Letters and learning for preschoolers?

Question

Letters and learning for preschoolers?

Answer 1

At my school district we work on children learning their Capital Letters first.  It is simply more developmentally appropriate for them and when they begin writing, it is more appropraite for their Fine Motor skills to begin with Capital Letters.  One of my favorite songs at school is...

~Pick a five letter word, such as ACORN, SANTA, TRUCK...depending upon the season or theme for the week.  We then take 5 cards, put one letter on each card and sing a song to the tune of BINGO.

      Example:   word- ACORN

        Song lyrics:  There is a nut that squirrels eat and ACORN is its name-o.  Then spell it as you point to each letter.  When you flip over the "A" I have students say "crunch" in place of the letter flipped.  

This helps students recognize letters in a fun way as well as learn that these letters work together to make a word.

Answer 2

Children learn letters that have meaning for them, first.  So start with the  letters in their names, beginning with their first letter.  Find them everywhere, in books, on signs, posters, in the classroom and at home.  When they recognize their first letter, move on to the next, and so on.  After they know all the letters in their name, you can move on to other letters that are meaningful.  M-o-m, d-a-d, c-a-r, c-a-t, and so on.  Most children will catch on quickly.

Answer 3

The best site for this is starfall.com. I will give you a link for that.  They have things the kids can do online as well as material for teachers to download and use.  I have recommended this a number of times and gotten reports back each time thanking me and telling me how it helped.

Answer 4

As stated in the other answer, Starfall.com is an outstanding site.  Preschoolers need to play and have lots of movement.  Music is a great way to teach them and just make up simple, repetitive games.