Child having trouble learning alphabet

Early warning signs of a learning disability

How can I tell if my child has a learning disability?

During the preschool and kindergarten years, children learn at different rates and with different styles. But if your child has significant trouble with numbers, letters, or speech, he may have a learning disability. Learning disabilities are a category of disorders that stem from how the brain processes information, making it difficult to grasp some concepts.

A child with a learning disability may understand a story perfectly when it is read to him but will struggle to answer questions about it afterward. Another child might easily recite the alphabet from A to Z but be unable to name individual letters when they're pointed out. Still another child may have a hard time putting together puzzles, tying his shoes, or buttoning a sweater.

Children with learning disabilities may have normal or above normal intelligence, but they have trouble expressing their knowledge. Because it is so difficult for children with learning disabilities to master certain tasks, they often experience frustration, anger, low self-esteem, and even depression. Your child may know just what he wants to accomplish – to say or write or do – but getting there isn't a straight path.

"Information going in the eyes and ears is somehow not translated correctly. What comes out is not the correct answer," says Ron Liebman, a child psychiatrist in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. "We're talking about children with normal IQs."

Learning disabilities are often grouped into three categories: speech or language disorders; problems with reading, writing, or math skills; and a range of other disorders such as problems with coordination, motor skills, or memory.

Sometimes it's clear that a child has one kind of disability, such as dyslexia or dyscalculia – disorders that impair reading and math abilities, respectively. But it's also common for children to have a combination of different disorders.

Attention deficit disorders are not by themselves learning disabilities. But children with learning disabilities frequently have attention problems, as well.

Red flags that could indicate a learning disability in children age 5 and under include:

Delayed speech
Pronunciation problems
Difficulty learning new words
Difficulty learning to read
Trouble learning numbers, the alphabet, days of the week, or colors and shapes
Poor concentration
Difficulty following directions
Poor grasp of a crayon or pen
Difficulty with buttoning, zipping, and tying

How can I have my child evaluated?

Diagnosing learning disabilities is controversial. Some experts believe they are overdiagnosed, a handy catchall for a host of normal differences in learning styles. Diagnosing learning disabilities in preschoolers and very young children is particularly controversial because they learn at such vastly different rates.

Some of the criteria for making a diagnosis of a learning disability may not become apparent until the early grades in grade school. But any developmental delays can and should be evaluated starting in infancy. There are many types of early intervention services that can address delays and children can benefit enormously from working on these skills at an early age, which can help children reach their full potential. If you're worried about your child's competence with reading, writing, numbers, or speech, talk about it with people who are familiar with your child, such as your child's teacher.

Teachers are usually adept at spotting the early warning signs of a learning disability. If your child's teacher hasn't already raised the issue with you, don't hesitate to bring up your concerns. Talk to your child's doctor, too.

Sometimes what you worry may be a learning disability is just a temporary setback that your child will outgrow. But it's best not to wait and see. You'll be doing your child a favor if you trust your instincts and talk to her teacher or doctor about getting an evaluation if her development seems off to you.

Your child will need a formal evaluation for learning disabilities – usually done by a child psychologist, neuropsychologist, neurodevelopmental pediatrician, or psychiatrist – to know for sure whether she has a problem. The evaluation is done in an office setting and takes a couple of hours. Your child will be asked to do various tasks using toys and educational materials.

Your public school district should be able to help arrange an evaluation. By law, every school district must have a procedure for identifying, assessing, and planning an educational program for kids with any kind of disability, including learning disabilities.

What can be done to help a child with learning disabilities?

Learning disabilities are permanent and don't go away. But much can be done to help your child compensate for the disability and learn to work around the problem. For instance, the teacher can present materials in different ways, and your child can practice skills over and over again in a setting that is supportive and patient. Children with learning disabilities can and do learn.

As a parent, one of the most important things you can do is support your child and assist with positive learning experiences. The goal is to focus on your child's strengths. If he struggles with the alphabet but loves animals, encourage that interest and help him become an animal expert.

