Partners in Promoting Learning:
Helping your child with
reading skills – Module 2
Learning the alphabet
• Research shows that one of two essential skills
for early reading is knowing the alphabet
“ess”
Knowing Letter Names
“sss”
Knowing Letter Sounds
Ways of teaching the alphabet
• Singing the ABC does not equal knowing the
alphabet
ABCD…
ABCDEF
Ways of teaching ABCs
• Alphabet books
• Parents use alphabet books to teach prereading skills
Ways of teaching ABCs
• Read alphabet books aloud to children
• Point out letters
• Emphasize initial sounds
“FFFour FFFluffy
FFFeathers”
Alphabet books
• Picking the right alphabet book
• Some alphabet books do not provide good/
consistent matches for letter sounds
Alphabet books
• Picking the right alphabet book
• Some alphabet books do not provide good/
consistent matches for letter sounds
Bad Letter-Sound Matches
✔
Funny Kids Song with examples of bad letter-sound matches
Crazy ABC’s By: Barenaked Ladies
Alphabet books
Letter Sound ok…
But Confusing Words
•
•
•
•
O is for octagon
I is for imp
A is for airplane
T is for tree
Characteristics of good alphabet books
Key letter in large print
Apple vs Apple
Characteristics of good alphabet books
Key letter in simple print
A vs. A
A vs. A
Characteristics of good alphabet books
Few words
Simple objects
Most common letter-sound match
B
A
is for apple
is for bed
C
is for cat
Characteristics of good alphabet books
Common, unambiguous objects as focus
B
is for bed
Other tips
• Try to personalize the letter sounds
– Child’s name
– Parent (Mom, Dad)
• Find a match with your child’s name
lison
arl
indy
Other tips
Common to confuse similar looking letters
b d
Playing with language
• Poetry
• Nonsense rhymes
How children learn language?
• Figure out what kind of word it is from
context.
• Real word context
The dog
had a bone.
Show me the corroflont
Jabberwocky
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
How can poetry help?
• Learn to play with language
• Learn new words
• Listen to sounds of language, not just meaning