Even though this article is written for parents or teachers who want to teach their 3 and 4 year old children to learn the alphabets, you can use it for older children as well.
Learning the alphabets is the very foundation upon which being able to read and write is built upon. Before children can learn the sounds that they need to put together to form words, they need to learn how to recognize individual letters.
While teaching children how to read the alphabets may seem like an abstract concept and difficult to do, it’s actually manageable and can be really fun for you and the kids.
The following five strategies will outline how to teach 3 and 4 year old children to learn the alphabets in engaging ways.
Once you’ve taught your children how to recognize and read their alphabets, the next step is for them to learn the alphabet sounds. We’ll be looking more into that next week when we discuss, “How to Teach 3 and 4 Year Old Children to Read.”
Reading Intervention Steps:
#1. Sing Songs
First, sing the alphabet song. I used to sing the alphabet song to my son when he was an infant. As he got older, I alternated between singing it to him and listening to it with him on YouTube.
Since the song is catchy for most little ones, kid eventually want to start singing it. I encouraged my son to sing with me or along with YouTube. At first, I didn’t correct him. He sang what he heard. In time, I corrected one letter at a time.
#2. Recognize the Letters
Once your child can sing the alphabet song fluently, go to your local Dollar Store and purchase a bag of large alphabets. Hold up each alphabet, say the name of them and have your child repeat it after you. Your child may not be ready to do this activity right away but they’ll repeat it once their ready.
If you want to make it more fun, after my son and I would say the letter name out loud, I’d give him the letter and he’d throw into the laundry basket. He used to enjoy throwing it in and would laugh out loud as he’d excitedly wait for the next alphabet.
At first, we did this in order. When he was ready, we started mixing it up.
You can also play a fun bingo game to help your children learn how to listen and recognize the alphabets. Enjoy the following resource:
#3. Play Letter Hunt
Place the large alphabets from step #2 around the room in random order. Tell your child that you’re going to play a game. You say the letter out loud and the child has to walk around the room and choose the letter that matches to the one you said. Once they pick up the right letter, they need to give it you and then move on to the next letter.
As the child gets more familiar with the letters, quicken the pace of this game to make it more exciting.
#4. Enjoy Magnetic Letters
Go to your local Dollar Store and get some magnetic letters. Have your child put them on your fridge in order at first and then in the sequence that you mention out loud.
Another activity that you can do with these magnetic letters, is to have your child use the magnets to put up their artwork or other notices. When they choose a magnet to use, they have to state the name of the letter out loud
#5. Read Aloud
Integrate read alouds into your day and choose books with the ABC theme. This way, your child is seeing the alphabets and can say it out with you before you read the rest of the sentence that goes along with the alphabet.
If you have a local library close by, you can check out books for free and can get the support of your librarian to find additional books.
Recap:
Let’s recap really quickly. Today, we looked at the following:
- The reasons why it’ important to start by teaching your children to read the alphabets.
- How to teach 3 and 4 year old children to learn the alphabets: sing songs, recognize the letters. play letter hunt, enjoy magnetic letters, and read aloud.
Free Resources:
For a taste of the resources that were mentioned in step two, check out the following resource in my FREE Education Resource Library.
Teach your little ones how to make good choices with the following FREE Resource:
Next Steps:
If you found this video beneficial, would you do me a favor? Share this with your family, your friends, your loved ones, your co-workers or someone who you think could benefit from this. Thank you!
I’ll see you next Friday at 5:30pm PST.
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
Disclaimer: I’m a teacher and a parent. I’m not a medical professional, so please don’t take this as medical advice. The advice that I provide in my videos and online are strategies that I have used in my own class or at home that have worked beautifully.
