Teaching A Child The Alphabet?

Question

Hello,

I am trying to improve my 6 year old sons knowledge about the alphabet, problem is that he has trouble keeping his concentration and gets distracted easily. Also when he finds anything the least bit difficult he gets frustrated and upset. Can someone please help me?

Answer 1

I hung a rug that had the alphabet on it next to his bed. We practiced a few letters at a time working up to the whole alphabet. Then we sang the abc's while looking at the rug. I heard him singing it even when I wasn't around. It worked out great.

Take some face paint and paint a letter on his cheek. He is the letter "A" today for instance. Just call him that all day and ask him to tell you what letter he is today. And so on. Get him some sidewalk chalk and let him practice writing the letters on the sidewalk.

Answer 2

Fun fun fun. We used to have alphabet hunts I would hide 5 or six letters in a room and once they were found they were matched with some on the kitchen table and the sound said each correct answer was worth a star on a chart and every 20 stars made a moon and every 5 moons made a prize. I did this with letters, spellings, and numbers. Both my children loved the game it was short and rewarding.

Answer 3

What I did with the children that I worked with was I took colored paper and got bubble letter Stencils and too the letters and made colored letters and I did through A -

Z in different colors and glued them on the big index cards and put plastic covering on them so they would not get torn up by the children and I made a game out of it and they had to tell me the color and what letter it was and I started out with the letter A-Z.   I hope this will help.

Answer 4

Try the abc song - it works!

Answer 5

I agree with Goose. My grandaughter knows the abc song and she is 3yrs old and has known it for about 6 months

Answer 6

my nephew  is two going on three and he learned the alphabet by using  the Learn Along Leap by Leap Frog ( it's cute to)

http://www.leapfrog.com/Primary/SkillSet...

Answer 7

The little boy I use to nanny for learned the alphabet when he was two.  He did this mainly by watching "The Letter Factory" by Leap Frog.  It's a fun video and it makes kids want to pay attention and sing along.  I enjoyed it myself, even watching it a couple times a day.  You can find it pretty cheap at Amazon.com.  Here's the website: http://www.amazon.com/Leap-Frog-Letter-F...

Children need something to relate to or hands on fun when it comes to learning.  They can't just sit there and be forced to learn, it's just not going to happen.  Leap Frog has tons of learning tools that might be good to look into.

Answer 8

very simple...

set up a chair infront of a table which has chocolates on the opposite side.

Next attach some crocodile clips to a few linked car batteries.

Give him the option, either get it right and have a chocolate, or get it wrong and have a few hundred volts.

Answer 9

You have to force him to do things that he does not want to do. There are going to many difficulties in life to come. If he is NOT taught how to handle hardships now, imagine the difficulties he will have later on in life.

Answer 10

I bought this thing from Mothercare... it is a fridge magnet game, with all the letters of the alphabet, and when you put one of the letter into the toy, and press.... it comes up with a little song... it also plays the alphabet song.

I have a 5 y/o and a 2 y/o, we bought it for the 2 y/o, and he now knows more letters of the alphabet than his brother.....

The only problem is, that all the letters on this toy are in capitals, and my eldest is only just learning about lower case letters, so gets a bit confused...

Try that toy... its by Leapfrog i think.

My eldest has a bit of a concentration problem.... i bought him a gameboy, and it has really helped him to concentrate more...

Both my boys, now know the alphabet song, and can recognise all the letters of the alphabet....

Good Luck...

Answer 11

How about painting something on his bedroom wall that incorporates the alphabet into it.  i.e a picture of an apple with the letter A in it, a book with the letter B on it etc.  It will mean that you can sit down in his own bedroom together and go through it with him, but he can also go through it whilst in bed etc. too.

