What is the good age to teach ABC to kids?

Question

Ok, may be I asked the question in a wrong way. My daughter can sing ABC's all the way. She started doing that when she was around 20 months old itself. Now she is almost approaching 3 and I am introducing her to missing letter concept and that is when she goes blank. If I ask her what comes after J or L she goes blank. To make her get the missing letter I ask her to sing ABC's and she sings right through the ABC's without any problem again. So I think the basic problem is that when U make them sing, they just sing it unconsciously without really understanding what they are doing.

In any case would this be the right age to introduce the missing letter concept?

Answer 1

18 months

Answer 2

when ever they are ready

Answer 3

my nephew didnt understand missing letter thing till he went to kindergarten at age 5.

Answer 4

like 2 or 3 at the latest

Answer 5

Anytime is appropriate to start teaching the basics.  Children can usually identify a letter receptively before they can expressively tell you what the letter is.  Start by singing the letters and then around 1 year start pointing to and saying the letter so your child associates the two.  Then use their hand to point and say the letter.  Say you are touching the letter "A".  Good job!

Answer 6

I would start writing it down when you draw together and also get an alphabet puzzle.That's what I do with my 3 year old,Iv'e never thought to ask if she knew the real order to find the missing ones but she's known the song since she was almost 2 and she's starting to write some letters already.I wish you luck:)

Answer 7

I love my pug and sblack pretty much have the answer... since she can say the alphabet, but blanks out at the missing letter scenario, she needs a physical alphabet in front of her to make it all come together and make sense.  My girl was around 2 when she started to understand that the alphabet were (seperate) letters.  (I bought an alphabet train puzzle from Walmart to give her a hands-on alphabet) When she was 3, she could tell you what most letters were by looking at them.  She has just turned 4 and she's ready to "play" with the alphabet.  

I let her be my guide to WHEN I needed to teach her anything.  I would introduce her to a new concept (such as a missing letter, which letter starts this word, rhyming) and see how she liked it...not neccessarily if she understood it.  If she was interested, I would try to help her understand...if not, I dropped it and came back to it later if I remembered to.  

I hope you two have lots of fun figuring it out...kids can be loads of fun when it comes to alphabet games!

Answer 8

Start reading to your child out loud everyday from the moment that she or he is born.  Aim for 20 minutes a day, with bed time being a good choice.  

Read a range of picture and board books, starting with the most basic colours and shapes - before moving on to stories.  Encourage your child to repeat sounds once they start repeating them, and try and find books that have lots of sound words.  

Introduce alphabet books around the age of 12 months, and see how it goes.  If your child isn't that interested then wait a few weeks and try again.  Adding the alphabet in everyday life helps - if you offer them an apple, say a is for apple and things like that.  It is not uncommon for children to know all of their alphabet by the age of 4 years - complete with being able to write the letters.

You may get other ideas from this New Zealand website which talks about literacy skills:

http://www.writestart.co.nz/

Answer 9

I think you should start singing it when they are about 2/3 then maybe they will catch on. Wouldn't that be adorable?!?!!

Answer 10

I would sign the ABCs as you sing them. That way they can express themselves and develope their cognative brain at an earlier age. Sign Language is great for pre-lingual babies.

Answer 11

Their is no age just do it and they follow

Answer 12

earlier the better!

Answer 13

Start singing it to them as soon as they stare into your eyes

Answer 14

You can always sing the abcs to them, but actually teaching them would be any were between 2 and 3 years old. By this age they understand more, and they will learn from thw rythm of the song and it will stick to their heads.

Answer 15

asap

Answer 16

No problem with singing but if you really want your child to fully understand the alphabet visual aid is very important. Without visuals you will encounter a problem when  time comes you teach the Phonetics. Idea of I love my pug is helpful...Suggestion: forget the ABC term, It's ALPHABET.

Answer 17

Start singing it right away.

Answer 18

You should introduce the alphabet to a child about three.  They will not grasp them all but this will get them ready and help them become familiar with the letters.  I suggest that you start with teaching them to spell their name.  Teach them those letters first.  Just go over it, make a song out of it and do not stop.  Sing to them read to them they are like sponges!

Answer 19

start singing it to them whenever you can and as soon as they can talk in sentences start to help them sing it with you

Answer 20

The ABC at 2 or 3, and how to write them 4years old.

my brother is 4 and in preschool, they are learning to write their names and letters and numbers

Answer 21

My kids started learning the alphabet when they were born.  When I would rock them, I sang the ABC song to them.  We sang it in the car, the tub, everywhere.  Pretty soon, they started singing it themselves.  My kids knew the alphabet before they were three years old.  Anything I wanted them to know, I sang to them.  Worked for me.

Answer 22

start singing to them when they are still very young and they will be singing it themselves when they are 2 or 3. I know 2 year olds that can recognize their letters.