What age do toddlers learn alphabet


At What Age Should a Child Know the Alphabet?

As children grow, they naturally hit learning milestones. One of the most critical educational milestones a child must reach is learning the alphabet, which prepares them for reading and writing.

But at what age should a child know the alphabet?

In this article, you will learn at what age a child should know how to recite the alphabet, recognize and write individual letters, learn letter sounds, and eventually learn how to read. Read on to make sure your little one is on the right track!

At What Age Should a Child Know the Alphabet?

Recitation

Typically, by the age of three, children should be able to recite the alphabet. However, every child is different. Some toddlers may learn in their twos, and others might not pick it up until the late threes.

Children generally learn how to recite the alphabet through repetition. If you sing the ABC song to your kids often, they are more likely to pick it up quicker, just as they would any song.

Recognition

Most children can recognize letters between the ages of three and four. Most kids will recognize the letters in their name first.

For example, a boy named Jace will probably be able to remember what the letter “J” looks like as well as recognize most other letters in his name. Similar to alphabet recitation, use repetition to teach your children about recognizing individual letters. You may ask them, “What letter is that?” whenever you see an isolated letter.

Writing

By ages four to five, children will start writing letters. Children will learn to write the alphabet in preschool and kindergarten, but it may be beneficial to have your child practice writing his/her letters at home. Most children at this age know that written symbols represent messages and may be interested in writing on their own. One of the easiest ways children learn how to write letters is to begin tracing them.

Additionally, teaching your child how to write his/her name is an important step that will ultimately help them become familiar with writing the rest of the alphabet.

Sounds

By five years old, children will start to associate letters with their accompanying sounds, otherwise known as phonics. In other words, around the age of five, children should be able to reason that the word “book” starts with the letter B.

Children begin learning phonics in kindergarten, which is a vital step to decoding written text and begin reading.

Reading

By six years old, first graders should be able to read words aloud with ease. For the most part, children can recognize sight words and their names. Moreover, children can decode some words by sounding out their letter combinations.

By second grade, a child should be able to sound-out a simple book. By the third grade, your child should be able to read independently and fluently. By this point, your child should be a master of the alphabet and is ready to master the art of reading!

What If Your Child Isn’t Learning at the Rate S/He Should?

It’s important to remember that every child is different and may learn at a different rate. If your child isn’t learning the alphabet at the pace s/he should, one reason may be because s/he isn’t interested or is simply undergoing a minor setback.

However, if your child is falling severely behind, it’s important to find out if your child truly has a problem learning or if it is nothing to worry about. Therefore, work one-on-one with your child to determine if there is a problem. For example, practice reading and writing with your child. If s/he is having a hard time comprehending the instruction or if it’s taking him/her an abnormally long time to do the task, consider talking with your child’s teacher about it.

In the end, if you suspect your child might have a reading or learning disability, discuss it with a doctor. If your child is truly suffering from a reading disability, it can cause him/her to fall behind in his/her education. The sooner you seek help, the sooner you will be able to find a solution that works for your precious little one!

Learn the Alphabet at a Top-Tier School!

So at what age should a child know the alphabet? Learning the alphabet is an ongoing process. That being said, it’s crucial to enroll your little one in a school that will not only teach him/her but also helps develop in him/her a love of learning.

Smaller Scholars Montessori Academy helps children become more confident, creative, and independent through the acclaimed Montessori experience. You can enroll your child in the toddler program, which is for kids between the ages of eighteen months and three years, or in the primary program, for children between three and six years. In both programs, children have a rich classroom environment in which they are encouraged to explore, learn, and thrive. Then, as children grow older, they can explore the elementary program for kids up to twelve years old.

What are you waiting for? Ensure your child learns the alphabet and how to read by enrolling your child in Smaller Scholars Montessori Academy! Contact them to learn more.

What's the best way to teach my child the alphabet?