Answer 12

make the alphabet into a tune so you can sing it together

Answer 13

My son was like that. He was easily distracted and at 6 years old didn't know all his letters. I started working with him every night for just 5 - 10 minutes, rewarding him with hugs (he loved hugs) for every correct response. Then it hit me, it might not be his fault. He could pick out a letter (say a "B") from 3 given letters, I'd turn the paper over and write a "B" and he could not tell me what the letter was, even though he just picked it out! When he wrote his name, it was mirror image. Beautiful letters but all backwards. I took him to the Speech and Language Dpt at our local college and had him tested. His results indicated that he had severe processing issues as well as dyslexia! We went through 3 solid years, including summers, of speech therapy. There were word lists that we went over and over until he got it. When he learned to read, we would highlight the words he had problems with, write them as a list, and we'd practice those then reread the same book until he could read it all, then we'd get another book and do the same thing over and over. I read to him every night, and when he got older we took turns reading. I continued to read with him through the seventh grade (gradually fading myself). He has to read to himself verbally to understand the material, so I taught him how to whisper the words and just made his teachers aware of the techniques he uses. His hands also got tired when he had to write, so the speech pathologist offerred the suggestion of using these foamy pencil grips. There were other suggestions we took.  I am happy to say that now he is in high school, reading his own books and holding his grades at an A/B level in Honors classes! Please make sure your child does not have a learning disability before pushing him into something that, maybe he just can't do. Sometimes kids need extra help.

Answer 14

try abc books and the abc song

Answer 15

try using picture cards and prepare a quiet room where there will be no distraction then one letter at a time and be sure to tell the sounds of the alphabet clearly or let him/her sing the alphabet song get some songs of it and let him listen over and over

Answer 16

invent a song together about it, or a dance, as well as the origional song.

Answer 17

Buy a lower case keyboard will help.

i also found software to help and can recomend SATS key stage 1 the essential pack it covers early science, time, shapes and colour, phonic spelling, number skils, words.

www.idigicon.co.uk

both of these things are ideal for them to learn on the computer and will be a great help.

Answer 18

Dr. Suess's ABC is a great book to read because it emphasizes the sounds of the letters. You could also try hooked on phonics.

The Bob Books are a good option too.

Answer 19

Make it into a song, like they do on Sesame Street, if you are stuck the Early Learning Centre do some good Cd's and tapes to help.

Answer 20

The best why to help a child is to use flash cards.

Answer 21

my son was exactly like this. his teacher told me to try sitting him down as soon as he comes home from school and still in his uniform so hes still in the 'school' frame of mind. if he cant do something, go on to something else because once they start getting frustrated thats it. dont have him  doing homework for more than about 10-15 minute every night. then can do it, they would just rather be doing something else! my son is 8 now and is doing great. x

Answer 22

First he needs to be aware of the sounds of the alphabet, can he hear them in words ie what does cat start with.

If he can hear the sounds ok then you can start practising with letter cards - choose a nice font (sassoon primary / comic sans) and print out the 'little' (lower case) letters ie a not A.  Work with about five cards at time. ask him to show you the *** card, which sound does *** start with.

When he is happy with most of the 5 move onto more.

Play games  -  make it fun  -  you join in, let him ask you to find them  -  Dont spend more than 15 mins max.

Dont teach him the 'capital' letters as in the ABC if he is not confident with his 'little' letters.  

When he is confident - you can start matching the two sets together - make a pairs game / bingo - easily done either using computer font or writing on to card.

Then you can start puting them into order using the ABC song.

Sorry - its a bit lengthy but it really gets to me when very young children are taught the capital letters before the little ones.  Totally confuses them in Nursery and reception

Answer 23

ye i had the same problem with my child but you can get educating toys from woolworths that teaches him the alphabet thats how my 2 are learning it, also he will learn it all in school anyway. goodluck

Answer 24

try getting pictures of things that grab his attention and then put them in order from a to z and he will be more interested

Answer 25

the best thing you can do to help your child is to read to him and to let him see you reading...this will do several things for both of you...it cuts down on the frustration level for both of you and it makes being together fun and educational (even if he does not know it..you know it will help him with his knowledge of the alphabet and letters individually and eventually will encourage him to want to learn so he can read on his own)

be sure you have lots of choices to read from and about....choose simple items if you can but any thing that he seems interested in should have a matching topic in book, magazine, or other readable form....

