Teaching Your Child Their ABCs

Every child starts their journey to becoming a skilled reader by learning the fundamentals of the English language – their ABCs. Before signing up for a Stepping Stones Together reading program, a prerequisite is that your child knows how to recognize their ABCs. Children thrive on positive encouragement and repetition when learning a new skill. It can also help to turn learning the ABCs into a fun game that your child will look forward to playing.

Here are four creative methods for teaching your child their ABCs:

• Read Familiar Books Together – What are your child’s favorite bedtime stories? There is a good chance that if you’ve read them over and over again, your child has started to “read” along, even if that just means repeating the words that are familiar to them. Start a practice of identifying the letters of the words that your child is saying out loud to show them the connection between the sounds and the words on the page. Recognizing the letters that the words are made of is the foundation of teaching children their ABCs. 

• Practice Writing Names – When your child learns their name and starts saying it out loud, it can seem like there is nothing more important in the world to them. This is a fun milestone and a great opportunity to connect something that they are interested into learning the alphabet. Start by writing their name out for them and identifying each of the letters. You can also practice the sound that each letter makes and connecting them together to speak your child’s name. Once your child learns to write out their name, they will be proud to show others which letters are included. 

• Do an Art Project Together – One of the best ways to teach your child their ABCs is to help them recognize letters in everyday life. Do you have some old magazines lying around the house that you’ve been meaning to get rid of? Give those to your child and ask them to find certain letters to make an artistic letter collage. You can write the letters out on a list and ask your child to find them.
• Make Snack Time with Alphabet Foods – A technique for making learning a fun practice is to involve alphabet-shaped foods and ask your child to identify the letters that they see. There are many different ways to do this. You might give them alphabet cookies as a treat, alphabet soup for dinner, and letter-shaped pancakes for breakfast. Making a game out of finding these letters makes learning enjoyable and something that they will ask to repeat again and again. 

Help your Child Learn Their ABCs with Stepping Stones Together

The Stepping Stones Together program focuses on helping children to develop the skills needed to start their reading journey. Sign up today for our seven-day free trial and see how Stepping Stones Together can help your child become a confident, engaged reader. If you have any questions about the program, you can contact us to learn more.