How can I engage my young child to learn the alphabet, in a fun, creative way?

Question

This question asks for a recommendation on how to raise a child's interest level when learning letters, sounds of the alphabet.

Answer 1

Hello, I am so glad that you are looking for a fun and creative way for your child to learn. It is so important to instill a love of learning. There are many different ways for you to work with your child. I am happy to share some ideas with you. The appropriateness of the activities may depend upon the age of your child and how much time you have to work with him or her. A few overall suggestions:

1. only teach 1 or 2 letters at a time
2. teach the letter name and the letter sound at the same time
3. when teaching the sound, make sure to make the sound sharp and crisp. We tend to want to add the /u/ sound after the letter. For example, we are tempted to say b says "bu", when in reality it just says "b".
4. you can do one or two sounds a day or every few days or even every week - depends on how much time you spend on them and how old your child is
5. Post the upper and lower case (the big and little letter) - for example : S s . So today is going to be S day, We are going to wear something that begins with the s sound - for example stripes and socks. Eat food that begins with the s sound - sandwiches, spaghetti. See what foods your child can come up with that start with the sound of the day. (If he/she says cereal or celery, you can say that yes they begin with the s sound, but don't go into the fact that it is really a c - they will learn that later.) Go on an "s" hunt - see how many things you and your child can see that begin with "s'. Let your child write the upper and lower case Ss in shaving cream or gel that is sprayed on a table, or making the letter from play dough, or you draw the letter on paper and let your child glue on String, or sprinkle Salt or cereal to form the letter. Sing songs that begin with the 's' sound.
6. Have your child look through magazines and find things that begin with the s sound and glue them onto a page on which you have put an Ss at the top. Do a page for each letter when you learn it and then put them all together for a type of alphabet book.
7. Use magnetic letters - place them on the refrigerator or in a large cookie sheet - each time you learn a new letter/sound, add those to the refrigerator/cookie sheet

From a technology standpoint, there are currently several educational programs online that are currently free due to the virus. ABC Mouse is a good program you might want to try.

As you find small things that begin with the letter sound you are learning, put them in a small plastic container and label the container. After you have done 2 sounds, and have 2 small containers, pour out the contents of the containers and have your child pick up each item, name it and give the sound it begins with and place it in the correct container.

Ex: S container might have string, sock, [ small toys such as] star, starfish, soldier, sticker, sun, seal

T container might have toys: table, teabag, tire, tray, tent

I hope some of these ideas help. Let me know if you need any other suggestions! Have fun! Jeanette