Recognizing alphabet - Page 2

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by ellemenope

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.

This is how DS has been. He sort of half-figures things out on his own and then we're stuck in a weird place... correct him and be "teaching him stuff before he's ready," or just let him keep thinking every printed word says, "Isaac," (side note: I wish I could be that joyfully self-centered )

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.

That's kind of our plan. It's kind of exciting that he's putting two and two together (kind of a mixed metaphor since we're talking about letters, not numbers ), and I guess I'm following his lead, even if he got the original inspiration from seeing me write his name and then telling him that it SAID his name, and even if he's not old enough to outright ask for instruction.

*shrugs* Complicated stuff, this parenting .

[not_telling]

My DS is 21 months and when he sees any writing he says it's the "BCD's" (as opposed to the "ABC's"). He can name just a couple letters - the ones that are most significant to him - e.g. "D, Daddy." WE were getting out of the car at the library last week and he noticed that across the street there was an entry gate to a park and the top of the gate was a semi-circle, looking like a D flat on its back. He pointed and said "D Daddy!" Other significant letters he can give an associated word, but not necessarily name the letter - e.g. when he sees the letter G he says "GaGa" which is his word for Grandmom, says "mommy" for M, "Pop Pop" for P, "Harmony" (his cousin) for H, etc.

Yesterday he kept saying "Read that book" over and over so I would keep reading stories. I had his magnadoodle next to me and i picked it up and wrote "READ THAT BOOK." As I was writing BOOK he said "B-O-O." I was surprised and still am not sure that he really said it.

When I was teaching Kg most kids entering Kg knew the names of all uppercase and lowercase letters and many of their sounds. Some kids knew most uppercase and perhaps a few fewer lowercase and a handful of sounds. I should say that this was at a private school where most students had well-educated involved parents.

[NorthernPixie]

My daughter is now 27 months and has been interested in letters since about 18 months. She's always been big into books and reading, and then someone gave us a set of those fridge magnet letters. When I put them up and told her that we could spell ANY WORD WE WANTED TO (!!!!!) she was literally vibrating and squealing with excitement. You could just see her making the connection in her brain that letters make up words. And so it began.

She recognizes on sight many words, knows the sounds that most letters make and picks them out on the fridge (and vice versa), and picks out letters she knows when she sees them on signs, in books, etc. Sitting on the floor drinking hot chocolate and spelling words is one of her favourite activities. She has memorized a number of her books and likes to "read" them to us, and just this week has been asking what particular words say. We've yet to make the leap to sounding out words and putting letter sounds together (I don't know how to make that leap), but she's so into it I have no qualms about teaching her before she's ready, as she's clearly ready for it at some level.

She's been so highly verbal right from the start that this has become normal to me. She's the kind of kid who knows, and uses, words like 'vermiculite' and 'garam masala' in a conversation. I hope her love of words and language carries on in her life.

[Shannie77]

My daughter will be 3 in a few days and can recognize about 10 letters. She is only interested in learning words and not letters. So she recognizes Everly, Mommy, Daddy etc... but when she sees and E, M or D, she will say it is Mommy, Daddy, Everly. At the same time if you ask her to point to an S she will do it and then say the word she associates with it. She can recognize Mommy and Madelyn and few other words that start with the same letter.

If I try to "teach" her the alphabet she has no interest. I don't blame her, I guess for her it is more fun to learn words that have meaning to her then abstract letters.

She recognizes what words are and asks what they say too. I think kids learn in all different ways and that perhaps DD is learning a little backwards but it works for her.

[AmyKT]

Knowing letters and words are skills we tend to place a high value on, and my dd was interested enough in letters and numbers to learn them all by 20 months or so (truly obsessed, she was), but she JUST in the last couple of months learned shapes, and she still slips up at times, and colors still really stump her. She is 30 months old. A coworker's son just turned 3 and doesn't know many letters, but he can name any car they see on the road -- can tell you if it's a coupe, a hatchback, an SUV, a truck, etc, and whether it's Ford, Toyota, Honda, and so forth. I'm learning that interests are what drive these precocities, and one isn't really much more meaningful than another, but it is fun to brag on the one your particular child is blessed with.

