Teaching Mama

playing, creating, and learning at home

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

facebook twitter pinterest instagram googleplus email bloglovin
  • Home
  • About
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • Meet the Team
  • Baby
  • Toddlers
    • Sensory Play
    • Fine Motor Skills
    • Gross Motor Skills
    • Toys
  • Preschoolers
    • Homeschooling
    • Alphabet
      • Printable Alphabet Packets
    • Fine Motor Skills
    • Gross Motor Skills
    • Math
    • Music
    • Reading
      • Book Activities
    • Science
    • Technology
  • Motherhood
    • Thoughts on Life
    • Faith
    • Parenting
  • Contact
  • My Store
    • Your Account
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • Course

5 Ways to Teach the Alphabet

by Angela Thayer 240 Comments

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. See my disclosure for details.

Teaching the alphabet is foundational for reading and writing. Around the age of 2, children begin showing interest in learning alphabet letters. While some kids learn letters very quickly, others need more repetition and time to learn letters. Today I’m going to share with you some of my favorite ways to teach the alphabet to little ones.

5 Ways to Teach the Alphabet

Here’s what a preschooler should know before kindergarten:

  • Recite/sing the alphabet
  • Identify uppercase letters
  • Identify lowercase letters
  • Match uppercase letters to lowercase letters
  • Identify the sounds each letter makes
  • Traces letters
  • Write some alphabet letters

Here are my five favorite ways to teach the alphabet to children.

1. Read Alphabet Books

Read all sorts of alphabet books to your children, even starting as babies. The repetition will really help your child learn the alphabet at a young age. When my oldest was born, I was surprised at how many alphabet books we had been given as gifts. We loved reading all of them because they were different from each other. I found that around 18 months both my kids really started enjoyed reading alphabet books. Here are a few of our alphabet books:

Alphabet Books

Here are some of our favorite alphabet books.

The Three Bears ABCThe Three Bears ABCThe Three Bears ABCChicka Chicka Boom Boom (Board Book)Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Board Book)Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Board Book)Eating the AlphabetEating the AlphabetEating the AlphabetThe Farm Alphabet BookThe Farm Alphabet BookThe Farm Alphabet BookG is for GoatG is for GoatG is for GoatHarold's ABC (Purple Crayon Book)Harold’s ABC (Purple Crayon Book)Harold's ABC (Purple Crayon Book)I Stink! (Kate and Jim Mcmullan)I Stink! (Kate and Jim Mcmullan)I Stink! (Kate and Jim Mcmullan)Bad KittyBad KittyBad KittyThe Letters Are Lost!The Letters Are Lost!The Letters Are Lost!AlphaOops!: The Day Z Went FirstAlphaOops!: The Day Z Went FirstAlphaOops!: The Day Z Went FirstZ Is for Moose (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards))Z Is for Moose (Booklist Editor’s Choice. Books for Youth (Awards))Z Is for Moose (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards))Q Is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing GameQ Is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing GameQ Is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing GameABC T-RexABC T-RexABC T-RexWork: An Occupational ABCWork: An Occupational ABCWork: An Occupational ABC

2. Sandpaper Letters

Using sandpaper letters is a great way to introduce letters to children. My favorite ones are Didax Sandpaper Tracing Letters or School Supply Tactile Letters Kit. This is a perfect pre-writing activity because children use their finger to trace the sandpaper letters. I love that the cards tell the child where to start and which direction to go.

Sandpaper Letters

Sandpaper letters are part of the Montessori approach to learning how to read. These letters provide a tactile and visual way to help children learn the alphabet. In the Montessori method, you teach letters to a child in the 3-period lesson.

1st period is introducing the letter (“this is” period). Show your child the letters. Have them trace the sandpaper letters. The best way to teach children alphabet letters is by telling them their phonetic sound.  So each time they trace the letter, say the phonetic sound.

2nd period is association (“show me” stage).  Ask your child to follow simple directions with the letters. For example, please pick up the /m/ and set it by the window. Continue to do this with each letter several times to reinforce this. If it is too difficult, return to the first period.

3rd period is recall (“what is this?” period). Only go to this period when they’ve mastered the other two periods.  Put a letter in front of the child and say “Can you trace this and tell me what it is?” Continue with the other letters in the same way.

When you use these sandpaper letters, you are teaching them 3 things: the shape of letters, the feel of its shape and how its written, and how you pronounce its sound.

3. Alphabet Puzzles

I think teaching letters with alphabet puzzles are an amazing tool for teaching the alphabet. This is my favorite puzzle, from Melissa and Doug. It’s a beautiful wooden puzzle with neat pictures. This is a great way to practice vocabulary and verbal skills, too.

alphabet puzzle

4. Sensory Activities

While some kids learn letters very quickly, others need more repetition and time to learn letters. I’ve always said that children learn best when they have many multisensory experiences with letters.

I love to incorporate sensory play into learning alphabet letters. When children have meaningful activities with repeated exposure, they start to pick up on letter names. One way is this alphabet ice excavation activity.

You could also make a sensory bin and do an uppercase and lowercase matching activity, like this one.

Or practice writing letters in the sand, like this sensory writing tray.

5. Alphabet Printables

I have quite a few alphabet printables on my blog, but here are is a set that is easy and fun for preschoolers. You will need Do a Dot Markers or dot stickers to fill in the circles.

alphabet do a dot markers

I love pulling printables out for a quick and easy activity. I’m always advocating for hands-on learning, but sometimes it’s nice to do a few paper activities. Using Do a Dot markers or dot stickers is great for hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

alphabet do a dot printables

If you’d like to download this printable, just click the button below.

Related Posts

  • 7 Tools for Teaching the Alphabet7 Tools for Teaching the Alphabet
  • Lowercase Alphabet Formation RhymesLowercase Alphabet Formation Rhymes
  • Uppercase Alphabet Formation RhymesUppercase Alphabet Formation Rhymes
  • Alphabet Mystery Letter Hunt ActivityAlphabet Mystery Letter Hunt Activity
  • 8 Things to Teach After the Alphabet8 Things to Teach After the Alphabet
  • Alphabet Game with Water BalloonsAlphabet Game with Water Balloons

Sharing is caring!

6647 shares
  • Facebook295
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Alphabet, Preschool Tagged With: alphabet

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

  1. P.Samal says

    March 30, 2022 at 2:49 am

    Very good methods

    Reply
  2. Alexandra says

    January 25, 2022 at 8:01 pm

    The free dot printables don’t work for me. Would you be able to update the link?

    Reply
    • Angela Thayer says

      January 29, 2022 at 11:46 am

      Yes! I’m sorry about the broken link. It is fixed now!

      Reply
« Older Comments
about teaching mama
sensory play crafts printables fall winter spring summer

Search Teaching Mama

Archives

Copyright © 2022 Teaching Mama · Privacy Policy · Disclosure

Copyright © 2022 · Teaching Mama on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

6647 shares
  • 295