Materials Should: Introduce some continuous sounds early (e.g., /m/, /s/). Teach the sounds of letters that can be used to build many words (e.g., m, s, a, t). Introduce lower case letters first unless upper case letters are similar in configuration (e.g., Similar: S, s, U, u, W, w; Dissimilar: R, r, T, t, F, f).
The first set of letters to introduce to your kids are s, a, t, p, i, n. The combination of these letters make up the word families: “at,” “an,” “it,” “ip,” “ap,” and “in.” What is this? After learning these letters, your kids can begin learning and blending sounds to make the most frequent words.
Introduce new letters on a regular basis
For example, you could start by focusing on letters A, B, and C for the first week or so. Then move on to D, E, and F for the next few weeks, making sure they already memorize these letters before moving on to the next set.
Children appear to acquire alphabetic knowledge in a sequence that begins with letter names, then letter shapes, and finally letter sounds.
The order you teach the initial sounds in will depend on your school and the phonics program that is used – however, the most common 6 letters to begin with are s,a,t,p,i and n.
Here's how and when kids typically learn their ABCs: Around age 2: Kids start recognizing some letters and can sing or say aloud the “ABC” song. Around age 3: Kids may recognize about half the letters in the alphabet and start to connect letters to their sounds.
There is no one “correct” order in which to teach the letters, and different phonics programs use different sequences. However, some alphabet letters are more easily learned. You'll also want to spend more time on certain letters versus others.
Early Reading First Performance Targets—16 to 19 letters.
However, that does not mean you should sit kids down for 30-minute letter learning lessons — you might work on letters 2 or 3 times per day, for anywhere from 5- to 20-minutes per sitting. I think a combination of 1-2 letters per week is reasonable, but I wouldn't teach new letters every week.
One highly beneficial part of doing a letter-a-day is that I get to see which of my students have a solid foundation of letter knowledge. Then once letter-a-day is over, I get to move them on to more phonics-based skills rather than making them sit through long, drawn out letter lessons for the next few months.
The Argument for Teaching Lower Case First
When children's parents read books to them or when they attempt to read for themselves, children will not typically see text written in upper case. Visual recognition of lower case letters will be more helpful than that of upper case.
In the U.S., given that many children come to school knowing at least some letter names, it makes the greatest sense to start right there.
Most children can recognize letters between the ages of three and four. Most kids will recognize the letters in their name first. For example, a boy named Jace will probably be able to remember what the letter “J” looks like as well as recognize most other letters in his name.
A: Most children learn to recognize letters between ages 3 and 4. Typically, children will recognize the letters in their name first. By age 5, most kindergarteners begin to make sound-letter associations, such as knowing that “book” starts with the letter B.
Most toddlers aren't developmentally ready for the abstract thinking required to understand that letters are symbols that represent sounds in our spoken language. Keep in mind that words are made up of speech sounds in a row.
Preschoolers Letter Recognition Tips
By the time children are older (4 years old and up), 60 percent know more than half of the uppercase letters and five to 10 lowercase ones. About 30 percent can recognize all letters, both upper and lower.
Reading fluency occurs when a child has developed the knowledge and skills to recognize words automatically, accurately and quickly. This usually develops at ages 7 to 8.
Phonics rules for kids help them make these connections. Phonics rules and exceptions also teach spelling patterns and spelling rules. It teaches them to break the word into smaller chunks called syllables. Thus, making it easier for them to read and spell.
Most research agrees that teaching the sound/letter links in alphabetical order is of little help when teaching children to read. In fact, it can make it harder to teach the sounds because if we follow the order of the alphabet most children will revert back to the letter name rather than the sound it makes.
Learning alphabetical order is important because it helps children understand the concept of sequence and order. This is a fundamental skill that is essential in many areas of learning, including math, science, and reading.