I even kept the "junk mail" in a box by the door or the desk so that when i read the mail or dealt with bills my kids could do the same with me...

later add things like flash cards, electronic games, and paper/pencil things (like workbooks, and writing)

take him to the local library and show him how it works if he can write his own name he can even get his own library card(this was a really big thing for my own children--my youngest even practiced so much she was able to get her own when she was not quite 4 yrs old) look at books magazines, and even their computers(they often have excellent learning games children only can use) and take them to story time at the library and show them that others like to read and let them participate in the crafts and games/songs before and after the storytime...some libraries even have young childrens reading contests where they can earn their own books or other prizes

again this is not an easy process all the time and will take commitment from you and other adults around your child but if you all work together then your child should be less frustrated and enjoy or even love reading and learning the letters of life

Answer 26

Time to stop when you see him frustrated or lose interest you have taken too long...short bursts are best. There are many ways to teach kids anything, but it always should be fun!

Dont push too much he may be resent it. Just talk about it when reading stories to him etc.

Answer 27

Try using some alphabet cards then use a reward chart have little goals set for him so for example if he can say/write A TO E give him a star on his chart etc do this until he does all the alphabet then reward him with a little treat at the end.

Answer 28

It sounds like you need to catch his attention. Find something of interest to him and run with it. If he likes dinosaurs, then use that theme. Make everything into a game. Kids are more willing to learn if they think they are playing, not learning.

There are learning games out there for just about any theme. The main thing at this point is getting his attention with HIS interests.

Answer 29

It depends on what his learning style is. I find the easiest and most kid friendly is a set of DVD's from Leapfrog, The Letter Factory and The Talking Word Factory.

They have taught many kids I know the ABC's, letter recognition  and letter sounds. The Word Factory starts on sounding out words.

These DVD's work wonders for most kids, but especially for kids that can recite most of the commercials or shows they watch. Try watching it once a day, my kids wanted to see it 2 and 3 times each day. They don't even know they are learning.

They also have a fridge magnet set, it cost about $20.00. It sings the same song that is on the DVD and helps with recognition and letter sound. I put it on the dishwasher and the girls played with it while I made dinner each night.

Good luck

ADDED

There are also puzzles that have the alphabet, we had one that was a train that you did on the floor. It was really big. The girls liked doing it. Also there is a website www.starfall.com Alot of kids like to do that. My daughter isnt fond of it, but she isnt a computer kid, so that might be why.

Answer 30

The alphabet song is sung to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star .

Not many people realise that and kids love to know something others don't .

Get him to sing twinkle twinkle and then pair it up against abcdefg-hijklmnop .

He can then show off his superior knowledge and that is interesting .

Answer 31

My neices were the very same way. My youngest is four and she know the alphabet but doesn't recognize the letters because she finds interest in something else.

Music is the way to a child's heart. I wrote her a little song, and made big letters on a sheets of posterboard and gather household items that cordinate with each letter i.e. an apple of a crayon.

'A is for apples they grow on trees.'

She'll hold the apple.

'B is for the busy buzzing bees.'

She has a bumblebee antennae band from an old halloween costume.

'C is for my crayons, I used today.'

We'll hold up crayons.

'D is for my dollies, that like to play.'

She'll grab her dollbaby.

I line the items up on the kitchen floor and i stand in front of the items facing her on the other side. As I move on she moves on looking at the letter, possibly a picture, and she picks up the object. After a couple of days she could sing the song and pount out which item started with which letter.

It's a really fun activity and not only does it keep their attention but they see how the alphabet is a big art of what they do.