Give your child lots of self-esteem boosts by encouraging his skills and passions. "Plan activities that you know your child can do and be successful at," says Nicki Arnold, a psychologist and mother of a son with learning disabilities. Arnold nurtured her son's love for skiing when he was just 5 and wasn't doing well academically.

Don't try to be an expert on treating learning disabilities yourself. Your job is to provide encouragement, love, and patience and to seek out experts who have the skills to help your child learn. If your child has been diagnosed, he should be eligible for special services.

State and federal disability laws require many children with learning disabilities to receive free services. There are special private schools for children with learning disabilities, but these can be expensive. Consult with your child's teacher or local organizations serving children with disabilities.

Psychological counseling can also help. Children with learning disabilities often feel like failures, leading to low self-esteem. They are often frustrated, and their frustration can turn into anger. "The emotional or psychological issues are, in my mind, more important than learning that two plus two equals four," Liebman says.

Parents need to learn how to handle their child's emotional outbursts. Although conventional wisdom says that you shouldn't encourage a child who's a tantrum or crying fit, this kind of emotional release can be beneficial for kids with learning disabilities. If you stay close to your child during these times and tell him that you love him and you know that things are hard for him, you show her that he doesn't have to struggle alone – you'll always be there to help him.

Remember to take care of yourself, too. Being the parent of a child with learning problems is stressful. Many disability organizations also have support groups and counseling for parents.

Find out more about what causes learning disabilities and how many children are affected.

My Child Is Having Trouble Learning Letters

3-5 years old alphabet phonics learning letters letter sounds toddlers

Is your child having trouble learning letters?

You wish the pressure of having children “know their letters” by a certain age wasn’t a thing. But you know it's pretty much expected these days that children will start school already knowing the alphabet. You sure don’t want your child to be at a disadvantage because you didn’t do enough to get ready for learning to read.

So you spend lots of time searching for alphabet activities on Pinterest, but it feels like you're always looking for that elusive activity that's finally going to make letter sounds stick.

“My son gets mixed up when I show him more than one letter. He also confuses lowercase and uppercase letters and letter names and letter sounds. I’m already going super slow, and repeating the same letter activity is getting really boring.”

The worst part is when you start to worry that your child is falling behind because of this struggle to learn letters. You might even catch yourself thinking…

"I'm not sure I'm cut out for this."
"I don't think I'm doing this right."
"Am I doing enough?"

I know that you just want to do everything possible to help your preschooler get ready for learning to read. So let’s fix this, ok?

It’s not you or your child! It’s your STRATEGY.

Most likely your child is having trouble learning letters because you’ve missed a step in the learning sequence.

It’s easy to skip a step or get sidetracked with random alphabet activities when don’t have a roadmap to show you the big picture.

You end up trying to piece it together yourself based on alphabet activities that you find on Pinterest.

It's so much easier when you know the learning sequence from pre-reading to early reading and you can clearly see what your child needs to focus on right now!

That's why I created the Teaching Letter Sounds Toolkit based on my Montessori teacher training and years of experience in the classroom. You get the proven strategy and all the printables you'll need to teach letter sounds using fun, hands-on activities.

One simple explanation for toddlers who are having difficulty learning letters is that you’ve started too early.

It's a common mistake to think that your toddler is ready for learning letters when he or she starts pointing to letters and asks, “What’s that?”

The truth is that a toddler's “interest in letters” is actually just an eagerness for language.

Toddlers simply want to know the names of everything to build vocabulary.

Young toddlers aren't developmentally ready for the abstract thinking required to understand that letters are symbols that represent sounds in our spoken language.

It won’t be until your child has developed some phonemic awareness that he or she will begin to understand that words are made up of speech sounds in a row.

It isn't until children are around 3 years old that they've gone through the language explosion and they are now ready to become aware of individual sounds in spoken words.

Once a child can at least identify the beginning sound of spoken words, then it's time to show what those sounds look like using alphabet letters.