Most children begin recognizing some letters between the ages of 2 and 3 and can identify most letters between 4 and 5. This means that you can start teaching your child the alphabet when they're around 2  – but don't expect full mastery for some time.

What's more, toddlers learn differently from older children, so don't pull out the flashcards and audiotapes just yet. Instead, rely on visual aids such as colorful alphabet picture books  – your child will have a great time pointing out the letters they know, as well as colors, shapes, animals, and other objects in the book.

The first step in teaching the alphabet is getting your child interested in listening to stories. At around age 2 or 3, children who are frequently read to get the idea that books contain print, which is made up of letters.

There are lots of fun ways to introduce your child to individual letters. Sign their name to their artwork, then point out each letter one by one. Eventually they'll get the idea that those letters, put together, stand for their name. You can reinforce this identification in many ways: Alphabet letters forming their name on the door of their room, perhaps, or a toy or puzzle personalized with their name. Or help them play with alphabet puzzles or refrigerator magnets that they can manipulate.

Once they recognize a letter, play word games  – "What words start with 'B'? Ball, baby, boy ..." or use the first letter of their name as the starting point  – "Your special letter is 'P,' for Peter; can you think of any other 'P' words?" (Your child won't be able to write letters until they're about 4, so don't focus on teaching them to write until then.)

If they seem interested, feel free to continue helping your child learn more letters. But if they're under 4 and show no interest, it's best to let it go for a while. No evidence suggests that very early alphabet learning is related to more advanced reading skills later on.

Sources

BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organizations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're seeing. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies.

American Academy of Pediatrics. 2021. How to share Books with Children 2 and 3 years old. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/Pages/How-to-Share-Books-with-2-and-3-Year-Olds.aspx [Accessed May 2022]

American Academy of Pediatrics. 2013. How to Share Books with Your 12- to 14-Month-Old. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/Pages/How-to-Share-Books-with-Your-12-to-14-Month-Old.aspx [Accessed May 2022]

American Academy of Pediatrics. 2013. How to Share books with Your 15- to 17-Month-Old. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/Pages/How-to-Share-Books-with-Your-15-to-17-Month-Old.aspx [Accessed May 2022]

American Academy of Pediatrics. 2013. How to Share books with Your 18- to 23-Month-Old. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/Pages/How-to-Share-Books-with-Your-18-to-23-Month-Old. aspx [Accessed May 2022]

Zero to Three. 2004. Learning to Read the World: Literacy in the First 3 Years. https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/1103-learning-to-read-the-world-literacy-in-the-first-3-years [Accessed May 2022]

Judith Hudson

Judith A. Hudson is an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers University.

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? Give yourself an honest answer to these questions, 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 are all 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, 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.

Basic tips for learning the alphabet with a child

The alphabet is not just a certain sequence of letters. This is the foundation from which the child's learning to read begins. Therefore, it is important to understand that simply learning the alphabet as a rhyme or a counting rhyme is possible, but 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 a few general rules to follow when you start learning the alphabet with children:

1. Learn the sounds, not the letters

It's easy for us adults to figure out what the name of the letter is and what sound it is means may not match. For a small child, on the contrary, such a concept may be too complicated. Do not confuse the baby, he will eventually learn that the letters are called “be”, “el” or even “and short”, better demonstrate what sounds are indicated by the corresponding signs - “b”, “l”, “y”, give examples of words with these sounds. In this way, 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, without overloading the child's perception excessively, 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 no less a mistake than 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. Vowels first

There are only 10 vowels in the Russian alphabet, so the child will have to remember a little at first. In addition, vowels require only a long “singing” and slight changes in the articulation of the lips, 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. Do not try to outwit nature, at three years old your task is more to interest, captivate the child, show 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 the posters - remember that we need to learn the sounds, not the names of the letters, so look for posters that pronounce 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 the Russian language, 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 even 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 clearly pronounce the sound yourself 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.

