Recognizing alphabet

[Hopefulmama]

When did your LO recognize letters? DS just turned two and has been recognizing letters for about 3 months now. He will point to the letter and says its name or if you ask him to show you an "x" he will show it to you. Just curious. I don't know when his sister started doing the same thing.

[DanielleT]

my just two year old can point out a couple letters and can sing the whole song...(some letters only mommy can understand though lol)

[ellemenope]

This is one of my amazing DD's fortes

DD recognized her first letter, "G" at 18 months. By the time she turned 21 months I'd say she knew about all of them. "E" is "F" and "W" is "dub-dub".

She doesn't just let me quiz her, though. But, when she is in the mood, she just starts rattling them off and goes and gets her letter flashcards. ( I thought she would love them, and I was right.)

The cutest thing is she changes the "H" into an "I" and the "W" into an "M" by turning the cards around.

Now, at 22 months, she can say her ABCs (not sing, oh no, no, no. not my girl.) But she say, "ABCDEFG--ABCDEFG--QRSTUVWXYZ--Now i sing my ABCs."

I am thinking 30 months is the average, though. Everyone develops differently. Some kids just obsess over letters.

[mamadelbosque]

DS1 is 3 and started really being able to pick them out ~2.75-3 yrs old.

[~cassie]

I think my oldest was 2 1/2, Aidan was 28-29 months and he may have known them before as he is a visual learner and at 34 mths knows and can sign them all. My 21 mth old points out a few every now and again but doesn't really know them yet.

[ShyDaisi]

Micah knew all of his letters by sight, plus some words associated with the letter (like apple begins with A) at about 26-27 months. He knew all of the sounds that the letters make by 32-33 months. He just turned 3, is now learning to sign them (has about 10ish that he can do, but can recognize more), and is attempting to write them (attempting...his A looks like a cross between a circle and a triangle with a line through it). He is *this* close to being able to read, but has not quite made the jump to understanding that a group of sounds make a word. He still cannot sing the song. He is getting closer, and can sing "Q R S T U V W X Y and Z" but everything before that is random.

[thebigfam]

DD knew all her letters by sight before she was 2. and she is just now singing the song. I thought it was more important to know letters than song. She still gets a few mixed up every once in a while (like when she really doesn't want to do it).

Bigmomma

[lyra2007]

Oh, now I feel like the biggest slacker! My daughter doesn't know any letters! How are you guys doing this? We don't watch TV or have any alphabet books (mostly because as a child I thought alphabet books were incredibly dull). She won't sing anything, let alone the ABCs. She's 25 months.
Well, I can't get too hyped up about it. I am pretty laissez faire about all this stuff anyway, and I am sure she will learn it when she goes to pre-school.

[sapphire_chan]

Lina's recognized the alphabet for a few months now. She points at writing and cheerfully says letter names. She definitely knows that letters are letters.

Now, as for giving the letter name of the letter she's actually pointing at? Not so much. But she does "recognize the alphabet".

It's cool to see the range where kids pick that up.

[chipper26]

My dd is 21 months and knows many of the letters, probably more than half of them. She calls W, "double." It's so funny. She does get some confused here and there if they look alike. She's just really interested in them. She has alphabet books and an alphabet leap pad but she like to point them out in books, too. It really took off when I got her those letters you can stick on the wall in the bathtub. She LOVES them. I've just been following her lead, if she's interested, I provide more exposure.

[blizzard_babe]

DS will be two on Thursday (!!!) and he knows... well, he knows them all sometimes. SOme he knows consistently. I'm not esactly sure how he learned them... DH brought back some ABC stickers for him when he went on a trip to the Lower 48 (they were on sale... he also got some sparkly dinoaur stickers that have been a big hit), and we've been playing with them. He also knows the song (though q-r-s comes out "skewer ess" ) but will only sing them wearing his "ABC hat," which is actually the detached hood from his winter coat. We're learning very quickly not to question his quirks .