There’s really not much point trying to get your 18 month old to learn letters by buying a bunch of alphabet toys and puzzles, stamping letters into play dough or making letter crafts.

Sure, some young toddlers can memorize letter names and sounds. But that’s no more impressive than naming any object!

You can really simplify learning letters when you focus on phonemic awareness before you start letter recognition activities.

Otherwise your child is just memorizing letter names and sounds out of context and in isolation with little understanding of what the letters actually mean.

One of the biggest mistakes is starting sound-letter matching activities before your child understands that letters are symbols.

The alphabet letters only have meaning because we’ve all agreed that a certain written symbol represents a sound in our spoken language.

Phonemic awareness is the best predictor of how well children learn to read!

That's because reading uses knowledge of the code between speech sounds and written symbols.

Phonemic awareness is what really matters for reading readiness.

By focusing on phonemic awareness first, the letter symbols will have meaning for your child when it comes time to associate them with the sounds in spoken words.

Your child might be having trouble learning letters if you’ve made it complicated by teaching too many concepts at the same time.

When you search “learning letters” on Pinterest to find alphabet activity ideas, it’s easy to think that you’re supposed to teach uppercase and lowercase letter names and letter sounds, all at the same time.

But knowing the names of the alphabet letters doesn’t prepare your preschooler for learning phonics!

Knowing letter names can actually interfere with learning phonics and beginning to read.

When sounding out a word, some children who know letter names will say the letter name instead of the speech sound that the letter represents. Then they cannot hear the word when they blend it together because it doesn’t make any sense.

For example, imagine a child who sees the word “cat” and sounds out “see ay tee”. This child will be unable to decode the word because of confusion between letter names and letter sounds.

Knowledge of letter names becomes more useful when your child shifts away from inventive spelling in the early elementary years. There’s no rush!

I teach only lowercase letter sounds because most letters in written words are lowercase, not uppercase.

It's OK to postpone uppercase letter sounds! They really aren’t that relevant until your child is at the stage of reading sentences that begin with an uppercase letter.

For some children, it’s just too much when you try to teach uppercase and lowercase letter names and sounds all at the same time.

Quick Summary: Trouble Learning Letters

If your child is having trouble learning letters (or you want to avoid this scenario), STEP 1 is to play phonemic awareness games to help your child hear the speech sounds in spoken words. That way your child will have the foundation needed to understand that letters represent speech sounds. STEP 2 is to show what those speech sounds look like using Montessori sandpaper letters.

If you want to be guided through these steps and learn some fun sound-letter matching games to help your child remember letter sounds, check out my Teaching Letter Sounds Toolkit.

How to learn the alphabet with a child. Learning letters together

Letters are all around us. Signs, announcements, books and magazines - all this the child sees from a very early age. But it does not immediately become clear that these “squiggles” are not just incomprehensible meaningless icons, but a way to convey information in the form of text. Therefore, with the study of the alphabet, a completely new world opens up for the baby, in which letters are folded into syllables, and syllables into words that can be read and later written. In our article, we will tell you when to start learning the alphabet, how to make the process interesting for a child, and what methods are best for children of different ages.

Why learn the alphabet?

It seems that the answer to this question is quite obvious - that the child can read. However, it's worth digging a little deeper. Often, parents do not fully realize what caused their desire for the child to quickly master the letters. If the kid is already 5-6 years old and the first grade is just around the corner, then the desire to learn the basics so that further study is easier, understandable and logical. Or maybe your child is only three years old, but you want him to show off his knowledge at a family evening? Or do all the acquaintances vying with each other say that their children have not only learned the alphabet, but also read freely? Answer these questions honestly and consider whether it is necessary to postpone training until a more appropriate moment.

The most important thing is whether your child is ready. Curiosity, interest in new things, the ability to memorize previously unknown information - all these are signs that you can start learning the alphabet. But you should always remember that there is no point in teaching against the child’s desire, and all classes should be held in an unobtrusive playful way. Questions “how to read?”, “What kind of letter?” Are pouring in on you, the baby is interested in not only pictures in books, but also captions to them, or are you going to school soon? Well, then feel free to start your acquaintance with the alphabet.

