Letter recognition

My baby's been able to name the letters of the alphabet when pointed to since about 22 months. I don't mean recite the alphabet, but rather give you the correct name when you point to a particular letter. She also can often name several words that start with that letter. So if I show her a B she'll say 'book! ball! baby!'

At preschool she would walk over to the alphabet painted on the wall, point out a letter and proudly name it. She did this for days before it clicked with her teachers that this is what she was doing. They said they just couldn't believe that a baby that young knew her letters, so that even when she was plainly pointing to them and saying them, they didn't catch on until she started using words with it: 'B! Baby! B!'

We did like ashcox. Start with your daughter's name: "B! Look B stands for Baby!" and yours and dad's: "M is for mama! What's P for? That's right! Papa!" Use your pet's names, her doll's names, her friends - anything that carries meaning for her.

We also keep magnetic letters on the fridge and point out a letter or two while making breakfast. I also have a water based paint pen we keep in the bathtub, and every day while bathing I'll say "what word should we write today?" And she'll say 'kitty!' or whatever else she's been thinking about. Then I make a bid deal about the first letter. "Kitty! Look - a K! Kiss starts with K too! (kiss, kiss, cuddle, cuddle)"

And of course the reading of books.

Just have fun with it. Don't ever make it work. It'll all just come naturally .

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Yes well thats great for both of you and for others whos kids have just picked it up so young and so easily. But your bragging dosn't help us.
Not all kids respond the same way. I've done things like fridge phonics, ABC books etc and at nearly 4 1/2 my dd only knows one letter well, the first one in her name 'S' and sometimes the letter P and M.

Danielle, I did an online test which indicated my dd is probably a tactile learner, so she needs a more hands on approch to learn, which is probably why she has never picked up any letters simply from reading. So I've started making fun letter themes were we take a letter and do things for a couple of weeks with it (we only do home Preschool 3 days a week) like for the letter M we made muffins, played with mud made a mouse finger puppet, a monkey mask and other M starting things. I also try and find ideas online that are more tactile. For example we made and cooked the letter P in 'play dough', (actualy salt dough which you can bake) we wrote the letter M in mud, and the letter S in shaving cream. I also recently found an ABC book wich has slightly raised felt letters, so I am going to see if running her fingers over the letters helps.

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Honestly? I agree with this. It wasn't a poll thread to see when children learned letters. It was a question on how to teach a 3.5 yr old letters. Responding to the question by saying that one's 1 year old knows letters, while at place in different contexts, has no place IMHO in this thread. And sometimes people ask "when did you child..." when they are really asking for reassurance for their own child...context is everything. I love to celebrate what my kids do too, but it's not always appropriate, like in a thread asking for advice.

Suppose I posted on a gardening forum looking for advice on how to grow roses. Someone responds by sharing with me the great success they'd experienced with their techniques, and then shared their techniques with me. To then say the person who answered is bragging and that his response was inappropriate seems pretty nonsensical.

What if I don't want to be 'reassured' about my gardening but instead am looking for actual useful advice?

And when two dozen people go on to respond with their various versions on how best to garden, how am I to gauge what advice is of any value without the authors having shared with me their own results?

Doesn't it seem reasonable that the OP might want to try approaches that moms can say worked out well over those suggested by folks with older kids who still don't know their letters?

It's not as though I'm expecting her to be overly sensitive and seeking 'reassurance' because her daughter is delayed - she's three years old. I'm expecting that she's a responsible parent looking for straightforward advice on what has worked for other moms. She's not saying 'my roses are awful, what can I do?' She's saying 'share some advice with me about what helped you grow good roses in the past?'

Sorry I'm so proud of my rose garden. If someone asks a question on how to grow roses, I'm just liable to share that with them.