I didn't want to be that overbearing parent who teaches kids things way too early, but... one day I wrote his name on a picture he had painted to send to Grandma, and told him it spelled "Isaac." After that, any string of letters or numbers said, "Isaac," according to him. He would point to them and say, "Iiiiiiiisaac" like he was reading. So... we showed him a few more words (Mama, Daddy, Loki <--the dog's name), and he just kind of learned them.

I'm really torn now (and maybe I should post separately), because I'm NOT "that" parent. We didn't set out to teach him words or letters... CERTAINLY not before his second birthday. And, while he hasn't ASKED in so many words, when he started pointing at words and "reading" them, I sort of followed his lead. But I feel almost embarrassed that he knows them.

I might be overthinking this a little bit .

[Rico'sAlice]

Originally Posted by ellemenope

I am thinking 30 months is the average, though. Everyone develops differently. Some kids just obsess over letters.

30 mo (2.5yo) is still very early to recognize/name the entire written alphabet.

According to PBS.org, at age 2-3:
■May become familiar with the A-B-C song and sing it, but without knowing that the letter names recited label individual graphic designs. By the end of this year, some children (20%) recognize and label a few letters, especially the first letter in their own name, and perhaps other letters in their name. By the end of this year, many children (70%) do not know the names of any letters. Also by the end of this year, a few children (10%) know most uppercase letters.

So 10% by 36mo.

age 3-4 (so 36-48mo)
■By the end of this year, many children (40%) can name 5-10 letters, some children (30%) know more than half of the uppercase letters, a few children
(20%) can name virtually all uppercase letters, and a few children (10%) still know fewer than 5 letters. Many children confuse highly-similar letters, such as "M" and "W," or "E" and "F." Children often refer to numbers as "letters." Children often notice specific letters in environmental print (e.g. on road and shop signs).

So 20% by 48mo

age 4-5
■By the end of this year, many children (60%) know more than half of the uppercase alphabet letters and 5-10 lowercase letters, some children (30%) know all uppercase and many lowercase letters, and a few children (10%) still know fewer than half of the uppercase letters. Children notice letters in familiar words and the environment.

Still well under 50% knowing all letters.

It isn't until the end of age 5 (ie, kindergarten) that we get the majority of kids knowing the full alphabet.
■By the end of this year, almost all typical children know their uppercase letters and most lowercase letters. For many children, recognition and naming of uppercase is very rapid by the end of this year, as is the naming of many lowercase letters.

[lyra2007]

That makes me feel so much better--thank you! I guess I've got three years to get it together
And she does think every written word is her name, solipsistic little thing.

[Boot]

This is one of those threads where you get a skewed response because those people whose kids have learned their letters early are happy to respond and those who haven't don't feel any need to respond.

My son is 3 and is a bright, curious child. He doesn't even know that letters exist! We don't have any alphabet books or toys and I don't point them out to him. He knows about numbers but he doesn't recognise them. I will be quite happy if he doesn't learn his letters until grade one (waldorf) but realistically, he will probably pick them up sometime before then. OP, sounds like your son is quite advanced to me.

[Hopefulmama]

Thanks for the responses. I didn't post to make anyone feel bad if their LO didn't recognize letters yet. DS seems to be very interested in them-so we go with it. I was simply just curious. Thank you for the input.

[russsk]

DS is also really interested in numbers and letters. He's 26 months now, and it started about 4-5 months ago. Without my even realizing it (I certainly don't drill him or do flashcards or anything) he picked up the alphabet and the Hebrew aleph bet. We talk about letters when he wants to, but I don't push it.

[loraxc]

This is one of those threads where you get a skewed response because those people whose kids have learned their letters early are happy to respond and those who haven't don't feel any need to respond.

Yup.