Primer learning

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 primer: a book for teaching preschoolers to read” N.V. Nishchevoi - a manual also with a speech therapy bias, but the author adheres to his own methodology for 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 the Sound Book 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 future, in the process of further study.

Games for learning the alphabet

In this section, we will give examples of games that will make learning more interesting and at the same time more effective. 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, each letter must 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 was found - the player takes both cards for himself, and so on until the moment when 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 with which their names begin, and give them mixed to the child. 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 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!), The name of which 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, so the baby will even be more interesting, 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 out. 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.

when to start and how to teach

When it's time to send a kid to school, his life enters a completely new phase, with which carelessness ends and everything has to be answered in an adult way. But how the child will perceive the changes that have come: with joy or fear, depends on the mood that parents who have their own idea of ​​​​education can provide. Here it is very important not to let the novice student get confused, drown in the still unfamiliar sea of ​​classwork, homework and school requirements. The first step to solving the problems that have arisen will be a preliminary study of the alphabet. But how to do it right, so as not to completely discourage the desire to learn?

In this case, there are no recommendations that are equally effective for all cases of life. This requires an individual approach when you have to pay attention to the developmental features of each individual child. There are times when a baby is ahead of his peers in terms of mental development, and therefore masters the alphabet at 3 years old, or even earlier. If some kids cope with the task easily and quickly, then others may not be ready for the difficulties of learning. Only practice will help answer such questions.

Irrespective of the age at which education starts, there are a number of rules that must be followed:

  1. study with pleasure;
  2. activities that bring joy and good mood;
  3. regularity of training.

Given the age of the baby, one can hardly count on a serious attitude to the process of learning the alphabet. You can’t combine a cheerful mood and joy with study if you rely on boring sitting at the ABC. Only a game can save the case, into which it is necessary to transform the lessons leading to the interest of the preschooler. In this case, it is important to touch on exactly the topic that is most interesting to a particular kid and in many ways resembles his hobby. In this task, there can be no restrictions on the imagination shown by parents who know all the nuances of the behavior and interests of their children.

Learning the alphabet through the game "Cards"

This approach to learning the alphabet will please not only simple, but also effective. The whole point of this method lies in the love of the kids for bright patterns that complement the letters and words placed on cards with an intricate and colorful design. Through the attractiveness of the picture, the preschooler shows the wonders of visual memory, along with which memorization by ear comes into play. It is this tandem that allows us to achieve the expected results.

As for buying these same cards, you can find them in any bookstore or outlet specializing in goods for children. If you wish and have some skills, you can start making cards with the alphabet on your own, or even with the participation of a child.

It can also be helpful when using the alphabet to use toys that a particular child especially likes. In this case, it is necessary to teach the child to substitute cards with letters for toys, focusing on their names. To arouse the increased interest of the baby, do not be afraid to diversify such activities.

A way of learning with the help of the alphabet

Due to the variety of equivalent variants of the same alphabet, you can always choose the analogue that is most suitable for a young individual. Is your child addicted to music? On sale there are a lot of offers with a musical bias, the diversity of which lies in the difference in the set of components of the corresponding direction. With an increased interest of your descendant in automotive or some other topic, you will also not have to experience special difficulties with searches.

In addition to preventing boredom, parents should avoid being too strict and serious. It would be more correct to play along with your child, which gives him the opportunity not only to feel comfortable, but also to see in the parent not a strict teacher, but his best friend. In order to avoid fatigue, adults need to learn the art of alternating study and rest. Do not want to tightly connect training with hatred for it? Do not force your children to study against their will.

Educational interest materials


There are many different ways to add interest to learning the alphabet. You just need to be ready to discard the hardened old methods and give free rein to the fantasy that diversifies the educational process. For example: the child will definitely like the composition of poems and songs. Or maybe he will be interested in playing all kinds of scenes?

Good results will also bring the game with the use of foreign objects. For example: the search for a particular thing, the name of which begins with the letter being studied. The external similarity of objects with the outlines of individual letters can also work on learning the alphabet.

