Teaching Your Child The Alphabet Before Kindergarten

Before your child ever cracks open an “official” school book, they can learn to recognize all the letters of the alphabet, know what sound each letter makes, and even know how to write the letters!

I have seen several moms of 2-4 year olds do this successfully!  My little ones have also been able to do this with ease.

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Here are my three favorite resources for teaching the alphabet before Kindergarten!

1-Letter Recognition

{Use this book for ages 0-3}

“A is for Apple” board book. (Find it here: “A is for Apple – Trace-and-Flip Fun!”)

This is the best board book out there for teaching letter recognition. Here’s why:

#1 Each page shows both the uppercase and lowercase version of the letter vs. other books that only show uppercase. It is helpful for children to start recognizing both lower and upper case!

#2 The letters are indented so the child can trace the letter with their finger. This especially helps hands-on learners, but is great for any child!

#3 It has lift-the-flaps that are small, so they don’t get torn easily. I’m not a huge fan of lift-the-flap books, because they always seem to get torn by little hands–but I still recommend this book. In this case, I think the lift-the-flap makes the book all the more engaging for the learning process!

You’ll notice on Amazon that this book is very highly rated with great customer reviews!

{There is also a Number version of this book available. It’s called “1,2,3, Count with Me”}

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2-Letter Sounds

{Use this DVD for ages 2-5}

I frequently promote the idea of limited screen time on this blog, and I do adhere to that in my home. My children watch a very limited amount of movies.  However, for learning the letter sounds, I’m actually going to recommend an animated film.  This is a VERY popular film because it is so effective in teaching the letter sounds. Due to it’s popularity, you might be able to find one at your local Goodwill or other resale store for a dollar or two….
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…or you can grab it on Amazon, here: “LeapFrog: Letter Factory” for $7.95.

My 20 month old nephew can give the sound a letter makes when asked “What sound does ‘C’ make?”, or “What does ‘M’ say?” because of this DVD.  It uses music and funny illustrations to teach each letter sound, and also has a simple storyline to follow.

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3-Writing Letters

{Use these books for ages 2-5}

Kumon Books (Find them here: My First Uppercase Letters by Kumon, and My First Lowercase Letters by Kumon)

These are the absolute BEST for teaching kids how to write letters! Here’s why:

#1 They teach the letters in order of easiest to hardest vs. the traditional method of starting with A and ending with Z.  This is wonderful for little hands that are still learning pencil coordination because they start with straight line letters like L, I, T, and H and then move to the angled line letters like A, F, K, and N, and finally they do the curved or rounded letters like P, B, C, D, etc…

#2 They are very large print.  The letters are much bigger than normal writing workbooks, making it possible for even 3-year olds to master the letters.

#3 You can use them over and over again.  My kids have drawn and redrawn over the letters multiple times. After going through the book with a pencil, I let them go through and draw all the letters again with a pen, colored pencil, or marker.  They seem to enjoy it just as much the 11th time over as they did the 1st!

If your child is younger than 4 years old, I recommend starting with this tracing book to establish pencil control first. (find it here: Grow to Know Tracing by Kumon) This book is so fun for kids!! It starts super easy with different types of lines to trace (horizontal, vertical, slanted, curved) and continues on to simple mazes.  Try it with your two-year old, and if they don’t seem quite ready for it, wait a couple months, then try again.  For Kenny, he could handle this book easily by two years old, but for Addie, we waited until closer to three years.  The important thing is not to stress about it.

If they’re not quite ready because of short focus, or underdeveloped hand coordination, just wait and in the meantime, hand them crayons or a pencil and let them scribble on plain paper.  You can ask them to draw sticks and circles, and guide their hand in doing that on the blank page.  You can adjust the pencil or crayon in their hand so they are holding it correctly when they are scribbling.  When they are comfortable holding the writing utensil, then they are ready for this book. 🙂

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There are so many things you can teach your child before Kindergarten!  Teaching the ABC’s, letter sounds, and basic writing skills early, will give your child a HUGE boost when they start school.  If you homeschool, it will make Kindergarten a breeze for your 4 or 5 year old!

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UPDATE: Check out Step 2 in learning to read here: “Step 2: Teaching Your Child to Read Before Kindergarten”