Teaching My Child to Recognized Letters.

The magnetic alphabet letters on the fridge are good...as are the letters you can use in the bathtub. But seriously hands down the best way I know of to teach letters to kids is the Letter Factory DVD. My kids knew all of their letters (and sounds) by age 2.

Hi A.-

Funnily enough...shaving cream!

Any cheap brand (creamy...not gel)...and spray some down on a plastic table (or cloth)...or a cookie sheet...and have her 'make' the letters in the shaving cream!

Smells good... is 'tactile'...and a great deal of fun to boot!!

Macaroni...beans (the dried kind)...

finger paints...dough...

alphabet letters (macaroni kind)...

sidewalk chalk...

ALL kinds of things...that are not so 'mundane'

Best luck!
michele/cat

The number 1 best thing you can do with your child is read. Hands down it gives your child so many skills that she will need to be successful in the academic world. Show her how much you love books, words, and reading, and she will follow. If you don't love to read, pretend.

Make a fun trip to the library and pick out books about things she is interested in. Get fiction and non-fiction books. While you are reading hunt for the first letter in her name. Make it a game, make it fun. Her interest will grow, her skills will follow.

Reading is the key!!!

My girls loved playing Starfall.com with us. It's a great addition to reading.

With my kids, I started with the first letter of their names. We talked about that letter and the sound that it makes. Then we talked about other words that start with the same sound. Put that letter on the fridge (Fridge Phonics by Leapfrog) and talked about it often. Looked for that letter in books, on signs, on favorite snack boxes, etc. So for instance, we did D is for daddy. So every time our son saw a D he would say, "D, daddy." He was learning the letter and the sound that it makes. Then we made our own ABC book with each letter and a picture of the object or person that letter represents. Each letter had one familiar object tied to it. So D was daddy, m was mommy, a was apple (favorite fruit), g was grandma and grandpa, and so on. We didn't do them in a specific order. Most meaningful first.
You can also make little books for each letter using printer paper. Fold it into fourths, cut paper in half, then staple to make a little book. Put the letter on the front, upper and lowercase. We sat together at the computer and the twins told me words that started with the right sound. I looked them up and printed out small pictures. I drew circles, ovals or squares around the pictures, they cut them out (great practice with scissors) and glued them into our book. Then I labeled each picture.
We love the Letter Factory DVD. Great reinforcement for what you are teaching/learning.
We also love the Leapfrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set. Both of these would be great Christmas presents.
Hope this helps.

Two things helped my DD - the Leapfrog fridge letters that she can manipulate herself and the V-tech laptop with all the games on it that we got from the thrift store for $3. We also read daily and now she's pretending to sound out words with me. She has a number of letters or numbers oriented books and we go through them in fun ways. We talk about the stinky skunks and their saxophones or the kittens with their kites. Different books help keep her engaged without becoming boring. DD also loves Super Why and Sesame Street. When we get to the letters at the beginnings of her names, she will say that it's HER "K" or whatever. We put her initials up in her room as decoration.

You might also print out pages with the alphabet on them as a car game and when you (when you are not driving) or your child see a letter on a sign, you can cross them off the list. Get old magazines and each week make a collage out of things that start with that letter or the letters themselves. One day it's all As and another it's U, etc.

Pick a letter a day and work your way though. Do activities like shaving cream, or make letter pancakes in the morning. Then all day long point out the letter EVERY place you see it.

She'll find it on license plates, store signs, traffic signs, EVERYWHERE! As long as you point it out every time you see it, she'll get the hang of it and look for it too.

HTH
T.

When I read stories to my kids, we would play a game in which I would say how many letter a can you find on the page, how many letter c, etc....I would use a book like Dr. Seus that had big letters and few words. They would get so excited when they found the letter that I asked them to find.

Updated

When I read stories to my kids, we would play a game in which I would say how many letter a can you find on the page, how many letter c, etc....I would use a book like Dr. Seus that had big letters and few words. They would get so excited when they found the letter that I asked them to find.

Start with her name. Teach her what each letter sounds like. Have her write her name and then the rest of the alphabet will be easier for her to "get".
Do you remember anything about how you learned to read?
I used Dr Seuss books on my kids, they could read them at age 2. Reading and showing the word and letters to your child as you go is very helpful.
I also had magnetic letters on the fridge and we would make words there too.

