How young is too young to teach a toddler the alphabet?

Question

My little sister is 2 and she already knows her numbers to 10 and my mom wants me to start teaching her the alphabet.

Is she too young? I don't want her head to explode or anything...

Answer 1

It is never too young

Answer 2

Never too young. My two year old know his alphabet. Too much Barney would make my head explode.

Answer 3

I don't think they are ever too young to learn the alphabet.  I sang the ABC song to both my children when they were just babies and read ABC books that showed pictures with that letter.  

If your sister already knows her numbers then I would say go ahead and teach her the alphabet.  Kids are like sponges....they learn really quickly.

Answer 4

If she knows her numbers, work on the alphabet. I promise she'll be okay. When she seems to lose interest, don't force the subject. They have a pretty short attention span at that age.

Answer 5

no she's not too young

Answer 6

I'll think she'll be alright--my cousin learned at 2--as long as you don't push her to learn what she doesn't want to or make her do it for long periods of time or anything she should learn it right off the bat! Sounds like fun!

  Good Luck

         And remember make it fun for her so she will want to learn

Answer 7

It's never too young to teach them things so long as you don't expect them to get it straight away.....just treat it as a game and they'll enjoy it.

You have parents using flash cards on their babies before they can even speak or see properly so teaching her the alphabet when she's 2 can't hurt if you have the right attitude about it.

Answer 8

LOL... a lot of children know the alphabet song at age 2.  Her head won't explode or anything, I promise.  My son was able to write his first and last name at age 3, and able to read pages in books by himself by age 4.  His head is still in tact!

Absolutely.  They are like little sponges... teach her as much as you want.  I taught both of my kids the alphabet in sign by the age of 3.

Answer 9

A child is never too young to learn! My son not only knew numbers and alphabet, but also each bill, (money) AND who's face is on it by the time he was three. We started with ABC's before he could even talk... just singing it to him all the time, and when he learned to talk, he knew the song... he just had to learn to say the letters.

One thing though... if she starts resisting and fighting it, she probably IS being overloaded and you should take a break for a few hours, then try again. I bet she's smart, and will pick it up in no time! Be thankful that your mom is including you in this... think about it... you'll have a hand in your sister being uber-smart in school, think of all the bragging you can do! :D

Good luck!

Answer 10

She is not too young. A child is never too young to start teaching them things. When my daughter was young I would "sing" her ABC's and 123's to her every chance I got. By the time she started kindergarden she knew more than all the others in her class and the teacher came to our house to get permission to have her tested for the gifted program. The teacher said they don't test until 2nd grade but she got in touch with the board of education and insisted they test my daughter. They did (in kindergarden) and her IQ was higher than 130 so they put her in the gifted program while in kindergarden. They started teaching her to use computers and would take her to the 1st grade class everyday because she could do the work,Every year they would take her to the next grade up a few hours a day because she got her work done in her class and got bored . My granddaughter was the same way. They had to take her to a higher grade everyday cause she got her work done before anyone else and got bored. One school wanted to move her to a higher grade but the principal would not allow it. My daughter could have had her tested but she remarried and her new husband has a job where they travel so my daughter home-schools her daughter now. So it's never too early.

Answer 11

If she can do the numbers, she can do the letters, no probs.

No, she isn't too young, the time between birth and 12 years is the time when children learn best, once the brain starts to develop into an adult brain, memorizing gets more difficult.

Answer 12

good idea and teach her colors, show her pictures of animals, food, and other objects, and let her say the words.. she could also learn to color in coloring books,   as long as a toddler can talk, that is the perfect time to teach them.  [show her toes, nose, eyes, etc and ask her to show you where they are... also teacher her close family names.

Answer 13

no just  do the alphabet up to 5 each day.

Answer 14

Never too young.  That is why there are so many fun toys out there with the alphabet.  They should learn by playing.

Answer 15

No way..two isn't too young! My niece knew how to spell her name at one. She may not understand what it meant, but now as she gets older she understands it. We'd just sing a song that had her name and letters in it!

Answer 16

If she is still a toddler she is too young. Let her be a 2 year old! What is your rush?

Answer 17

she is not too young to learn. My daughter just turned 2 and can  recognize a third of the letters. she even knows the phonics sounds for some of them. So go ahead and teach her. The leap frog phonics magnets are really fun.

Answer 18

NO WAY!  I could read disney books at 2 1/2.

I was in 8th grade english while I was a third-grader.

Another excellent thing to teach a 2 year-old is another

language- kids that age pick stuff up REALLY easily.

Your mom's smart.

Answer 19

Not too young as long as it is a game and fun.

Answer 20

you are never to young to learn a child's brain can absorb so much information and an early start will only help

Answer 21

Never too young to learn.  Sing the song about ABCDEFG to her.  Her head will not explode.  Maybe your Mom can get the toy with the magnetic alphabet that stick low down on the refrigerator.  I was in Virginia MA last year and all my friends had this on their fridges not just for their own children but visiting children as well.  I bought one there for my 1 1/2 year old grandson (found out when I got back to Canada that they are available here as well).  He loves to play with it while in the kitchen with his Mom it's musical and it 'talks'  so far he giggles a lot in front of it.  He is curious about everything, trying to speak in sentences, not quite there yet, carries his books around.  Doesn't seem too interested in TV or cartoons yet but his Mom doesn't use the TV as a babysitter.

Answer 22

teach her all you can . show her things all round her especialy animals and trees .her head will not explode . nothing will make her head explode . x

Answer 23

I am currently student teaching at a children school working with the toddlers 2-3 years old. I am doing this for my major in college. I think that it is excellent  that she knows her numbers we have worked with it for our children. As for the alphabet you should start with the first letter of her name. We did that and we also went around the room and taped up labels on things. For an example the table had the word table on it. That way the children could go to the table and say for an example Taylor starts with a t. Another thing as for sign language it is best for the children and people to learn while they are younger. I really encourage teaching children sign language we just taught it to our kids and started at the beginning for an example mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, ball, and car. Do not really her head will not explode.

Answer 24

They are never too young to start learning things like the alphabet.  If she's receptive, go ahead and teach her.  My older sisters taught me all kinds of things and I was reading out of their textbooks by the first grade!

Answer 25

There's nothing wrong with teaching her the alphabet as long as you don't expect her to learn it and are having fun doing it.

Never seen a child's head explode from too much information...

Answer 26

my son knew his alphabet at 2. thats not too young.