Teaching ABC's

[Spangles]

Hi

I would really like advice on how you are supposed to teach the alphabet.

How do you say the letters?

Do you say it's letter 'see' (c) or it's letter '(curly) ke' or however you would spell it.

Or, do you say it's letter see but it makes the sound ke?

Do you see what I mean? I'm not explaining it very well! I don't know how to do it and don't want to do it wrong so that I make it confusing!

[crazybones]

I think it is phonetically (spelling). But dont quote me on this. I have done that with my boys and it certainly hasnt done them any harm. Eldest boy (Jamie 10) has just been classed as gifted and talented and now goes to the senior school for maths lessons once a week. Sorry if I am bragging but I am so proud. Middle son has the same if not more ability but choses to be the clown William could count to 13 by the time he was 18 months and with hindsight I can see all the things Jamie did, he is doing now.

Annie x (Proud mum)

[crazybones]

By the way Will is 3rd son now 2 years 1 month.

Annie x

[sarah707]

Have you got the 'letters and sounds' booklet from dfes? There are some fun activities in there. I would also ask school what reading scheme they are following then borrow relevant stuff from the library...

It's all about phonics nowadays... which is what it always used to be in my day, then they went off phonics for a while... and now it's back with avengence...

So, it's a capital A (Ay) which sounds like a (ah), capital B (bee) which sounds like b (buh) etc

To start with, children should be spotting their name by the capital and looking at capitals in print and concentrating on the phonics of simple words like spelling out 'cat' as 'c ah t' then blending it together (saying it fast until it makes a word) etc

[Mollymop]

Hi lorri,

At pre school they are learning Caitlin "A" not "a" (ah)

Then when they start little (5-7) school they are teaching them "a" (ah) "b" (buh)

Then when they get to primary/junior school they teach them A, B, C again, this is what they are doing with Tim at the moment and he is 9.

I think Caitlin should be taught Ah, buh, cuh, etc as this is how they learn to read, by sounding out the words.

I am lucky as she knows them all already through me, so really it is a bit confusing for her at the minute learning A, B, C at pre school and the phonic way with me.

[Spangles]

Gosh, it's very confusing, I don't want to start doing it wrong so Benjamin and any mindees get muddled.

I always say a, buh, cuh, de etc. but then they learn the ai, bee, see song as well so I'm just a bit worried that I will muddle them up!

Thanks for your advice on this.

[fiona]

hello... leapfrog have a gadget called the fridge phonic, its a magnet device that sticks to the fridge (hence the name) comes compleate with all 26 letters, you place the letter into the gadget and it sings a song... G G G my name is Gee and my sound is guh! etc, is very good and sings the alphabet too! my 2yrs old loves it and now knows most of the alphabet, retails at about £14.99.

[Pipsqueak]

You can get the Phonics teaching books, WHSmith, ELC and places like that,
it has the phonics (actions and sounds) in stages.

also Sally Featherstones Little book of Phonics

[helenlouise]

I Use letterland, the kids love it.

I know its old hat over there in the U.K but it is used at our primary and they are getting good results with it.

Its also great for preschoolers as they get to know all the characters and their sounds.

[Spangles]

Thank you, I'll have a look for the fridge one!

[Monkey1]

Thank you, I'll have a look for the fridge one!

Think i will look out for one too!

[Chell]

If you know which school your child would attend then it is useful to ask them what system they use. My son is learnign with Read and Write Inc from Oxford University Press, their website is very good for info. Each letter has an image to show them how to write it eg m is Maisy, mountain , mountain - the first line has a picture of Maisy then each arch is a montain. g is for girl, round her face and give her a curl (I think).

They say how it sounds in a word rather than just ah, buh, cuh, often repeating it several times.

Another well used reading scheme is Jolly Phonics - www.educationtakeaway.com has info about that one.

[Spangles]

Thanks Chell, I'll check them out when I have more time. I'll add this page to my faves so I don't lose it!

Thank you again.