Key recommendations

An alphabet is not just a specific sequence of letters. This is the foundation from which the child's learning to read begins. Therefore, it is important to understand that it is possible to simply learn the alphabet as a rhyme or a counting rhyme, but it is practically useless if there is no practical application of the information received. If you do not start trying to teach your child to read immediately, but after a long break, there is a high probability that your baby will simply forget the letters by this point, and you will have to start all over again.

There are some general rules to follow when your child is just starting to learn the alphabet:

1. Learn sounds, not letters means may not match. For a small child, on the contrary, such a concept may be too complicated. Do not confuse the baby: over time, he will learn that the letters are called “be”, “el” or even “and short”, better demonstrate which sounds are indicated by the corresponding signs - “b”, “l”, “y”, give examples of words with these sounds.

So the child with less effort will be able to understand how syllables are read, and later whole words.

2. Do not learn the alphabet in order

Remembering a clear sequence is, of course, useful for the development of a child's memory, but it does not make it obvious to him what he actually learned and why. If, however, the alphabet is disassembled gradually, according to a clear and logical system, there will be much more benefit, since knowledge will not be superficial, but based on a deeper understanding of the structure of the language.

3. Do not mix vowels and consonants

Learning letters mixed up is the same mistake as memorizing the alphabet strictly in order. Vowels and consonants must be studied separately, otherwise the child will be completely confused. Always remember that things that seem clear and simple to us, small children learn for the first time, so even the main sign by which sounds are divided (vowel-consonant) is not immediately comprehended. The situation when the studied letters do not have any common feature is confusing and slows down the assimilation of the material.

4. First - vowels

There are only 10 vowels in the Russian alphabet, so the child will have to memorize a little at first. In addition, for vowels, only a drawn-out “singing” and slight changes in the articulation of the lips are required - neither the tongue nor the teeth need to be connected, so it will be easier for the baby to understand how the written sign correlates with the sound being pronounced. When all the vowels are firmly learned, it will be possible to add consonants.

5. Don't force learning

Of course, you really want your child to learn all the letters and start reading as soon as possible, but you still shouldn't rush. Learn one or two letters, repeat what you have learned more often, do not move on to a new one without waiting for the consolidation of what has already been studied. Start with very simple and clear things. Show the young student the letter “a”, tell how it is pronounced, what it looks like, what words begin with it. Fold it together with the baby from sticks, draw or mold it from plasticine - tactile sensations will help the child better remember the image of the letter and associate it with sound. Apply theory to practice, for example, ask while walking to look for the letter "a" on signs, in advertisements, and so on. Only when the child has learned the letter and the corresponding sound, proceed to the next, all the same one at a time, methodically and slowly.

Age-appropriate alphabet learning

3-4 years old

If you think your child is ready to learn letters at 3 years old, here are some tips and tricks to help you get great results.

First of all, in no case do not force or coerce the child into classes, they should take place exclusively at the request of the child, in a fun way, and end as soon as you see signs of fatigue and weakening of concentration. The optimal lesson time for a three-year-old is 5-7 minutes.

Do not set a goal to learn the entire alphabet in a short time, it is at best pointless, and in some cases it can even be harmful - up to a certain point the child's brain may simply not be ready for this or that knowledge. Don't try to outsmart nature: if your child is three years old, then your task is more to interest and captivate him by showing him the basics.

Do not overload your child with a lot of information - let your "lessons" take place no more than twice a week, and take the rest of the time to consolidate and repeat the studied material. At the same time, the regularity of classes is very important, conducting them from time to time is not the best idea, the child will get confused and forget what you went through with him.

Start with vowels. Move on to consonants only when you are sure that the child has firmly learned all 10 vowels and brought the skill to automatism. Vowels are best taught in pairs: A - Z, O - E, U - Yu, E - E, S - I. So it will be easier for the baby to remember. Later, this will also help with the assimilation of the principle of hardness-softness of consonants.

