Teaching ABCs 101

Do you know how to teach the ABCs? There are a few things you need to learn before you start teaching your child the ABCs. You need to know when your child is ready to learn the alphabet. The perfect age to start teaching the ABCs is around two. Of course you should be patient and know that your child’s memorization skills are not quite there yet. Some parents will tell you their children began to recognize the letters at eighteen months and could recite the alphabet by twenty two months. Other parents have children that don’t learn the ABCs until they are three or four years old.

The best way to evaluate what age you should start teaching the ABCs is with your child. Pace yourself and don’t try to make your child into a genius by forcing too much on them, after all, they are still a toddler. If your child is saying a lot of words like “mama” and “dada”, etc. then you probably can start teaching them the ABCs. By this point they have learned the sounds of the letters and are ready to learn more.

Prepare your children for success in school by singing the alphabet song and also reading with them. Most everyone will tell you the best method to teach the ABCs is to read. Make the time to sit down with your child and read. You can purchase alphabet books and focus on reading them until your child has the ABCs down. Reading numerous types of books will help your child to be exposed to different types of new words and understand their meanings.

You can find several books at your local library that focus on the alphabet and learning one letter at a time. If your child loses interest in one book, pick out another. Toddlers typically enjoy seeing new things that help their growing curiosity become satisfied.

Some popular books that others like for teaching the ABCs are: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, Curious George by H.A. Ray, or There’s A Monster Under My Bed by James Howe.

Flashcards are another proven method for teaching the ABCs. Not every child responds well to flash cards so be patient with your child to make sure this is the best method for them. Using animals to correspond with letters on the flash card is one of the best methods for teaching the ABC’s. Since most children can recognize animals, they are quick to pick up on letters that correspond to the animal.

Walk outside and point out what letters correspond to. You can identify the letter T with a tree or F with a fence. This soon can become a fun game with your child as you encourage them to find letters that correspond to objects in nature.

Make an alphabet book. As you teach the ABCs, you should be having fun with your child. Don’t pressure them to memorize too many letters a day or they can become frustrated. Sit down with construction paper and cut out letters together and compile them into a book that they can flip through. This will help them learn the ABCs because they helped make the book and it will be easier to remember.

Play the “I Spy” game with your child. This is a fun game to play with the whole family as you can sit in a circle and start pointing out objects in your home and what letters correspond to them. You can also play other games with your child to teach the ABCs. Using the flashcards is a fun game to play when your child starts to recognize the letters. They are able to read through the flashcards quicker and this allows them to challenge their mind.