Regardless of the effectiveness of the methods used or games that help achieve the desired results, the regularity of classes is put in the first place. The lack of consistency in lesson planning inevitably leads to a loss of interest and forgetting the wisdom already mastered.

10 tips to use when learning the alphabet


From letters to the alphabet

One cannot but agree that each child is individual. One kid grasps everything on the fly, while another needs to find a special approach in order to teach even the simplest. You can start as early as two years old - at this age, kids are inquisitive and quickly remember everything new. But learning should be organized in a playful way.

The child will love reading in the future, if you regularly follow the simple rules:

  • Read poems, fairy tales, books with your child every day. Well, if he himself wishes to choose literature for today;
  • While reading, attention to the letters will be drawn more if you move your finger along the lines;
  • Later you can discuss what you have read with your child, ask for his opinion, retell the content yourself or ask him to retell it.

So the baby will be interested in the opportunity to read independently and will ask which letter is which. And to make the learning process interesting, various auxiliary tools will come to the rescue:

  • magnetic alphabet;
  • color primer;
  • interactive poster;
  • letter cubes.

Devoting a certain amount of time every day to learning the letters, very soon the baby will be able to tell the whole alphabet.

But at school it is not enough to know how this or that letter sounds. Children must know the entire alphabet by heart in the correct order. It is often difficult for a child who knows all the letters well to learn the sequence of their placement and how the letter is correctly called. Yes, and parents who have taught the baby all the letters, it seems that learning them in the correct sequence is not an easy task.

This is not entirely true. If a preschooler already knows all the letters and understands that these are not just signs, but they are needed for reading and writing, then with the right approach, it will not be difficult for him to learn the alphabet.

Methods for memorizing letters in alphabetical order

There are many ways to quickly learn the alphabet with your child. For example, you can take the same cards, magnetic board or cubes that were used at the stage of learning letters. Several times a day, you need to pronounce the entire sequence with the child. If he gets tired quickly or gets bored with the activity, you can divide the alphabet into two parts.

A very simple but effective method is to sing the alphabet. Write down the finished song that the baby liked the most and sing it with him. You can also download your favorite song without words and sing the letters in the correct order instead of verses.

An activity can become a favorite if you make the alphabet with your own hands. The child will be happy to take part in such a serious matter. To do this, together with your mother, cut out all the letters from cardboard and glue them in alphabetical order. If desired, the work can be decorated with pictures and drawings. The kid will proudly show his work to his family and friends and he will want to quickly learn and tell which letter follows which.

Success in this matter will come quickly if the classes are held under the following conditions:

  • the child is not hungry;
  • he is in a good mood;
  • he slept well, not tired.

In any case, the child should have fun doing it. You can’t scold him if you don’t immediately manage to remember the material, this can discourage the desire to learn for a long time. If the crumbs succeed, if there is a first result, you must definitely praise him. Then he will happily continue his studies and soon, quickly and without errors, he will tell the entire alphabet from “A” to “Z”.

What if the alphabet is difficult?

All children are completely different, you need to find your own approach to each. If the child categorically refuses to learn the alphabet, then it is worthwhile to postpone the classes and return to them later, when he is ready. During this period, it is worth trying several teaching methods. It’s good when parents and children go to educational stores together, because a new alphabet with three-dimensional letters and colorful pictures or a puzzle mat can really please the baby and become a good helper for classes.

Create an appropriate learning environment in the children's room. A bright alphabet poster or decorative pillows with letters will always be in front of the baby, and it will be easier for him to master the sequence of letters. And psychologists also believe that the material is absorbed more efficiently if it is highlighted in red.

Unfortunately, it often happens that parents do not have the opportunity or fail to learn the alphabet with their child on their own. In such cases, it is worth taking a closer look at good teaching aids. A series of educational cartoons on disks will come to the rescue. At the same time, do not forget that the time in front of a computer or TV for children should be strictly metered. The format of training in the form of a cartoon will hold the attention of a young student for a long time. And this means that the material will be learned well.

