When should I teach my toddler the ABCs?
My child (3 yr old) will soon begin his reading journey, and I'm wondering if now (or at least within a few months) is a good time to get him to start learning the ABCs?
I recently found a programmer-themed ABC book on Kickstarter (so if it actually manages to get funded, it will still be at least 6 months out before I can sit down and read it to him; he'll be 4 by then).
Is age 4 a good time to do this, or is it too late/early? I don't want to waste time showing him something for learning purposes that he can't quite grasp yet, but at the same time, I don't want to put him to sleep (I have enough problems with that already :))
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When my infant was born I never knew any lullabies, so I used to sing A for ant, B for ball, C for cat.. up-till W carefully using the names of the things which could be seen in the real life, daily - as a lullaby with full expressions and in a loud and clear voice.
And now my toddler is 2 years old and when I say - A for, she says ant, so on and so forth till W.
Key is the repetition. Instead of telling your child - sit down and read that, I recommend you to:
Sing around ABC loudly, clearly, and frequently when she is around. Me and my child have made a game out of this. We compete on who sings louder.
Give her an apple (if she likes it) and then say loudly - A for apple. Next time before giving her apple, show the apple to her and ask - A for, and let her fill in the blanks. It may take some time for you because you are starting quite late but it is better than forcing the child to sit and read the book.
Be sure to use the words which the child can see or wants to see in her house or street. For example - I used A for ant because there are ants all around the house and it is easy for her see them. I used the word K for key because we have a bunch for keys hanging near the door which she often takes for playing.
Please don't rely on the books which use words like A for ambulance and S for scorpion. How many times in your daily life you get to see ambulances and scorpions? The child will soon forget the words which she cannot relate to in real life, daily.
I make letter spotting a various thing with my 2.5 year old. When we're looking at things he's already interested in - colorful signs, a fire truck, whatever - I will point at a letter or a word and say it or spell it. At this point all he gets is "O" and I have not convinced him that bullet points and periods aren't also Os. :)
I see from your comment that he's got a little of this in that sort of way already, so if your question is when you should start making concerted efforts I'd think the answer is "when he'll pay attention." My personal philosophy is that getting this stuff in context and little dribs and drabs is the best approach, so I wouldn't be real inclined to sit down with an ABC book and make a rigorous approach of it. If there's a book he'll pay attention to, super, but I'd be just as inclined to write letters on things or get various foam letter blocks.
It's never too young to start any type of familiarity with letters, shapes, etc. One easy thing you can do to just teach the ABC's is to sing one of the many ABC songs to them. You can download free ones for your iPod if you have one, sing it yourself, buy a tape or CD. We did a lot of driving with infants in the car and had a selection of songs about ABCs, colors, shapes...it can drive you crazy listening to them over and over but it's amazing the rapidity with which toddlers absorb stuff. These are just quick, easy, passive ways to introduce ABCs. It's even better if you have and take the time to actively play with them around concepts related to ABCs and reading, but we don't always have that time.
At age of three we started singing the ABC song.
We look at name tags (on clothes, toys etc.) to identify if something belongs to her.
She can identify and also draw an A (her name starts with A).
We teach numbers in elevators so she presses the button for the right floor.
When should I teach my toddler the ABCs?
Age 3 is a great age to start, in the context of picture book reading together, to start developing some familiarity with letters and sounds. As long as it's not a chore, but is incorporated into fun reading, it's fine. This way the child gradually absorbs the letters while having fun with story books.
And that is why there are such large quantities of picture books that are alphabet books!
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