Use books with bright, large pictures. Closer to the age of four, the child will also be interested in blocks with letters, coloring books and stickers, posters with and without voice acting; but be careful with posters - remember that we need to learn the sounds, not the names of the letters, so look for posters that sound exactly the sounds. Magnetic letters will also help - they can be placed on a magnetic board or simply on the refrigerator. You can learn rhymes and songs with the mention of the sounds that you are studying, play with letters cut out of paper.

Let the child represent the letter in different ways - by drawing, modeling with plasticine, folding with sticks or drawing lines in the sand or grits. Such activities are also useful for fine motor skills, and this is a very important skill for the baby, which affects, among other things, the development of speech.

There are more consonants in Russian, so it will take a longer time to study them, and if you consider that most consonants have both hard and soft variants, the task becomes more complicated. But with the right approach, there should not be any particular difficulties. If the child has already mastered all the vowels and understands the difference between, for example, “A” and “I”, then it will not be difficult for him with your help to figure out how “ma” and “me” differ. You can make a table where such pairs of syllables will be shown clearly. The main thing is to always pronounce the sound clearly and achieve the same pronunciation in the child. Correct articulation is the key to both good diction and correct reading in the future.

5-6 years old

For all our commitment to early development, many experts agree that the optimal age for learning the alphabet is 5-6 years old. The child will soon go to school, which means that his brain is already quite ready to memorize all the letters and gradually learn to read. At this age, it is especially important that your preschooler speaks clearly and correctly, so pay maximum attention to his speech, whether all sounds are pronounced without problems, whether some of them need to be corrected independently or with the help of a speech therapist.

If at three years the emphasis is on the play component of classes, then by the age of 5-6 it can be slightly shifted towards the child's consciousness. Tell us about how great it will be to read books yourself, how knowledge of the alphabet will come in handy at school. Keep the elements of the game, use the same methods that are suitable for four-year-olds, but increase the lesson time, introduce more printed materials. You will need special recipes for preschoolers, books and manuals with creative tasks, various sets of cards.

Introduce your child to syllables. Use single letter flashcards to show how a syllable is built - for example, say that a consonant and a vowel run or are attracted to each other and demonstrate their convergence by saying the syllable at the same time. Later, use cards with a ready-made printed or hand-drawn syllable in the lessons. Do not forget about the regularity of classes and the constant repetition of the material covered.

ABC training

By the age of six, a good primer will be clear and easy to learn. For example, the “Primer” by N. Zhukova is considered one of the best, although for younger children it may seem boring - it focuses on learning without providing entertainment materials. But in this primer much attention is paid to speech therapy moments.

“My ABC Book: A Book for Teaching Preschoolers to Read” by NV Nishcheva is also a manual with a speech therapy bias, but the author adheres to his own method of studying letters and sounds. The path from simple sounds to complex ones will help the child develop both reading skills and good articulation.

In order for a child to develop a love for reading from a very early age, VV Shakirova's “Journey to Soundbook” is a good choice. There is more entertainment material here that will interest and captivate the child. In addition, Shakirova paid a lot of attention to the development of motivation, and this will definitely come in handy in the process of further study.

Alphabet Learning Games

In this section, we will give examples of games that will make learning more interesting and effective at the same time. Entertaining elements will not only diversify classes, but also provide a fairly wide field for applying the acquired knowledge in practice.

"Find the letter" . On a sheet of paper, arrange different letters in a random order. Let them be bright and large. You name the letter, and the child must find it and show it. A mobile version of this game is to hang sheets with large letters around the room, let the child find and tear off the desired sheet.

Memo . Prepare a set of cards where each letter will be represented in duplicate to get a certain number of pairs. Cards are laid out in several rows face down. Have the child turn over one card and name the sound that the letter on it represents. Then you need to find a pair for her by opening other cards. It didn’t work the first time - the cards are turned back face down, and you have to look again. A pair is found - the player takes both cards for himself. And so on until all the cards run out.