The choice of such lessons is now huge, for example, the developing course "Learning to read", by Robert Saakyants. Throughout the lesson, the child watches with interest how the wise owl teaches the sequence of letters of the alphabet and teaches the little bunny to read. As practice shows, this type of training is very interesting and effective for the child.

A variety of online classes are all kinds of alphabet simulators.

It is not uncommon for a child to memorize letters in alphabetical order by writing them from dictation. Of course, provided that the child knows the letters and can write them at all. It will be more pleasant to write them with colored pencils, felt-tip pens or paints. You can also practice while walking: a stick, sand or colored crayons will do just fine. It is better to alternate approaches and teaching methods, so the baby will not tire of classes.

If you want to help your child learn all the letters and the alphabet as early as possible, do not forget that learning can begin when:

  • the child pronounces sounds well;
  • his vocabulary allows him to adequately express his thoughts and needs;
  • uses full common sentences in colloquial speech;
  • likes to listen when adults read to him and tries to “read” on his own.

If a child loves music, then a song will help him to memorize the alphabet well:

Thirty-three sisters,
Written beauties,
They live on the same page,
And they are famous everywhere!
They are in a hurry to you,
Nice sisters,
They ask all the guys very much
Make friends with them!
A, Bae, Ve, Ge, De, E, Zhe -
Rolled on a hedgehog.
Ze, I, Ka, el, em, eN, O -
Together they climbed out the window.
Pe, er, es, Te, U, eF, Ha -
Rooster saddled.
Tse, Che, Sha, Shcha, E, Yu, I -
All are now my friends.
Five sisters were late -
Played hide and seek.
And now all the letters are up
In alphabetical order.
Get to know them, children:
Here they are standing in a row.
It is very bad to live in the world
For those who are unfamiliar with them.

Learn the alphabet better by playing. To do this, you can try different lessons-games:

  • Children who love to play pantomime will enjoy learning in the form of their favorite game. To do this, they must draw each letter in order in an interesting and funny way.
  • Using the alphabet, the child must find an object from the environment, the name of which begins with each subsequent letter.
  • A lover of drawing will love the game of "living letters". With the help of parents, the child creates his own alphabet, where each letter is drawn in order. At the same time, the letters are different: each has its own “character”.
  • You can give a little student an interactive game "Letters of the Russian alphabet". When the child connects the letters one after the other in the correct order, the picture “comes to life” at the end. At the same time, by clicking on each letter, the child will quickly remember how to pronounce it correctly.
  • The letter hunt game can help you learn the alphabet sequence. It is interesting to play with several children at the same time. To do this, you need old newspapers or magazines, as well as scissors and an album. The first child to find, cut and paste all the letters in the correct order wins. If the children do not yet know the alphabet very confidently, then you can let them peep.

The alphabet is the foundation of literacy. Therefore, children need to be helped to master the letters, sounds, and also call them in alphabetical order. And for this it is not necessary to buy expensive textbooks or special programs. Learning the alphabet with a child, and at the same time refreshing it in memory by yourself, is quite within the power of every parent.

You may find the title of this article immodest and the author presumptuous. Perhaps you think that the author used such a title in order to attract the attention of readers.

Yes, it is. The purpose of this title is to draw your attention to the really most effective way to teach your child the letters of the Russian alphabet in the shortest possible time and teach him to pronounce these letters with sounds. You will see for yourself the simplicity and effectiveness of this method by reading this article and starting to teach your child letters with its help. After five lessons, your child will know all 10 vowels well and begin to memorize consonants, even if before that he did not know a single letter. And, most importantly, he will learn letters in the process of games and will remember them firmly.

