How To Teach A Child To Write Alphabets [9 Proven Ways]

Getting to learn how to write alphabet is one of the happiest moments in a child’s life. It is the first step that your child takes in his life’s journey of gaining knowledge constantly. Generally, most of the parents purchase a handwriting/alphabet activity book for their child and make him/ her practice on it.

They do so by forcing the child to do the exercises given in the activity book, on a regular basis. This school of thought is quite old and outdated and though might work in few cases but, mostly it does not, as your child will get bored and you get more and more irritated.

So, instead of following the outdated ideas by which the parents themselves grew up, they should think out of the box. Earlier we had talked about some of the Proven Effective Ways to Teach Kids Alphabet and now let us try and find out some new, fun and effective ways of how to teach a child to write the alphabet.

Often the easiest way is the best way. So, the most convenient option by which to teach your kid to write the alphabet is via general activities that might lead to him/ her enjoying a lot and then the parents can slowly increase the learning pace of the child, based on his/ her’s learning capacity.

Avoid boring your child by making him write and practice the letters on paper, as it is quite uninteresting. Hence, now, let us go ahead and try out something new and innovative.

How To Teach A Child To Write English Alphabets [9] Proven Fun & Effective Ways

All the kids are different from each other. While some of them like letters, the others are more inclined towards numbers. Some might be able to grasp the letters, when you teach them, in one go; the others might need more revisions and constant practice before they get a hang of the letters.

Let us, now, discuss nine proven ways that will help you teach the kids to write the alphabet.

1. Use Objects to Fill a Letter

On a big piece of paper make a large letter in either upper or lower case and ask the child to fill it with the objects that start with the sound of the letter. For example in case of “A” use apple-shaped stickers, B use balls stickers, C use clay, D use little ducks or dolls,  E use eggshells, etc.

2. Use Curvy or Straight Things

Ask the child to get creative and make letters out of any household objects that they can spot.  They could even use their clay/ play dough or straw to make straight letters, like A, L, I or E and to make curvy letters, the child can use various flexible things, like ribbons, string, shoelaces, etc.

3. Use Random Items That are Available in The Home

Push your child to, more and more use the objects that are easily found in our homes. They could be simple things, like bindi, kidney beans, grams, dals, differently-shaped cereal, etc. This will make the child happy and he will get more excited to write the letters.

4. Use one’s own Fingers

Give the child a flat surface, such as a plate, wooden box top or shallow bowl. Ask the child to write a letter (whichever one he wants) using his finger, in it. He/ She could use finger paint, semolina, flour or artificial sand for writing the letter.

5. Read Books Aloud

One should never assume that the kids will only understand the letters if they write them. Reading also helps them remember the letters. So, it is a good idea to read different types of alphabet books to your children, even if they are 3 or 5 years old.

Constant reminder of the letters will make the children understand the alphabet quite well. Generally, when a child is born, his parents are gifted a lot of alphabet books, which act as an indication towards the fact that books will pave the way for the success of children.

A child who hears about letters from childhood tends to learn about them faster.

6. Making Letters with Sand

All children love to play in sand. So, it can also be used as a great way to introduce the letters to children. Sand can become a perfect platform for a pre-writing session because the children will be so excited to use their finger in the sand even if it is just to outline the letters.

Letters made in sand act as a physical and visual option for helping the children learn the alphabet. This method can be planned in a three-step way, which is as follows:

1. First step: The first step would be to show the letter to the child. Then, pour some sand in a box. Take the child’s finger and help him trace the letter in it. Another important way of making the child remember a letter is by telling him/ her phonetic sound of the letter. Ensure that each time the child traces the letter, he/ she also speaks its phonetic sound aloud.
2. Second step: The second step in the process is making the child relate the letters with objects or things around him/ her. Like, tell them that the word apple begins with the letter ‘A’. Ensure that you do this with each letter many times so that the child is able to remember it. However, if the child is unable to do so do not over pressure him.
3. Third step: The third and the final step in the process is to ask the child that, on his own, can he trace a particular letter and also name it. You can continue doing the same with all the other letters in the similar manner.

Always remember that while you are helping the child learn the letter through the sand they are learning three things: The shape of the letters, the way it is written, and its phonetic sound.

7. Alphabet Puzzles

Get different types of alphabet puzzles for your kids. They are one of the most amazing and fun-filled options of teaching letters to the young kids. Children would love to solve the puzzles and also get attracted towards the letters in the process. They also act as a great method of learning new and new words and their communication skills, as well.

8. Shift to Sheets

After the child is able to do all these fun activities, then it is a sign that he/ she is ready to begin writing his letters on the paper. So, you can help him/ her by giving him a blank page and encourage him to write the letters, even if in a rough manner.

9. Sensory Activities

Kids remember those things more easily that they are able to see and touch. Like making various cut-outs of letters and asking the kids to match the upper case letters with the lowercase letters or asking them to make the letters by using the play dough. This helps increase the letter recognition skill of the young kids.

What is Letter Recognition?

A child’s ability to recongise all the 26 letters of the English language and speak their sound aloud is termed as letter recognition. If a child is able to recognise all the sounds and shapes of a letter, then he/ she kind of displays good memory from a very young age.

The basic foundation of a child learning a language is for him to read or write the different letters of a language. By the age of 2, a child starts to show his/ her inclination towards learning the alphabet. They can show it by pointing at the letters at various random places.

