Learning the Alphabet

As soon as my kids were born I was singing the alphabet song to them.  Between the ages of 1 and 2 they were able to sing parts of it with me, but they would always mess up the l,m,n,o part.  At some point they were able to sing the song and start identifying the letters of the alphabet.  One of the first letters that each of my children learned was not the same.  They each learned the first letter of their own name.  Every time my daughter Mikayla would see the letter M, she would think that it was her name.  She often wondered why her name was on the milk container because milk started with M.

Kids connect letters to things that they know and love and one thing that they learn to love is the sound of their own name.  Soon they begin to identify not only the beginning letter, but also the other letters in their name.  So let’s take a look at how to teach all of the other letters in a meaningful way.

First print off the alphabet names brainstorming sheet.  Next, think of all of the names of the people in your family, neighbors, friends, favorite characters on t.v., and favorite places to visit and write them next to the corresponding letter of the alphabet.  Some of the letters may have more than one name.  Choose the name of the person that is most important to the child.  For the letters that are blank think of your child’s favorite toys that begin with that letter.

Now comes the fun part.  Here are the steps to create a meaningful tool that will get your child knowing all of the letters of the alphabet in no time.

1.  Open up Powerpoint on your computer.

2.  Type the name of your child and Alphabet chart on the title.  For example, “Mikayla’s Alphabet chart.”

3.  Insert 26 new pages.

3.  For the title of each page write the letters of the alphabet in order.

4.  Go to Facebook and find a picture of that person that begins with letter.

5.  Copy the picture from facebook and paste it into the powerpoint under the correct letter.

6.  For the letters that are blank you can insert a picture from clipart.

You now have a personalized alphabet chart for your child.  This will be a meaningful experience for your child to learn the alphabet.  You can print each of the pages and do many different activities if you wish or you can use it on the computer and review the letters each day.

If your child is just learning the alphabet, then focus on just one letter a day or a week.  Talk about the shape of the letter, the sound of the letter, and how to write the letter.  You can even look for the letter in magazines and cut it out and start a collection of that letter.

If your child just needs to learn a few of the letters, then those are the only letters that you need to focus on.  Focus on one a day and your child will master them in no time.  When you personalize the alphabet to something that is meaningful to your child, then you will get very quick results.

Share some ways that you have taught the alphabet to someone in the comment section below or questions that you have regarding this strategy.