But first, a small digression. Before you start teaching your child letters, you must decide what he needs it for. Some parents are proud that they managed to teach letters to a two-year-old or even a one-and-a-half-year-old child. But this is worth doing only if at the same time you begin to teach your child to read. Any knowledge should immediately find its practical application. And teaching letters in itself, without simultaneous learning to read, does not make sense. There are many other, equally effective, ways to develop a child's memory and stimulate the brain during the formation period. It’s good if, by the beginning of learning to read, the child forgets these prematurely learned letters and does not pronounce them the way he was once taught: Bae, Ve, Ge ... or By, You, Gee ..., otherwise when reading it it will bother him a lot. You ask: "Well, if you teach a child letters and reading at the same time, then at what age is it better to start, is it already possible from two years old?" I believe that at home, in the family, a mother with a child of this age can already do; but first for half a minute, and then for several minutes during the day. As a result of such “lessons”, built in the form of a game, the child will develop the ability to concentrate on a particular lesson, and then, starting from the age of three and even a little earlier, he can be taught to read in a group of children like him. Just do not forget that learning to read, and especially early, should take place without coercion, in the game, against the backdrop of positive emotions.

How to quickly and correctly learn the alphabet with your child. Tips and rules for learning the alphabet. Interesting tricks for learning letters at different ages (from 3 to 6 years). Techniques for memorizing letters.

All parents sooner or later face such tasks: how to teach a child the alphabet, how to do it correctly so as not to discourage the child from wanting, and what methods are best to use.

Some children begin to recognize letters between the ages of 2 and 3 and can identify most letters by age 4. This means that you can start learning the alphabet with your child when he is about 3 years old. Of course, you should not expect that the child will immediately remember a lot of letters, this will take time.

Doctors and teachers believe that it is best to learn letters after 3 years. From this age, children have increased curiosity and ability to learn.

But since each baby develops individually, parents should seize this moment. If there are problems with stuttering, with the pronunciation of sounds, then it is better to wait.

There are a few rules that will help you prepare for learning the alphabet:

  1. let the child choose the book you will read and turn the pages himself;
  2. carefully examine and discuss pictures;
  3. Discuss the reading, have the child retell the story.

It is recommended to use methods that can attract the attention of the child, since interest makes it easier to learn and remember. It is important to praise the baby and in no case should you scold. Classes should be held at the same time, regularly, in order to develop a habit.

There is a general instruction for learning the letters of the alphabet:

First, it is better to start learning letters from simple ones and those that are most often used, gradually moving on to rare and complex ones.

Secondly, one letter in a couple of days will be enough for a baby. You can fix the result with the help of cards with objects cut out of paper or fabric of letters molded from plasticine. In order for the child to forget a previously learned letter, it is worth starting each lesson with a repetition.

Third, parents can tell the child what the letter looks like, read short poems about it, or sing a song.

Learning the alphabet at 3 years old

The first step in teaching the alphabet to a three year old is to get him interested. More often he begins to show interest in letters while reading. The task of mom and dad is to support this interest. By this age, the baby has favorite fairy tales, poems (if parents read a lot of books to him). There is a motivation to master the alphabet in order to read it yourself in the future. Best at the age of three, children remember the first letter of the name, the letters A, B and C.


So, how to teach a child letters:

First, you can use blocks with letters drawn on them, cards, magnetic alphabet, various posters and stickers.

Secondly, parents and their child should draw letters on paper, on a blackboard, or on asphalt. This will help you remember the letters faster.

Thirdly, you can fold letters from various household items, such as buttons, sticks, and so on. Such an activity will be useful not only in terms of learning the alphabet, but will also allow you to develop fine motor skills.

The main rule is that the alphabet is studied one letter at a time.

It is important to remember that a child at the age of 3 should not be forcibly forced and forced to learn letters - this can discourage all interest and desire, and in the future it will be harder to teach a child letters.

Learning the alphabet at 4 years old

Classes with a four-year-old child are carried out in the same way as for a three-year-old child. Games are again used to learn letters. You can continue to add letters from objects.