At What Age should a Child Start Writing the Alphabet?  

As a child grows, every day, he/ she hit a new landmark and achieve it. One of the most important learning landmarks for a child is being able to recognise, read and write all the letters. But, the point to think now is that at what age should a child be able to write the alphabet?

In general, by the age of three a child is able to recite the alphabet. But, we must always remember that each child is unique and so is his/ her’s learning capacity. Some kids might begin to speak the letters when they are in their twos, while the others might not even begin until they are about to turn four years old.

Rhymes are the best way to revise the letters with the children. If you sing the ABC song with your kids on a regular basis, then they are most likely to pick up the letters and remember them too.

Most of the children are able to recognise the letters by the time they reach the ages of three and four years. All the children always recognise the letters in their names first. For example, a boy named John will quite easily be able to remember what the letter “J” looks like and also the other letters in his name, like ‘o’, ‘h’ and ‘n’.

Same is the case for the alphabet recitation too. Keep repeating the letters constantly so that your child is able to recognise them the moment he sees them. The moment you see an individual letter, ask your child “Which letter is that?” This will help them in recollecting the letters.

By the ages of four to five, children will start writing letters. But this applies to most of the children but not all. Some might take longer than the others.

Although, when they are in school, teachers do teach the children to write the letters, while being in playgroup and nursery school, but it would be a good practice to ask your child to regularly practice writing his/her letters at home as well.

Most of the children at this young age think that each written letter is a new story and weave one about it, which makes the letter interesting to them in its own way. So, they might get interested in writing or tracing any particular letter but as a parent/ teacher you must ensure that they pay equal attention to all the letters.

You can also make letters fun for the kids by teaching them to write their own names as well as names of their parents or sibling. However, if a child is unable to do so in the first attempt, it is not a matter of much concern.

But, if your child is not even able to recognise the letters or remember any of them, then it is necessary for you to find out the reason behind your child’s troubles. Like, whether the child is able to understand the instruction given to him/ her or if the child is taking more than an unusually long time to do a simple task.

Parents can even consider talking with the child’s teacher regarding his/ her progress. If, in case of adverse situation, you have a suspicion that your child might have some kind of reading or learning disability, then you should not be too upset or worried, rather discuss it with your child’s doctor.

If the child really has a reading disability, then it could be the reason for him/her to lag behind in his/her learning. In that case, the sooner you get assistance, the better it will be for your little one! We should always remember that kids become more and more secure, artistic, and independent when they are able to freely express themselves and not act under any kind of pressure.

Best Alphabet Writing Books for Kids

We all know that books are one of the most powerful and useful source for connecting with young children as they would love to explore this magical world. Books act as a very useful support material for teaching the letters to little ones.

In today’s competitive world there are many books for alphabet writing in the market and all of them are wonderful, but some always excel more than the other.

Here, we will discuss with you the three alphabet writing books that are the best for your young child.

1. Writing Fun: Write and Practice

It is a set of four fun-filled books that have many beautiful drawings to help a child spot and write the numbers and stand alone English letters. The interesting activities and tracing exercises make the young ones excited for learning and they also help enhance their skill of holding pencil, counting numbers and the ability to write them.

The Alphabet book in this box has many small pictures of animals and things that associated with each alphabet, which might encourage the thinking and remembering capacity of a child.

2. My Activity- ABC Writing Book

It is an amazing set of 15 books that are used to teach and amuse the young students with many age and grade-appropriate activities. Each and every book has activities that lead to learning becoming more fun.

It helps in teaching the basic skills of reading and writing letters and numbers, phonics, pictures or colouring, finding differences between things and much more! Each page in the book is devoted to one particular letter, whether it is uppercase or lower case.

3. Tracing Books for Kids Alphabet Letters Workbook

It is a letter tracing book, which acts as a great way for the children to learn the letters and practice them too. It also helps them improve their fine motor skills, which is most useful in preschool and kindergarten schools.

The dashed lines and blank rows help the children trace the letters and also give ample space to practice them after they seem to have perfected writing it.

Also Check: Best Alphabet (+Numbers) Learning Toys & Books for Kids

Conclusion

Gaining the knowledge of writing the letters is a huge step in the life of a young child. It usually begins in the second year of the kindergarten school, and continues till the grade 2 of the primary school. When the child begins to write, he does so by drawing straight lines, curves, circles or dots.

This he/ she can do by using many different things, like fingers, straws, shoe laces, etc., which act as the first step towards learning to write. The child’s parents or teacher will show the child how to develop and enhance the gross and fine motor skills of arm, fist and hands of a child, so that he/ she is able to make smaller and more accurate letters or shapes.

Beginning to learn to write is a key stage in a child’s education. Writing well and beautifully is very important for a young child’s psycho-motor development. We all know how good and beautiful handwriting always opens ways for new and impressive learning success.

If a child has good writing skills, then he/ she will feel more and more comfortable while learning to read the letters and then words, which will slowly and gradually make it easier for them to recognise and memorize new words too.

One should always think carefully about how do I teach my child to write letters? This should be done to ensure that the child is able to develop in him a wish to write and learn the letters. It will also help the parents to understand how to teach a child alphabet writing and follow his progress, by using various activity books available at home.

All these activities will help the three-five years old kids to become more and more confident of their learning and writing skills and be proud of their success.