how can i teach my 3 year old his ABC's? I have tried every thing i can think of and nothing works?

Answer 1

I taught my daughter by mistake, more or less. When she was littler still in diapers I would slowly say the alphabet, exaggerating the sounds and making silly faces. This helped me to keep her still while changing her. I only did it to make her laugh, & to hold her still. It worked fine, she'd giggle, but then after a while I noticed she started imitating the shapes I was making with my mouth by saying the sounds. Then as she learned to talk more she started saying it along with me. Before she was 2 she'd got the whole alphabet down pat.

As she got older we'd look at books and I'd point out the letters as we'd read along, making the same sounds I'd made when I changed her diaper and she learned to associate the exaggerated sounds with the actual letter (along with saying it the regular way so she started to learn the regular way of saying it.)
I found out later that the way I did it is somewhat like phonics, emphasizing the sounds the letter makes and making it easier down the road for her to pick up on reading. Who knew?

Your son is older but no reason why engaging him in a similar way wouldn't work, the best way is to make it fun and engaging. If you have flash cards make silly faces while sounding out the letters. Then have him do the same. Make it a game, like memory or concentration, where the flash cards are face down and when he turns one over he needs to make a silly face while sounding out the letter, saying it regular first if you like.

Teach him the letters of his name, my 3 yr old son loves it when he spots a letter that's in his name somewhere. That engages them too, gets them interested in looking for letters in every day things.

Make labels out of 3x5 index cards, "door", "window", "TV", etc... label every day items around the house, make one with his name too. The goal isn't necessarily to get him to read it's just to get him to start recognizing letters. Then you make a game of finding certain letters. "Lets find the letter B", "Here's one, on the Bookshelf"...

Use sheets of poster board or construction paper or even pieces of cardboard (something more sturdy) one for each letter of the alphabet, make them BIG, then put them all alpha order in a row to make a path, or hide them in (easy to find) places throughout the house, and find them in alpha order. (alphabet hide & seek), use them to make a alphabetical hopscotch board (you can do this outside with sidewalk chalk too), speaking of sidewalk chalk my mother in law likes to make a path in our driveway and writes the letters of the alphabet and then has my kids go down the path calling out the letters as they got to them, or she might say, hop until you get to the letter d, jump on one foot to letter f, etc...

If you make it fun he'll be learning before you (and he) know it.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Expecting a three year old to know the entire alphabet is not realistic. So make a game of it. And, does your child talk yet? If not, maybe s/he is not ready for the reading end of language development.

Remember the old song, ABCDEFG, HIJK, LMNOP
QRST, UV, WX, YZ, now I know my ABC's won't you sing with me

Get those nice large plastic alphabet blocks or letters, and make a game of it. Stock them and then put the A on top and knock it over. A........ just knocked over our castle. Make it FUN.

Also get a simple book at the library that is ABC. A is for apple, B is for Ball, etc. Again, fun and simple. Being read to stimulates learning. Every chance you can, say the letter of the alphabet. Look, say name to get attention, this is an apple. Apple starts with A. What does apple start with.

And, if this does not work. Contact your local School District. At age three they can test (for free under Federal law) and see if there is a reason your child is not learning or just has a delayed that will resolve in time.

Remember, kids learn at different speeds so your child may just need time and patience.

In time, with what is called rote learning, your little one will learn.

Answer 4

A normal routine with a 3 year old includes reading stories and singing songs. Create a bedtime routine that includes reading stories and singing songs.

The ABC's are just another song to learn for a 3 year old. But by the time he's 5 he will make the association between the ABC's and reading.

Answer 5

I teach pre k ages 3 1/2 -4 y.o. We usually begin with the vowels AEIOU. You can use flash cards. Show A says a as in apple. Short sounds first. We cut out pictures with the "a" sound and I use old mac Donald tune for alpha sounds for ex. A says a,a A says a,a a,a,a,a, get the picture. We concentrate on 1 letter every 2 days. The majority of my students read by the end of the year. Get workbooks, make letters with clay, pancakes, cookie dough, play I spy. Whatever it takes. However, I've been doing this for 10 years and when my son was 3 he just wasn't interested until about 4 years of age. Don't push make it fun or he'll hate it.

Answer 6

Tell him that all the smart children already know they're ABC's. Or better yet, take him into the inner city and show him what happens to bad kids that don't learn. Show him the druggies, drunks, prositutes, homeless, etc.
If that doesn't work, try singing the ABC's to him every night in lieau of a bedtime story. Kids at that age learn by repitition and if you can make it fun, he'll be singing along with you in no time.

Answer 7

I played a game with my children (that my father used to play with me and my siblings) when they were about that age. They would draw a letter then I would take the pencil and turn the letter into a picture. Great motivation for them to learn additional letters.

A slightly older child can take turns making the pictures. This works well if there are two kids a couple of years apart because the older child is teaching the younger child ABCs. Keeps the attention of both.

Excellent game in a restaurant while waiting on food.

Answer 8

You can start with the ABCs song. Kids pick up the songs fast and so this is best. If you want him/her to recognize the alphabets try magnetic letters which can be put on the refrigerator. You can try with blocks, there are so many stuff.

But if your kid doesn't show any interest in learning to recognize its better not to force. All kids are not same and this does not mean he is late. Actually 3 yrs is a good time, but teaching from 4 years is not late too.

Answer 9

Every child has a different method of learning and may be ready at different ages.

My daughter was quicker to learn, so between ABC books, flash card games and the ABC song, she learned it by 3. My son was less interested in books, cards and song... his thing is computers and TV. I bought some toddler games, like Pooh Toddler, Fisher Price, and Big Thinkers PC games. They also have some great online sites I will include in my sources, below. Sesame Street is probably the best TV tool for learning ABCs and 123s.

The site for Sesame Workshop was my son's favorite. He is starting Kindergarten this year and knows his ABCs, 123s, sorting, and more! Now, I use LearningPage so he can write them too.

Find out what your boy's niche is and he will start catching on before you can say ABC123!

Answer 10

He is probably too young to "learn" his ABC's. The business of 3 year olds is play. Incorporate letters and numbers into his every day play. Make a book using pictures for each letter of the alphabet. Write an upper case and a lower case letter on each page. Using actual photos of things he knows and loves are fun for him. For example, for D use a picture of your dog, G use a picture of Grandma, T use a picture of his toys. Reading out loud to him is the best thing you can do for him. Get some magnetic letters at the Dollar Store and let him play with them on the refrigerator or on a large cookie sheet. While playing in the sandbox, use a stick to write his name. 3 year olds have notoriously short attention spans. Any attempt at formalized instruction will likely be frustrating for both you and him. Take the pressure off and have fun with letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. The actual "learning" of all these things will be a big focus when he goes to kindergarten and he does not need to know it all before then.

Answer 11

First I'd like to know why you are in such a hurry to teach him "his ABC's." He's only three. Let him have some time to grow and mature a bit.

However, if you must, start by teaching him the ABC song, just singing it around him very frequently and at night when you put him to bed. Make it fun and entertaining, as all instruction should be. He'll pick it up without even knowing he's learning.