Parents must include new games. It can be: “Magic bag”, “Find pictures”. The first game: letters are cut out of cardboard into a bag. The kid sticks his hand in there and, without looking, determines the chosen letter. Then he takes it out and checks if he named it correctly.

In the second game, a set of pictures is used, with objects depicted on them and starting with different letters. 3-4 pictures and a certain letter of the alphabet are laid out, and the child looks for the depicted objects starting with it.

Learning the alphabet at age 5

At the age of 5, the child already consciously shows an interest in reading. He understands that letters can form words, and words can form sentences. A five-year-old kid can independently, without prompting from parents, use improvised objects to make letters, sculpt them from plasticine.

Electronic primer at this age will be very useful - it will interest and captivate the child. In this case, it is very important to choose the right primer. The letters should be pronounced as the sounds denoting them (not "er", but "r" or not "en", but "n").

For four- and five-year-old children there is a special workbook “Learning Letters”, which they can use together with their parents or on their own.

At this age, the main thing is that the child speaks correctly and coherently. To do this, parents should ask the child to tell something, for example, what he did today, let him retell his favorite fairy tale, and so on.

Learning the alphabet at age 6

6 years is the best time to memorize the alphabet and start reading. Therefore, parents should not worry too much if before that their baby did not show any desire to learn letters. At 6 years old, the alphabet is much faster than at 3 years old.


In this case, primers, magnetic alphabet can be used for classes, copybooks will be useful. You can watch with your child special cartoons that teach letters. Now there are many useful applications for smartphones, sites with educational games on the Internet that help a child learn the alphabet.

The whole family can create an author's primer. To do this, you need to draw or cut out a letter and a picture depicting an object with this letter from paper. Then glue them on the page in the sketchbook. The child will love this work.

Sequential lessons with the use of the primer contribute to the fact that in parallel with the study of the alphabet, a six-year-old child learns to read.

So, the main rules of how to teach a child letters:

  • In order for a child to learn the alphabet, parents should not force them to study.
  • The most favorable for studying letters is a game form of learning.
  • It is worth starting classes when the child has an interest in letters.
  • The best way to learn the alphabet is for parents to arouse the child's curiosity.
  • It is worth choosing interesting games that the child will sincerely want to play.
  • If the child is not interested, he does not want to play with letters, then in this case, parents should postpone the lessons, because the child is not yet ready for this.
  • Consolidating learned material is very important. Parents should ask the child to name the letters that are in the surrounding objects. Let him draw them himself.

Now you have learned how to help your child learn the alphabet. Remember, you should not demand more from him than he can remember. And even if something does not work out for him, do not scold. Pay attention to the mood of the child, if he is tired. Your baby will be able to easily remember all the letters if you take into account the tips given in the article.

Skills such as reading and writing are used by most adults on a daily basis without thinking. But once each of us got acquainted with the wonderful world with a child of 5 years old and is it worth starting learning the alphabet at an earlier age?

When is it time to get acquainted with letters?

The topic of early development is incredibly popular these days. Many supporters of learning from the cradle advise introducing babies to the alphabet no later than the first birthday. Indeed, almost all children at an early age are real geniuses. With regular classes, by the age of 2, a child can be taught a lot. But remember that without regular repetition of the material covered, the baby will soon forget it.

At what age is it most useful to learn letters? The best option is to start studying at about 4-5 years old. It is at this age that the baby has a rich vocabulary and knows a lot about the world around him. After learning the alphabet with him, you can move on to the basics of reading and writing. Regularly using the acquired knowledge and deepening it, the child will definitely not forget the letters.

Secrets of successful learning of the alphabet

Any activities with a preschooler are productive only if the student is interested. Before introducing the baby to the world of letters, he should be interested in this topic. Try to read to your child more often. Talk about how, having learned the alphabet, he will be able to read any book or even his father's newspaper. It is also useful to remind from time to time that you can read not only exciting stories, but also useful encyclopedias. And most importantly - inspire the child by personal example. Almost always in families where adults read books, kids learn to write and read with great pleasure.

