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9-17-00 Question 45
Dear Preschool Teacher,
I am a new Preschool Teacher. I would like to know if you
have any suggestions on how to introduce letters of the alphabet. Is there a
specific order in which I should introduce the alphabets? Within how many
weeks of school is a good time to start prewriting skills? I would
appreciate any suggestions or tips you have.
Introducing Letters
Dear Introducing Letters,
You don't mention, but are you working with 4 or 5
year olds? I don't feel the alphabet belongs in a 3 year old
classroom. The order doesn't really matter -- you can coincide with
your theme, "A" for apples, "M" for me, "F"
for fall, etc., or you can go in alphabetical order. I do a letter a
week, in ABC order, beginning the end of September, holiday months may only
have 1 or 2 letters introduced. I feel it usually takes a few weeks of
school to get to know the children, so maybe start your prewriting the end
of September also.
Kris
"Ask the Preschool Teacher" Staff
Dear Introducing Letters,
I suggest waiting a few weeks before introducing
letters. In my experience the first 2-3 weeks of preschool is a time
for children to get to know the classroom routine and for the teacher to get
to know the children and how they learn.
I also suggest introducing letters based on your
classroom themes. For example, during September, you might be
discussing Apples, therefore, you could introduce the letter Aa to them, or
Bb for bus. In October, you could do the letter Pp for pumpkins, Ll
for leaves, etc. In general, you might try focusing on just one letter
every 2 weeks so that you don't overwhelm the children. Don't worry if
you don't get to all the letters in the course of the school year. Most
likely, most of the children in your class will be with you for another year
(if your preschool takes children from 3-5 years old) and eventually, you
will cover most of the letters. Some programs even choose to focus on
just the consonants, as they are easier sounds for the children to
distinguish. This is up to you to decide. I find that this method
makes learning the letters more relevant to the children. Just giving
them a letter a week without regard to what your theme is would be too
abstract for children this age. That is my opinion.
Good Luck!
Jill
"Ask the Preschool Teacher" Staff
Dear Introducing Letters,
I'm wondering what aged preschoolers you work with.
In our 3 year old class, we introduce the alphabet mid year, following
colors and shapes. We do the alphabet letter by letter, with the goals
being to recognize the letter at sight and it's phonetic sound. With
the 4 year olds, we begin with a lot of printing readiness exercises and
then begin the alphabet, adding printing the letters to our goals.
This year, the 3 year old's will focus their alphabet program on
characters-- A for Aladdin, B for Beauty and the Beast, C for Cookie
Monster, D for Dumbo etc.... It's a fun, relaxed method. The 4 year old's
will follow the Letterland program which is one of the formal pictogram
based alphabet programs currently on the market, (http://www.letterland.com/)
but there are several good ones out there to choose from.
Good luck and have fun.
Shelley
"Ask the Preschool Teacher" Staff
Dear Introducing Letters,
I start my letter two weeks after school
starts. I do my letters according to my themes. I will start
with "A" because my theme is apples. I will then go to
"L" because I will be doing leaves. I do one letter a week.
Peg
"Ask the Preschool Teacher" Staff
Dear Introducing Letters,
There is no specific order to teach the letters. I
introduce them with the theme and with an art project. We talk about
the "letter of the Week" at circle time. We look for the letter in
the environment. Start prewriting skills right away. Many of the
things you do daily are prewriting activities. Puzzles, playdough,
cutting with scissors, tracing objects and stringing beads are a few
activities that enhance writing when the child is ready for it.
Jacqueline
"Ask the Preschool Teacher" Staff
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