How to Teach Your Child to Recognize The Letters of The Alphabet

Teaching your child to recognize the letters of the alphabet is the first step in teaching your child how to read. Your child must be able to recognize letters and their letter sounds in order to string those sounds together to make words. Teaching your child to recognize the letters of the alphabet can be a lot of fun if you get creative.

Things You'll Need

• Art supplies
• Paper

Instructions

1. Teach only one letter at a time. Each lesson should only focus on one letter. You can review the letters of the alphabet that your child has already learned, but only introduce one new letter at a time.

2. Start with introducing capital letters. Children often flip lowercase letters like "b" and "d," so they have trouble telling them apart. Also, the child might become confused by B and b being the same letter.

3. Show the child what the letter looks like. Write the letter on a white board or a piece of paper, or print out the letter using a simple font.

4. Explain how to write the letter. Make writing the letter fun. For example, a "d" starts with an "up and down" motion and then a "whoop" for the curvy part. Use silly sound effects to make writing the letter more fun.

5. Encourage your child to write the letter. Many children learn best by doing, so the act of writing the letter helps the child learn to recognize the letter when she sees it later.

6. Do an art activity that involves the letter. For example, have your child paint the letter "p" with purple paint or paste pictures of dogs onto the letter "d." Choose activities that your child is likely to enjoy.

7. Search for the letter throughout the week. Between lessons, compete with your child to see who can find the most "d's" (or whatever letter your child has just learned). Point out billboards, signs and other places where your child is likely to see the letter.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to review the letters of the alphabet that your child has already learned, either before or after the lesson, to reinforce the child's learning and to instill confidence.

• For the purposes of learning how to read, learning the letter sounds is just as important as learning the letter names. As your child becomes more comfortable with recognizing the letters of the alphabet, introduce the letter sound that each letter makes.