“What letter does it begin with?” . Arrange several animals in a row - these can be drawings on paper, cards or small toys. Select the letters that begin with their names, and give them to the child in a mixed order. The task is to correlate which letter refers to whom, and put it next to the desired animal.

"Collect the letter" . Draw a letter the size of the entire sheet of paper. Cut it into several parts - let the kid assemble the resulting puzzle and name which letter is depicted on it.

Dice game . Surely you have cubes with letters, and if not, they are easy to make yourself out of paper. You roll a die and see which letter comes up on top. The child needs to remember an animal (or even an object) whose name begins with this letter and show it. For example, if the letter “B” fell out, then you can depict a crow - wave your hands like wings and croak.

Edible letters . The alphabet is not only useful, but also delicious! Your child will have even more fun learning if he can not only name the letter, but also eat it. You can buy ready-made cookies in the form of letters, or bake them yourself - it will even be more interesting for the baby, especially if you decorate the finished cookies together. You can also cut out letters from fruits and vegetables.

No matter how your activities progress, be patient with your child, don't demand too much from him or scold him if something doesn't work the first time. If you follow the basic principles and recommendations, creatively approach the lessons and give the baby positive emotions, your child will definitely learn the alphabet easily and with pleasure.

How to quickly learn the alphabet with a child

Every parent has their own opinion about teaching children. Someone believes that this is the responsibility of preschool teachers and school teachers, while others are ready to intensively deal with the child on their own. But, regardless of the parental position, there is an indisputable fact: the study of the alphabet is the basis for the further development of the child.

Letters are present in a child's life from an early age. He constantly sees them on signs during a walk or at home in children's books. Of course, at first they are perceived by the baby as simple signs and hooks. But as they grow older, the child begins to understand that this is a way of transmitting information. Of course, colorful pictures and cartoons are still more interesting, but over time, the desire to get to know the alphabet becomes more and more obvious.

Learning the alphabet is one of the most important stages of development. Learning to put letters into syllables and words, mastering the skill of reading, and then writing, children discover a whole new world for themselves. But it is important that the learning process is not only effective, but also exciting. When should you start studying? What techniques are better to use so that children memorize letters faster? Is it possible to learn and play at the same time? Let's try to deal with these questions.

Learning the alphabet: goals and objectives

Before starting to learn the alphabet, parents must answer the question for themselves: for what purpose? After all, all actions and actions are performed to achieve a specific goal, and the development of children is no exception. Some ambitious moms and dads dream of raising a comprehensively gifted and developed child, so they try to start learning as early as possible. Others just want to brag about the success of their child at every opportunity.

But for adequate parents, the main goal of learning letters is to learn to read. And here a completely different question arises: is the child ready for this at this stage? First, let's talk more about what an alphabet is. So, these are:

not just letters, but letters in a strict sequence, which are the basis for any language;
knowledge of the alphabet is the foundation for mastering the basics of reading;
the alphabet is your companion for life: it is the basis for organizing documents, reference books, dictionaries, archival information.

Of course, you can teach your child the alphabet at any age. It is enough to show him cards with letters every day or study the alphabet from a colorful book, and by the age of two he will remember the alphabet. But any knowledge must be put into practice, and it is important to understand that not all children are ready to read from an early age.

Therefore, it makes no sense to spend time and effort on learning the alphabet just to develop memory and attention. The likelihood that a child will forget the letters by the time he is ready to learn to read is very high. There are many other ways for early development. Toddlers 2-3 years old can simply be introduced to the letters without following the sequence.

But if we are talking about children of 5-6 years old, who have a school looming on the horizon, then it is necessary to learn the alphabet.

When to start?

Experts do not have clear guidelines regarding the age at which one should start learning the alphabet. However, both educators and psychologists have long come to the conclusion that the most favorable time is five years. During this period, the child shows curiosity and interest in everything new. It is already developed enough not only to memorize information, but also to be able to apply it in practice. After all, this is precisely the main goal of learning the alphabet - to use images in the form of signs, which are letters, for reading.