How to learn the alphabet with a 5 year old, you ask? Start with games that introduce letters. Do not try to organize classes like school lessons, most likely the child will be bored. Teachers also do not recommend forcing kids. If learning becomes a duty, interest in it is unlikely to continue.

Creating the right learning environment

It is useful to use to facilitate the process of assimilation of new information Add some letters to the interior of your own apartment and children's room. You should not turn the whole house into one continuous alphabet, the baby can get tired of an overabundance of information. Letter puzzle rug, decorative pillows with the name of the child, large clear inscriptions in the interior in moderation are incredibly good. Watching such details every day, the baby will begin to show interest in them on his own. And this is a great opportunity for parents to talk about the letters and name each of them.

Do you know the correct pronunciation of the Russian alphabet for children? Many modern experts advise learning not the names of letters, but sounds. This is necessary so that later it will be easier to teach the child to read. The simplest are vowels, consisting of one sound. And the most difficult are hissing consonants and vowels, consisting of two sounds. Don't try to learn the whole alphabet at once. It is much more productive to master 4-6 letters, and then move on to the next group.

Fast memory associations

Toddlers pay attention to objects and images in bright colors that they think are attractive. It is believed that the letters of the alphabet for children should be written in red. You can make them stylized, draw eyes or turn them into real animals. Learning such an alphabet will be much more interesting than the usual one.

One of the classic teaching aids for preschool children is letters with pictures. The task of parents, when using it, is to explain that the letter character denotes the first sound of the word depicted graphically. The alphabet in pictures should be in every kid who is just getting acquainted with the world of letters. Pick up an alphabet book in a similar design, cubes or cards. If desired, such a manual can be made by hand. Cut out cards of suitable size from thick cardboard and draw or paste letters and pictures on them.

Writing letters

The easiest way to help your child repeat and remember letters is to ask them to write them. At the beginning of the lesson, invite the child to repeat what the mother draws. As you memorize the letters, ask them to reproduce them from memory. You can draw with colored pencils, felt-tip pens or paints. Encourage your child to use chalk to write letters on a special board or outdoors. A fun alphabet can be drawn with special paints in the bathroom on the tiles while swimming. On a walk, offer to write with a twig in the snow or sand.

Despite their simplicity, these activities are incredibly effective. Alternate materials and techniques for writing letters, and then your baby will be happy to study every day.

Educational creativity

Do you know that letters can not only be written? Try to make them using various techniques: sculpt from plasticine, cut out of paper. How to learn the alphabet with a child 5 years old yet? One of the most enjoyable and effective ways is to invite the baby to make his own alphabet. The smallest can simply color in large printed or drawn letters.

Another kind of creativity, loved by all children without exception, is appliqué. Invite your child to stick the letters cut out of colored paper on the background sheet or collect them from separate strips. You can also draw the desired shape on the base and glue it with small multi-colored pieces of paper.

Experiment and create with different techniques. Make all the letters, and hang the resulting cheerful alphabet in a conspicuous place and repeat from time to time.

Repetition is the mother of learning

No less effective than directed lessons is the repetition of the material covered between times. Try to read fairy tales to your child every day. Draw your child's attention to the highlighted capital letters and name them. Many children enjoy looking at magazines and catalogs. Offer to look for the most if desired, they can even be cut out and then used for applications or composing words. Find poems and songs about the alphabet and learn them with your baby. You can also come up with fairy tales together, the main characters of which will be letters. It is easy to repeat the alphabet while walking or shopping. We see bright signs and advertising posters at every step. Read them together or name individual letters.

Useful alphabet learning aids

Today you can find a lot of manuals and themed toys for teaching alphabets to kids.


Learn more