart and CD from Scholastic.
Do Alphabet Puzzles
There are so many benefits to doing puzzles especially educational ones like alphabet puzzles. Not not only will alphabet puzzles help children practice identifying letters and letter order, but they will also help kids to develop their fine motor skills and hand and eye coordination. There are a variety of different alphabet puzzles including ones that include just capital letters or lowercase letters. There are also puzzles that help children match lowercase to capital letters and the letter to a picture that begins with that letter.
Play Alphabet Games
As gameschoolers, we use games everyday to learn and reinforce a variety of different skills and concepts across the curriculum. Using games to practice identifying letters and letter order is such a fun and interactive way for your children to learn. Just like puzzles, games offer many chances for your kids to develop their fine motor skills, hand and eye coordination, and much more too!
Use Hands-On Resources
Children learn best through play! Giving them hands-on alphabet resources or toys that they can explore and interact with as they play independently or with others will help them to learn the letters of the alphabet. Like puzzles and games, these fun resources will help children work on forming the letter shapes, matching capital letters to lowercase letters, identify things that begin with each letter, and much more. As they play, your kids will also work on important developmental skills that will help in the future.
Create Alphabet Sensory Activities
Multi-sensory activities are great for young children because we take in and process the information that we are learning through several of our senses at a time. By giving children sensory activities, they can learn the alphabet by not only seeing but feeling the letters too. From shaving cream to sand trays, your kids can learn more about letter formation and even practice writing through a lot of different sensory activities.
Practice Letter Formation
For more hands-on, sensory play, your children can practice forming the letters of the alphabet with a variety of materials such as play dough or play foam. They can also practice building letters by using different manipulatives such as pattern blocks, pom poms, craft sticks, snap cubes, or geo boards and bands. These hands-on activities will help your kids to develop fine motor skills, hand and eye coordination, and hand muscle strength, and more.
Use Alphabet Activities
From Letter Dot Painting to Letter Mazes, there are so many printable alphabet activities that will give your children a fun, hand-on way to learn the letters. These interactive resources will help your kids to work on letter identification, formation, and much more. They are great for children to do independently to reinforce what they have learned from you.
These fun Letter Knowledge activities will help your kids learn all of the letters of the alphabet. They will soon be on their way to learning how to read!
Pin It For Later!
Do you want to save these ideas for later? Pin this to your alphabet or letter boards on Pinterest and it’ll be here for when you’re ready!
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Tuesday 14th of September 2021
[…] Before your children can learn how to read, they need 5 pre-reading skills including letter knowledge. […]