What's the best and most effective way to teach a 3 year old the alphabet?

Question

I'm sorry, I was not clear enogh on my question. I mean How to teach the 'sounds' of the letters of the alphabet. Thanks.

Answer 1

Some of the ways to teach the alphabet to 3 year olds are through singing, creative activities and playing games. Label things and make the first letter big and bold. Teach the letters in association with things, such as, my names is Justin and it begans with the letter J. Look at Sesame Street and other shows on the television and DVD that reinforce the letters that are being taught. Avoid sitting down in a structured situation and teaching your child the ABC. Children are relational and they are interested in people and things. They are very visual and like to be entertained. They will watch Barney longer than they will pay attention to you. Make it fun and don't become frustrated.

Answer 2

My children are 3 and 5....I didn't do anything complecated to teach them. They know all of their letters, shapes, colors, etc....mainly from repetition.

For the "Alphabet Song"...sing it at bedtime or bathtime every night.

For the rest: I used a "MagnaDoodle" to teach the boys letter and number recognition as well as shapes. I would go through just a few letters and numbers each night before bed...writing them one at a time and telling them what they were, and erasing them....then writing one and asking them what it was. After a week or so you have a whole repetoire of shapes and you are doing number 1-10 and all 26 letters. I started with upper-case letters first and didn't show them lower-case until later on, but do what works for you. For colors I colored pictures of different things (a red apple, blue ball, yellow banana, etc) and hung them on their bedroom wall. The first night I went to each picture and pointed at it and told them what it was. Then the next night I did the same, but then I asked them to point at one of the items...."show me where the yellow banana is." After a while, I stopped asking for the item, I'd only ask for the color. "Which one is blue?" I also asked them about objects around them....legos work great.

You can do this with pretty much everything. If you are at a restaurant looking at the menu you can point at a letter and ask what it is. It really does work.

The trick here is to make it fun. If you see them getting bored, then stop. Also, doing it at bedtime is a good idea because there are no distractions. Make sure the TV isn't on and there aren't a bunch of things going on around them.

Good luck!
~C

Answer 3

I have taught three and four year old preschool for over twenty years. The best thing I can say is to read to you child. Read book so much your kids can recite them. Red Fish Blue Fish, etc. Next singing the alphabet song is a good idea. Then with fours we did a letter of the week, Everything focused on the Letter the art projects, songs, show and tell. Finally I suggested that parents play games to pick out the letters. The most important letters to your child are the ones in their name. If their name is Andy they will know an A early on. Then next they may learn the Y because it is easy to distinguish. Then an N. B & D are hard because they look so much alike in lower case to small children. Then pick signs your kids can read. McDonalds whose sign in a Big M in addition to the golden arches. Most Two year olds can pick out Target tell them it starts with a T. KFC,K Mart etc. Point these letters out in your readings. Make letters out of blocks. Darw them in the sand. Use all their senses. Don't get discourgaed and Do not expect them to really point out all the letters until they are four nearly five.

Answer 4

As a preschool teacher with over 25 years experience and a Master's degree in education, I have to ask "WHY?" Why are you concerned with the alphabet at three years of age? Three year old children should be playing outdoors, listening to good children's literature, playing with Play-doh, and helping you with real tasks around the home. The alphabet is for four and five year old children. It is just like potty training, you can really push it at 18 months and get a marginal result that is all of the parent's effort, or you can wait until 24-30 months and work with a child who is developmentally ready, with an interest in the end result. My advice, relax, enjoy this time with your child and have fun, ABC's are for later, when your child shows interest and the skill is needed for reading and writing. Good luck.

Answer 5

My son learned with the Frog Street alphabet at school. They have a song for every letter and it is great! Do not teach the letters in order, then your child will memorize them and when it is time for a screening they will not do well on the abc recognition. Good Luck!

Answer 6

The best way I think to teach a Alphabet to anybody is to write it down on a peice of paper and say what the letter is and what sound it makes.

Answer 7

For my daughter, I use a combination of methods. Flashcards with her favourite characters on them. American sign language while singing, (this gives her the idea that letters have meanings etc) Reading, reading, reading, and I have magnetic letters she plays with. she learned to write her letters by tracing them on her aquadoodle and watching me do homework has also made her want to do work books. Like someone else said, make it fun, not stressful and go at her pace. They get enough pressure in school, so unless your child is interested in learning, wait, offer, and be patient. Very few kids go to college who don't know their alphabet, sucking their thumbs, not wearing appropriate clothing, or with their shoes on the right feet. These things all come when children are ready.

Karen
E.C.E

Answer 8

We have been singing the alphabet to our son since he was 15months, then at about 2 he knew the whole song on his own. and when he was 2 and 1/2 we started introducing letter to him that he could relate to, like the first letter of his name and then the first letter of his dad's name and mine and his close friends and pretty soon he knew how to recognize all the letter of the alphabet. Make it a game, and your 3year old will love to play.

Answer 9

I bought my son Fridge Phonics when he turned 2 and he loves it. It is made by Leap Frog and is available in upper and lower case letters. It teaches the alphabet, each letter name and sound. My son is almost 4 and he is putting the letters together to make words. I enjoy playing it with him. You can find it at Amazon.com or any local store that sells Leap Frog products.

Answer 10

repetition. not sure what u mean by teach the alphabet? do u mean the song?, then repeat the song, until he/she is familiar enough with it to sing it on their own. do u mean teaching them to recognize letters by sight and remember thier name? then again, repetition. i would start by labeling things around them. especially things of theirs with his/her name, so they become familiar with the letters that make up their name and can recognize it in print. then move on to other important words in his/her life/everyday experiences. u might also start a letter of the week project at home. working WITH the child, start with the letter A. explain to them what sounds the letter A makes, and a few words that start with that letter and show what the letter looks like, both lowercase, and capital. go through some old magazines, and together cut out familiar pics of things that start with A and post them in one spot, like a bulletin board, or fridge. next week, letter B, then C, then D, so on, and so on., until Z, then repeat. the pics being where the child can see them, annd of familiar objects will remind them when they see them other places. for example, when doing letter A, there is a pic of an apple on bulletin board with letter A, and child sees an apple at the grocery store, they're likely to remember the board at home, and comment 'A for apple" i know it doesn't sound easy, but nothing truely worthwhile ever is. just stick with whatever u decide to do, and have faith!