How to Teach the ABC's
So many parents are fixated on teaching their babies the ABC's. They begin to sing them the ABC song shortly after birth. They want to be sure that they are ready for school and teach them what the name is for each of the 26 symbols in our alphabet. This is all great, but there is more to reading then being able to recognize the symbols we call letters.
If parents want to give their child a real tool to use, they should teach the letter sounds at the same time. When pointing out the letter A, they should explain that A makes the beginning sound you hear in the word ant. A says "aaa". You can even make up songs about the sounds of the letters.
Since our words are made up of sounds that blend together to form words, it is much more important that children can recognize these sounds. A child that has been taught the sounds of the letters will be better able to decode the word cat by using this code, the phonetic code. They will say, "Cuh, aaa, ttt" " Cat! Otherwise, they will just know the word as C-A-T. With that they can do nothing.
When you teach your child to read as a baby, they are usually able to pick up the sounds of the language on their own. Adding in some phonics is a fun way to take your reading program in a different direction.
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