Learning letters is one of the first and most important steps a child takes on the way to reading success.
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The importance of reading and its unparalleled influence on the child’s future has empirical scientific evidence behind it. Timothy Bates and Stuart Ritchie from Edinburgh University found that reading skills have a strong impact on life success.
The researchers found out that it’s one of the best predictors of career prospects, a high-income job, partner choices, better housing, etc.
- Alphabet songs
A great place to start learning the alphabet is singing the alphabet songs. We are sure you know the easy “A-B-C-D, E-F-G” song, and you can teach it to your kid just by singing it together!
Kids are extremely quick on the uptake and will grasp the song hands down. The secret lies in the main features of a song, namely repetition, rhyme, rhythm, pattern, and beats.
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They make it easier for our brain to memorise information, including lyrics. They usually show the objects that start with each letter, which makes it even easier for a kid to remember!
- Multisensory experiences
Alphabet songs are a great way to help kids remember the letters, but it’s even more important to be able to actively reproduce what you’ve learned.
That’s why it’s worth combining listening with sensory activities. Introduce the letter to your child, then make it in any material you have at hand, be it paper, cardboard, or plasticine.
Let your child touch it, trace it, and play with it. At the same time, don’t forget to name the letter and find some words that start with it. After that, you can practise writing letters on a tray with sand, salt, and sugar.
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- Letter associations
Repeating letters might be quite boring for your little ones. Why not then combine ABC with other subjects? If you’re learning the letter “B”, for instance, mix it with learning more about bees.
“When you explain that the word ‘bee’ starts with the letter B and then tell a couple of facts about these insects to your child, colour the page with bees on it, or read a short poem about bees, it creates the network of associations in your child’s brain and makes the learning process more productive.
- Explore words together
Write words on a piece of paper in contrasting colours so it’s easier for your kid to read. In the first step, ask your kid to find the letters you’ve just learned, “Which word has a B in it?”.
Then, make it more challenging by asking your child to find a B in all the words you have written.
Here, it’s more likely a child won’t forget the letter and will recall it right when they need it,” says a learning expert from Kyiv Polytechnic University.
For this purpose, you can use interactive games as well. They prove to be engaging, don’t require that much prep from you, and kids absolutely adore them! A win-win situation it is!
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Try to be as creative as you can and don’t lose any opportunity to remind your kid of the letters you’ve learned! Songs, associations, multisensory activities, and interactive games are amazing ways to ensure comprehensive and thus effective learning!