Of course, you can start studying even earlier - in two or three years. But at this age, not every kid is ready to learn to read. He will most likely memorize the alphabet mechanically, like a counting rhyme, but the knowledge gained will not be used in practice. In addition, his speech apparatus is still being formed. It is highly likely that he will pronounce some letters incorrectly, which will later become a problem when reading.

In general, these are just recommendations. It is always necessary to focus on the development of the child and his individual abilities. For some, it is not difficult to master the letters at the age of three, for others this peak is conquered closer to school.

Learning the alphabet correctly

Not all parents know how to teach their child the alphabet correctly. Unfortunately, the mistakes made in training will affect in the future. And the teacher in the primary grades will have to make a lot of efforts to correct them. There are a few basic rules that will help you in your studies.

No need to learn letters in alphabetical order. Of course, the sequence of letters is important, because learning the alphabet trains memory and attention. But not for preschoolers. At this stage, it is necessary to use a clear and logical scheme, without undue burden on children's perception. You should focus on how these very letters look and sound. This approach will allow the child to form an understanding of the structure of the Russian language.
Start with vowels. Vowels are easier to pronounce, so the baby will not have problems learning them. There are only ten such sounds. As soon as the child understands how vowels sound and are written, you can begin to study consonants.
Learn vowels separately from consonants. This paragraph is a direct continuation of the previous one: first vowels, then consonants. If you start to master the letters mixed up, the baby may get confused. It is to us adults that the difference between vowels and consonants seems obvious. It is not so easy for a child to understand on what basis sounds are divided.
Don't focus on the letters. Learn sounds. This item from our set of rules is an opportunity for parents to remember phonetics. While still at school, each of us learned very well that the name of a letter and its sound do not always coincide. This feature of the Russian language may seem too complicated for a child. Over time, he will remember how the letters "em", "el", or "be" sound. But in order to make it easier for him now to master reading by syllables, it is better to immediately learn the sounds: "m", "l", "b".
Use a convenient consonant order. Start learning consonants with the letters "m", "l", "s", "x", "r", "sh". It is easy to make syllables out of them, a relatively drawl pronunciation will allow you to gradually switch from a consonant to a vowel when reading. The next letters to study are "k", "t", "p", then - "b", "c", "h", "g", "d", "u". Then you can already learn all the other letters.
Take your time! And learn the alphabet according to age. In children 4-5 years old, the subcortical layers and the right hemisphere of the brain are almost completely formed. The kid already has a good orientation in space, developed motor skills and figurative perception. It's time to get a primer and start learning! Learn one or two letters at a time and use what you have learned. For example, while walking, ask your child to look for a familiar letter on the signs. Do not force the development of the alphabet and do not forget to regularly repeat the sounds already learned.

And never turn the learning process into a lesson. Even at school, at the initial stages, it is difficult for children to learn from bell to bell, to say nothing of preschoolers. It is much more effective and interesting to get acquainted with letters in a playful way, doing no more than 10 minutes a day.

Lessons with a child of 3-4 years old: learning and playing

Not every kid at this age is ready for learning. But if you see that the child is showing interest in the colorful alphabet or blocks with letters, then it may make sense to try to start classes. It must be said right away that training should be like a game. No coercion and rigor, otherwise you risk developing a reluctance to learn from the crumbs in the future.

A few important rules:

exercise no more than twice a week for 5-7 minutes;
don't expect immediate results - a three-year-old kid needs more time to memorize information;
study vowels in pairs: A-Z; Uh; Y-I; Oh-Yo; U-Yu.

Use colorful pictures, letter toys, children's books.

Closer to four years, you can begin to get acquainted with consonants. At this age, the child already speaks well, so he should not have problems with the correct pronunciation of sounds. In addition, at the age of four, children perceive abstract information quite well. Learning for them will be much more interesting if, in addition to pictures and toys, you use cubes, puzzles, interactive or magnetic alphabet, coloring books.