Do you have an alphabet book? (You know A is for apple, ant, etc.)
That would probably be a good place to start.
And street signs while you're out & about.

its all about the magnetic letters. Flash cards are fun for them too. I think a few bucks for flash cards is money well spent.

The best way is for her to learn naturally, rather than in a forced or formal way (or with worksheets!).

If she doesn't already have alphabet puzzles or refrigerator magnets, please get her some (or ask Grandma to get her some for Christmas). When she plays with these toys, you can name the letters as she picks up or plays with them.

Get her some great ABC books (from the library is fine) and read those with her daily. My older son learned the alphabet from his ABC books when he was 2. Make sure that some of the ABC books have more than one picture per page. If the B page has baby, bottle, bug, bird, ball, book, etc. on it, she will hear that /b/ sound over and over as you read each word aloud.

Teach her how to write her name, and to name each letter as she writes it. If her name is Mary, then the letters M, A, R, and Y have special meaning to her. If she is interested, you can then teach her how to write the names of other people she loves.

I am a preschool teacher, and these are some of the things I have done with my children and my students.

Go to your local library and check out some alphabet books. There are a lot of cute ones that I'm sure your daughter will like. Point to the letters as you read them. These books will also help her learn the sounds of letters.

Letter factory by Leap frog
My 2 years old knows all the letters,sounds,numbers,colors,shapes.
Super easy and interesting

I always used their books to find an A and had them go through and point the a's they would see in the book to me. Same with B and so on. I also sang how to spell their names out. J.a.r.r.o.d spells Jarrod Jarrod Jarrod.. My kids learned not only to spell their own names but the siblings names by the time they were 3. When you teach the letters, teach the sounds too. A says aaaa as "a"pple. I remember my kids coming home from preschool singing the alphabet song by the sounds only. We also would watch for letters on signs or businesses. Even the word search games in newspapers was a way they could circle all the letter A's they see.

If you don't want to buy anything, just start using what you have around the house - books, mail, newspapers, etc - as well as things you see when you're out and about, like street signs, billboards, store names, product packaging and so much more. Anytime you see something with letters, point it out and ask questions like
What does this start with
What does this word end with
How many of the letter "S" can you find on this sign
Do you see any of the letters from your name

Make it fun. If she feels too much like you're teaching her, she's going to resist it.
Have fun!
K.
http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao - fun, fantastic educational toys - all with a lifetime warranty!

Go to Target or Walmart and they have educational workbooks. Big or little. We got a dry erase alpahbet book that is about 30 pages. She has fun. i also helps identify a few things that start with the letter. Tracing and writing letters, mazes, match picture w/ letter.
You have some great answers. I agree with alphabet magnets although you have to be present to help with that unless it is leapfrog which then sings the letter to you; ABC books; spelling name (fun, and very practical especially for identifying their stuff vs sibling) and leapfrog letter factory DVD (about 30 min)

I didn't read any of the other posts, but flashcards are great! My daughter (14) made flashcards for her little brothers (2 1/2 yr. twins, 15 mo.) and they LOVE them. They also have these foam letters for in the bathtub to play with (they stick to the walls when wet). They only cost us about $4. My twins recognize about half of the letters now, and are learning more every day. I think it's the easiest (and cheapest!) way to do it. Plus, if you make your own flashcard, your daughter can help to decorate them with little pictures or something, which can help to make it more fun for her, thus helping her to learn.
Good luck!

Have her watch Sesame Street, and whatever shows on PBS are geared towards preschoolers. My 2.5 year old watches them and already can recognize letters on his own and when i point them out to him. You can reinforce what she learns with anything in your home that has words on it by asking her, "Where's the 'A'?" Can you show me the 'M'?" etc. Also take her to your local library and check out some books, when you read them to her you can reinforce her learning the letters, too.

Homemade flash cards. Homemade posters posted on the walls. Chalk on sidewalks. Bathtub writing soaps. Songs about the letters.
R.

Kids needs a variety of modalities to recognize any new concepts. Just using plain old paper and pen won't do it. By the age of 2 my twins both knew all upper case letters. Now that they're almost 3 they know all upper, lower, and letter sounds. They've learned through Sesame Street and Between the Lions, we have foam letters for the bath tub, Fridge Phonics, alphabet books, and puzzles with letters. I've heard the DVD The Letter Factory is a good one, too. But, honestly, I'm not sure how kids would pick up letters without you teaching them, even if you buy something at the store.