[greenmamapagan]

DD could name all of them before 18 months. She was verbally fluent quite early though (full sentences before then as well) but she didn't start to sing the song until around 2 years. In fact at almost four she still can't remember it all. She can read simple sentences and pointed out to me that the alphabet is sung to the same tune as twinkle twinkle little star so I don't see why she needs to memorise the song

[jmarroq]

letter sounds

My son had dev. delays. He wasn't that interested in letters, but could say the alphabet clearly by about 4. Just before kindergarten at age 5, he still didn't recognize some letters when they were upper/lower case. He struggled a bit in kindergarten, and handwriting was extremely difficult due to his delays, sensory stuff and fine motor issues. I drilled him hard to learn the sight words in kindergarten and by the very end of the year, he got it. I was so worried about 1st grade so I signed him up for reading camp at the local college. First day of camp, he read a 50 page chapter book to me out loud, cover to cover. I had no idea he could read because he shows no interest in books or anything academic! Now, at the end of 1st grade, reading and reading comp is his best subject! Writing doesn't come as easily, but I think it will, eventually. We have a tutor for that, and everything else! So, even with all his delays and issues, he is a strong reader! Every kid learns at his own pace.

We used SOUNS for my daughter and it worked very well. The key is to start very young. She was reading before she crawled or said her first word! She was speech delayed, but I would hand her an O and she would say "AH". I would hand her an S and she would say "SSS"! It is pretty amazing. She knew like 6 or 7 letter sounds. Wish I stuck with it! Now she is learning the real names for letters instead! UGGH!

[eclipse]

All three of my kids have been able to recognize letters from a very young age. I would say all three by two had most of them down. My youngest was around 18 months or so when I realized he knew them - he knew them all by sound rather than letter name, though. He wasn't really talking at all, but he knew the letters.

[LadyCatherine185]

DS has known what letters are for some time now, and if he sees words will say "C, O, D.." etc. He is very active but also loves to be read to. He has an alphabet book that was DH's when he was little, and that has been a favorite book since he was about a year old. He also has letters on the fridge. He just started pointing out "Q" yesterday (Q!?) and saying "Q!" which is the first letter he has recognized consistently. He does know that "D is for Daddy" but sometimes he says "B" is for Daddy. He is 20 months.

[springmum]

I've been following my 2 year old DS's lead on this one and he's only now just showing interest in letters (maybe the last month or so) He sees signs or words and calls them all "abc's". He's pointing to letters and sings the entire abc song at this point so I'm sure letter recognition is just around the corner.

He's been able to sing the song for about a month (but was speaking sentences before 18 months)

He doesn't watch t.v or have electronic gadgets teaching him. Just genuine interest in whatever books or toys have the abc's, so if he's into it, great, if not, that's okay too.

I think for him he's taken more interest in numbers & colours. He can almost count to 20 and loves pointing out colours. Our little ones are all so very different.

I agree that a wide range of normal, like with anything, is what we will see. By the time they leave elementary school, no one can tell who knew the alphabet first

[JudiAU]

Maybe 19 months? Shortly after he began to speak he could recognize all letters on sight, colors, shapes, etc. He actually learned most of the alphabet before he learned any two word phrases etc. and well before he learned the song which we never really sang. Favorite alphabet books after he learned them were Chicka Chicka Boom And Dr. Seuss's ABC book as well as those foam alphabet toys for the bath.

He doesn't watch tv and we are all about natural, open-ended toys. He just likes letters and books a lot. He is now almost 3 and although he picked up lower case easily hasn't made the connection between letters / sounds / reading. Its cool but we don't push it. We do spend a LOT of time reading books.