That said, I usually trust the PBS site, but I think kids of involved parents who read alphabet books and have alphabet toys or create other alphabet exposure usually know most letters by 4ish or certainly 5. Among kids I know, it's pretty unusual, though not unheard of, to enter K without knowing all the letters. 3 is a pretty common age to know some in this group. Two and below, still unusual.

[marispel]

Well, I'm one of those proud mama's whose child learned the alphabet early. By 17 months he could recognize the entire alphabet and find letters when asked. By 20 months he can sing the ABC song, although gets a little confused at the end "Now I know my ABC...d,e,f," and starts the song over. He also knows all the lower case letters too. He can say 1 to 10 in English and Spanish. Although we are still working on counting objects vs just saying the numbers.

We do work with him - lots of ABC books and toys. He just loved learning his ABCs and he would get excited (or we would) when he recognized his first letters. It was just infectious!

[ellemenope]

Originally Posted by Rico'sAlice

30 mo (2.5yo) is still very early to recognize/name the entire written alphabet.

age 3-4 (so 36-48mo)
■By the end of this year, many children (40%) can name 5-10 letters, some children (30%) know more than half of the uppercase letters, a few children
(20%) can name virtually all uppercase letters, and a few children (10%) still know fewer than 5 letters. Many children confuse highly-similar letters, such as "M" and "W," or "E" and "F." Children often refer to numbers as "letters." Children often notice specific letters in environmental print (e.g. on road and shop signs).

So 20% by 48mo

Still 50% know at least half of the uppercase letters by 48 months. But, really thanks for the facts. I have been to that site before. It is very comprehensive.

Originally Posted by Boot

This is one of those threads where you get a skewed response because those people whose kids have learned their letters early are happy to respond and those who haven't don't feel any need to respond. .

So true!

Originally Posted by Boot

My son is 3 and is a bright, curious child. He doesn't even know that letters exist! We don't have any alphabet books or toys and I don't point them out to him. He knows about numbers but he doesn't recognise them. I will be quite happy if he doesn't learn his letters until grade one (waldorf) but realistically, he will probably pick them up sometime before then. OP, sounds like your son is quite advanced to me.

I consider our family to be waldorf inspired. We don't do TV or electronic toys. We cherish simple open ended toys made from wood and natural fibers. I try to maintain a rhythm. We take nature walks, and I strive to not rush my child through life.

But, when DD started pointing to letters, there was nothing I could do. Her first letter was "G". (There was a huge "G" on a pair of her gap jeans) Then she started pointing to other letters and calling them "G". We'd correct. Bang! She knew most of the letters.

So this puts us off-track the waldorf style education.

But, I cannot take letters away from her. Books are the most important things in her life besides mommy and daddy. She can be read to nonstop and has been doing so since she was 6 months old. We are reading early reader chapter books with barely any pictures to her now.

This is just her temperament. She is not high energy. She is not a climber. She is not mischievous. She is not outgoing. She is an introvert, a watcher, cautious, calm, unbelievably imaginative, and ridiculously verbal.

(I can hear her in the playroom right now doing all the voices of her people family, a baby crying, the mommy saying "I love you", etc. It is adorable.)

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe

I'm really torn now (and maybe I should post separately), because I'm NOT "that" parent. We didn't set out to teach him words or letters... CERTAINLY not before his second birthday. And, while he hasn't ASKED in so many words, when he started pointing at words and "reading" them, I sort of followed his lead. But I feel almost embarrassed that he knows them.

Interesting. I personally would follow his lead. But, I would draw the line at sitting him down and doing formal lessons (really, any kind of lessons, formal or informal.) Answer his questions. Keep it light. Change the subject.

I wouldn't fret. Reading a couple of sight-words is far from reading. Just try to maintain his love of print until that age where he has all the skills needed to learn how to read.

[MoMo's Mama]

DD is 34 months and has been able to identify most uppercase letters for a couple months. Thank you Dr. Seuss . Her favorite book a couple months ago was Dr. Seuss's ABC book. She sings the ABC song, but LMNOP is really mumbled.