Learning the letters of the alphabet is the first step in reading and writing. It starts in kindergarten but you can help your child get familiar with the letters before or in parallel. Here are some practical tips.

The first name is often the gateway to the children’s alphabet. From 2 years old, you can write their first name on their drawings or on a board for example. By dint of seeing it written all over the place, the child will record the letters that compose it. Do not hesitate to make the sound of each letter in front of him.

When the child knows how to write and read his first name, he likes to point out to adults that the letters of his first name are also found in other words that they come across here and there. It will be easier for him to associate a sound with each letter when he has visually recorded the letters.

The child can also rely on an alphabet book: ask him, for example, to find all the letters of his first name in the alphabet book. Thanks to this visual support presenting all the symbols of an alphabet, the child can also visualize other words starting with each letter of the alphabet. Thus, in addition to his first name, the child visually learns other words. For the first few uses of the alphabet, guide your child by pronouncing each letter and the word associated with it.

For a child, it is difficult to remember the 26 letters of the alphabet in the correct order. What could be better than the nursery rhymes of the alphabet to achieve this. The melody of these songs, heard several times, makes it easier for children to remember the order of the letters of the alphabet.

Coloring is an activity that precedes writing in children. To help the child visualize the shape of each letter, consider coloring letters. Pick or draw rather large letters for him so that he has enough space to fill them with color (s). Coloring allows the child to spend several minutes on the same letter and therefore to record it well.

In principle, a child can hold a pencil well around the age of 4/5 years. Before that, he handles it with some difficulty and little precision. You can teach him to write first with bricks on which the letters of the alphabet are inscribed. For example, ask him to write his first name or other first names he knows (family members for example) using the bricks.

You can also make a sound with your mouth and ask it to find among the 26 bricks the letter corresponding to the sound. The fact of handling the letters easily will encourage him to form other words, words that he has seen in magazines or books for example without knowing how to pronounce them or know their meaning.

Modeling letters

Have your child make several letters using plasticine. You can ask him to write his first name in plasticine, for example.

Naming letters and numbers on license plates

In the car, test his knowledge by asking him to name the numbers and letters he sees in the license plate of the car in front.

An “Where’s Charlie” alphabet version

Determine a letter to search for, the A for example. Pick up a book and then ask your child to show you each time the “A” appears.

Hunting for objects in the house

Write all the letters of the alphabet on post-its (one post-it for one letter) then ask your child to stick each post-it on an object starting with the letter written on the paper. For example, sticking the C on the sofa, sticking the A on a cabinet, etc.

The star of letters

On a sheet of paper, draw a large star, ask the child to write the first letter of his first name in the center of the star, then write on each branch words that begin with the same letter. Then ask him to draw under the word what it represents. Example: the child is called Alex. On one of the star’s branches, write the word “spider” and ask the child to draw a spider under the word. You can decline this exercise with all the letters of the alphabet.