Learning the ABC’s is not only fun and interactive but an essential step before starting school. The age you decide to begin this learning adventure will entirely depend on you and your child. Some children are really keen learners and will be naturally thirsty for new information; others will prefer to learn through play and touch. Not all children are the same but when the time comes to teach your toddler the alphabet, here are some handy tips.

It is important to note that teaching the alphabet comes in more than one phase. It is important that they learn the letters name and the order of the letters in the alphabet but it will be more important later on to learn the sound of the letter. This is called phonics.

To teach the first stage – learning the letter name and sequence it is probably easiest to sing the alphabet song. You can incorporate this into a daily routine, while driving in the car or having a bath. I found that singing in the bath was a great learning tool because it is a fun environment; you can hop in there with them and make it into a game. Because the situation isn’t totally focused in the same way a lesson would be, they tend to see the learning experience as natural play. This is great if you have a little one who doesn’t like to sit still.

At first, if the alphabet song seems too long and difficult for your little one to grasp try breaking it down into six letters at a time. Start with the first six, when they have that down pat, add the next six and so on until they can sing the song the whole way through. Make sure you praise them for their efforts and keep the experience positive. If they are showing signs of disinterest, take it up with them at another time, they have probably had enough for now.

Incorporate a poster of the alphabet into your home and point to the letters as you sing the alphabet song. It is important that they are also able to recognize the letters of the alphabet as well as sound them out. You can buy tubs of magnetic letters and have them arranged on the fridge so that the letters you are concentrating on are available at their level to feel and touch.

For the second stage, learning the sounds or phonetic alphabet is a little more difficult and will probably come a little later on. Children love listening to a story. It is also the easiest way for them to take in information and retain it. This also makes for a handy learning tool if you know how to use it properly.

We found Letterland resources to be extremely good for many reasons. Firstly of course because it is all based on a story, each letter has a character, with their own personality, name and funny little quirks. Secondly, we like it because they place the sound of the letter on the tip of the child’s tongue just as they are about to say it. For example. Clever Cat says ‘c’ ‘c’ ‘c’. The sound ‘c’ is on the tip of their tongue from the first word ‘clever’ so it is easier for them to remember. Clever cat is also an adorable character who has a story all of her own. Later on when you get further into the Letterland resources, the stories become more complicated to explain how letters go together to make different sounds. For example, when Harry Hatman (who goes ‘h’ ‘h’ ‘h’) hangs around Clever Cat, his hair falls out and tickles clever cat under the nose making her sneeze and go ‘ch’. I think this is wonderful because you only have to say it once and they remember.

Reading to your baby and toddlers will also naturally lead them to have an interest in letters and sounds. Be sure to explain to them how the two fit together so that they understand that when they are big boys and girls and know all the sounds of the alphabet they too will be able to read. After all, this is the whole reason for teaching your toddler the alphabet!

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