How do I teach my 4 year old how to write and read his alphabet?

Question

Are there any sites that can help him with this or any methods that are known to work?

Answer 1

Repetition. By the toy sections of some stores (Wal-Mart,Target,etc) you can find work books. Just keep at it, and make it as fun as possible. You might also try a bathtub game with foam letters (found in stores), or even those old refrigerator  alphabet magnets. Heck, try alphabet soup. The more he/she sees them, the more he/she will familiarize. Once the letters and sounds are going together for your child, simple reading can begin. Take breaks if the child is getting restless and come back to it. Don't try to force it. Make it like a game, reward often and it will be easy.Oh, and fat pencils and crayons help with childhood dexterity issues.

Answer 2

Read children's books to him that have big lettering and follow your finger along as you read.  Hold his hand and have his finger follow along, too.  Also, "sound out" multi-syllable words, so he can start to understand parts of words.

Sing the alphabet song.  Get books for him that have lined paper where he can practice his letters.  Do hand over hand (where you have him hold the pencil but you control the direction of it) to show him how to form letters.  Make up rhymes, stories, songs, etc about letters and emphasize the sounds each letter can make.  There is so much you can do to help your child and its wonderful to see a parent taking an active role in their child's development!  I know there is a lot more than I suggested, but its a start!

Answer 3

relax there is plenty of time for him to learn his alphabet in school.....better to teach him to love to read or at least to be read to....

take him to the library several times per week find out when story time is an visit it as often as you can....read and have lots of materials (books, magazines, ads, newspapers, mail) available for hime to read and be sure he sees you and other adults reading for fun/pleasure.....

get him involved in a book club (if money is avail to do so) or visit thrift stores and yard/garage sales to buy books and be sure to give them as gifts for special days

make books with him/or about him/family(some of these are things that all children treasure for their entire lives)

and be sure to show him how important reading is to all things in life....cooking, building things, using a computer, driving,etc

and only as a last resort try the internet...pbs.org, disney.com, etc.

Answer 4

Try to google "phonemic awareness". It is a prerequisite for teaching reading and writing. Your child has to have phonemic awareness  before you will teach him read and write.

Now about reading.

"Phonics" appears to be the best approach. After schools experimented for about 20-30 years with "whole language", they came back to phonics.

Teach your son yourself. It is possible that the teacher of your son was not taught phonics and would not be able to teach your son to read.

Source: experience with my private students and with adults (teachers as well) who were taught "whole language" and have difficulties with reading

Answer 5

There are tons of things you can do at home to help your child learn his letters (and numbers, colors, shapes, etc.).  Magnetic letters on the fridge, on cereal boxes, on signs when you're driving places.  Give him crayons and pencils and write with him - hand over hand helps children learn the "feel" of letters, also opportunities to trace and your own modeling.  Get a dry erase board or a chalkboard and write letters there as well.

I don't know where you live, but you could also look around and see if there is a teacher supply store in your area.  There are often many excellent manipulatives, games, and other fun materials available that teach important school-readiness skills.  If you can't find any in your area, you can order from Scholastic, Calloway House, Lakeshore, and other companies that make educational materials.

As for a website suggestion, I like http://www.starfall.com/.  It's a site we use in our school to introduce computer skills to kindergarteners while also reinforcing literacy.  Start your son off with the alphabet (there are flash "movies" for each letter) and then move on to the "I Can Read" sections as he gets older.

Since your son is 4 years old and you're asking about teaching him the alphabet, I'm assuming that you're not enrolling him in kindergarten this year.  If not, then I would seriously consider enrolling him in a pre-school program - your district may offer universal pre-k, but there are often privately run pre-k programs in many communities.  Just make sure, if you go with private pre-k over universal that you check on the credentials of the people teaching your child.

The Michigan Department of Education has some great resources for at-home literacy activities for children entering kindergarten, first, second, and third grades.  The information under the "PreKindergarten Literacy Activities" link would be age appropriate for your son.  http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140...

Another site with some great ideas is http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/c...

Hope that helps!

Answer 6

You don't.  He is only 4 years old, most kids won't learn that until they are in kindergarten.  Just provide books, read to him, don't try to teach him how to read and write yet, he's not developmentally ready.

Answer 7

Do you want the easiest way I found?

There is a site www.rocknlearn.com

They sell the best educational videos. Everything is put to music. My three year old special needs dd learned her alphabet and how to write her letters from these videos. I am not one for much tv, but I would put one of the Rock N Learn videos in and they loved them. My dd is now five, she knows her alphabet, how to count, her shapes up to a decagon, the value of money (the amount of each coin and bill). And she goes around singing the songs all the time.