Consonants will take longer and be a little more difficult to learn. But even with this difficult task it is quite possible to cope if we act gradually. First, there are more consonants in the alphabet than vowels. Secondly, most consonants have two sound options: hard and soft. This can cause some difficulties, but only if the child has poorly learned vowels. If there are no problems with them, then he will deal with the sounds very quickly.

Having understood the difference between how the Ы and И sound, the baby will figure out how the syllables WE and MI should sound with your help. For clarity, you can make a table with paired syllables. And do not forget that all sounds must be pronounced clearly. Show this by your own example and achieve the same from the child, since correct articulation is the basis of good diction.

Back to school soon: teaching children aged 5-6

If you still decide not to pursue early development, but to postpone education until the age of 5-6, then you will not lose anything. Psychologists consider this period to be optimal for learning, and right now the child is ready to consciously assimilate new information. In addition, very soon to go to school, which means you need to properly prepare.

Children aged 5-6 are easier to work with, because they can be motivated. Tell your daughter or son about how great it is to read books on your own, or explain that knowing letters and syllables will definitely come in handy at school. Yesterday's baby will feel like a truly adult and will show interest in knowledge.

At this age, there is no need to concentrate on learning exclusively through play. You can already use creative tasks, copybooks, sets of cards for preschoolers. To study syllables, you can use cubes, connecting vowels and consonants. And be sure to pay attention to the speech of the child. It is important that all sounds are pronounced clearly and correctly.

Not to force, but to interest!

The most effective way to get the desired result from a person is to motivate him. For children, motivation should be linked to an interest in learning. What's the easiest way to get your little one interested? Of course, through the game. Here are some ways to learn and play at the same time:

Be sure to buy didactic material - cubes, lotto, dominoes, puzzles with letters and pictures. Colorful games always arouse interest in children. And if this game has rules (for example, in double puzzles you need to choose the corresponding letter for the picture), then it will be doubly interesting to practice.
Periodically allow your child to type on the computer in World. Set the settings to a large font and ask your child to find the letter on the keyboard. A colorful image on the screen will help you remember the studied signs better.
Surely every parent remembers that once there was soup with letters on sale. Such a product can still be found in stores today. Why not use it for learning? If time permits, you can bake letters in the form of cookies and have an entertaining tea party.
If you have old glossy magazines at home, you can also use them for class. Take scissors and cut out familiar letters with your child.
To make it easier for a child to memorize letters, come up with an associative series. For example, W looks like a beetle, D looks like a house, W looks like a brush. By the way, associations are useful not only for memory, but also for the development of figurative and logical thinking.
You can also develop motor skills in the process of learning. Take buttons, beads, pebbles and make syllables out of them. Does your child like to draw? Use finger paints and draw letters with your child.
Children aged 5-6 years can be encouraged to recognize letters by ear. The essence of the game is simple: you think of a letter and pronounce the word. If it has such a letter, the child claps his hands. Just do not guess too long and complex words, otherwise the preschooler may get confused.

There are many more exciting games that will help you learn letters.

Some useful tips

If you decide to teach your child letters on your own, you should understand that it will not be quick and easy. You will have to be patient, but these efforts will certainly be rewarded with results. In order for the training to take place in a comfortable atmosphere and be effective, use the advice from experienced teachers:

You need to study with your child regularly, without long breaks.
Begin each lesson by reviewing what you have learned so that your child remembers the letters better.
Education should be focused on the physiological and psycho-emotional capabilities of the child. Keep in mind that too long classes will quickly tire him. The optimal duration of a lesson for a 3-4 year old kid is no more than 8 minutes, for a preschooler - 10-15 minutes.
You don't have to learn new letters every class. If you see that it is difficult for the baby to remember new signs and sounds, it is better to devote more time to fixing. It is better to get acquainted with new letters once every two or three days.
Use the game format to reinforce. It can be entertaining exercises, riddles, tongue twisters, drawing or modeling - the main thing is that the baby should be interested.

Let's move on to reading

As noted above, learning the alphabet does not make sense if this knowledge is not put into practice. That is, the child must read.