Do you have any tips on how to teach a 5 year old the alphabet?

Question

I have been charged the task of teaching my younger brother, who is five, the alphabet. He is going into kindergarten this fall, and can only recognize A-L. I have been teaching him for almost a year and he hasn't made any progress. He already knew A-L, but can't seem to remember the rest.

He also has a problem pronoucing S. He keeps pronoucing it X.

If you have any tips on how to help him learn, please tell!

Answer 1

Its not uncommom for five year olds not to be able to correctly pronounce the sounds of the alphabet. Is the S the only letter that he mispronounces? If it continues into kindergarten his teacher may have him assessed by the speech teacher. If people who do not know him can understand his speech, I wouldn't worry about for now.

As far as teaching him the letters of the alphabet, does he know the letters in his own name? Work on them first. (You can also teach him to write his name--remember to use a capital letter only for the first letter and lower case letters for the remainder.) You can also make flash cards or put him on the computer with educational software or go to a site such as starfall.com and let him play the alphabet games.

If you are really concerned about his mispronounciation of the letter S, role play with him being a snake and making the s-s-s-s-s-s- sound.

If he doesn't know all of the letters of the alphabet by the time he goes into kindergarten, don't worry. The kindergarten curriculum covers the letter names and sounds. I have several students every year who come in not knowing the alphabet (BTW, singing the alphabet song does not mean that a person can recognize the letters of the alphabet; it means that they learned the lyrics to a song).

Answer 2

As a kindergarten teacher, I have first hand experience on the subject. It take a long time for children to learn the correct order of the alphabet. Now, you said he can RECOGNIZE A-L, does that mean he can point the letters out to you or he can say A-L? If he can say the entire alphabet and can point out to you the letters A-L, you have nothing to worry about...he's probably ahead of 75% of the kids he will be in class with. The teacher will start from the begining, assuming that most, if not all of the children do not know their alphabet. Sing the ABC song with him everyday, but make sure when you sing it...you seperate L M N O P...some people run it together when they sing, G H I J K LMNOP Q...etc. When this happens, more often than not, children assume that it is one letter. Also, get a set of flash cards, you can even make them yourselves! Work on 1-2 letters a day, thats enough! He'll do great!

Answer 3

Keep working those flashcards. I would also pick one letter and work on it for a while. Have him find pictures that start with that letter. Make sure you have the alphabet posted somewhere prominant like in his room so that he sees those letters often. Remember, all is not lost if he doesn't recognize all of the letters befor going into kindergarten. Also, make sure he knows numbers and colors and how to write his name. It would be good if he knew a little about several things.

Answer 4

I agree with Elaine P.

Your mom and/or Dad need to be on top of this and get him tested. It could be as simple as a speech problem, if so he can get speech therapy in the public school system. If it is a learning disability then he'll get a LD tutor to help him keep up with the class. Or your parents can take him to Sylvans Learning Center and pay to have him helped.

But for now....buy or make flash cards and just keep going over and over and over and over each letter.

Aa
A says A and A says a
every letter makes a sound A says A and a
a = apple (picture of an apple)

You can also take a 9x13 pan sprinkle about 1/2 inch of sand in it and have him write the letters with his finger in the sand.

Good Luck with him...by the way how old are you?

Answer 5

My kids learned their letters simply by me making reading letters of the alphabet a part of every day life. I would point out letters we saw whilst out and about. When I drew a picture, say, of a cat, I would always put a "c" next to it, etc. Drawing letters in the air with his finger will also help him remember - air writing! Put up pictures of objects with their corresponding letter where he can see, like in your dining area or in his bedroom. I wouldn't worry so much about whether he can recite them in order, that will come in time. What's more important is that he recognises individual letters, but it will all happen eventually. Don't stress yourself (or him) out, and don't make it a chore, just make it fun. Good luck!

Answer 6

All kids learn at their own pace... My son he's 3 knows the alphabet.. I have a doodleboard and I write the letters on the board and he repeats them.. .I do this with numbers too... We also do the alphabet song and flash cards.. .There are also "placemats" that are laminated sheets with numbers,letters,animals,shapes, etc... that are really very handy.. If you can't find them you can make your own and have them laminated... Good luck and don't worry he'll be fine..

Answer 7

Try a puzzle with a piece for each letter, especially if it has pictures of objects that start with the letter. Be careful to talk about only objects that have a single letter sound, no blends or digraphs; e.g. T is for "toy," not "tree" or even worse "three." C is for "cat" not "choo choo"

If worse comes to worse, he'll learn his letters in kindergarten, which is where it happened for millions of us.

Answer 8

A five-year old should already know the alphabet. I know several 2-3 year-olds who can recite the alphabet and recognize the letters. I suggest your mother have him tested for a learning disability.

Answer 9

let him watch educational shows like barney, sesame street, etc then sing the alphabet song with him, make sure you sing the song each day at least 10. He'll get used to it and it will be sure that he'll be sure to know the rest.

Answer 10

Most kids learn this by singing.