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Children who are learning to read and write will need to know several letters of the alphabet. However, they don't need to know them before they make more global discoveries about how reading and writing work, or about the nature of print. Typically, children produce mock writing and do pretend reading before their attention goes to the detail of letters.
Most children can recognize and produce some letters while in preschool, but many still do not. Kindergarten teachers treat children's alphabet knowledge as a sign that they have been exposed to print (Walsh, et al., 1988). They also realize that the more letters children know, the more quickly they will learn to read words (Snow, et al., 1998; Morris, 1999). It's a good idea to take every natural opportunity to teach children about letters. For example, you can label their cubby with their name, and point out, "This is Takisha's cubby because her name starts with T." You can bake alphabet cookies, and serve alphabet soup—making a point, and often a game, of naming the letters as you do.
© ______ 2005, Allyn & Bacon, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The reproduction, duplication, or distribution of this material by any means including but not limited to email and blogs is strictly prohibited without the explicit permission of the publisher.
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