Reading begins early and is not only reserved for storybooks. Many children who do not even recognize their own names know McDonald's golden arches and other forms of environmental print when they see it. As a parent I'm guessing you might be thinking, "Well that would be great if my kid were named McDonald's, but how do I get them to know other letters and words?" So here are a few simple tips that you can use to help your child with letter recognition.
Writing Names
Simply writing their name for them. Remember all of those nice pictures you have on your refrigerator etc.? Well until your little artist can sign his or her own name offer to write it for them on everything they create. As you do say each letter and have them repeat it with you. Once they've mastered their own name move on to middle and last names, and the names of family members and friends.
Right in line with signing their artwork is picture dictation. Talk to your children about the pictures they've drawn. Most times if they're ready to draw pictures they have some idea of what they've drawn. Writing out their description and again spelling out letters together.
Alphabet Books
Alphabet books is one of my favorite and most meaningful way to share letters with children! In my day my mom drew my pictures which made my book fun for more reasons than one! You can choose to draw your own, cut pictures out of magazines or take photos of your child's object of choice to go along with each letter. I think one of the funniest pictures my mom drew back then was an elephant for the letter "E". We still laugh about that today!
Pointing out environmental print.
The next time you are at a stop sign ask your child what do they think it says and help them spell it out. This can be done with other street signs, cereal boxes and various logos etc.
Learning letters should be fun not frustrating. Kids love and learn from lots of repetition. So don't wait to start pointing out those letters!
