Sometimes I walk into classrooms that have alphabet posters, and they just kind of sit there all year. And I get it. There are times that we use items just because they are required.
Or sometimes they get forgotten about. I’ve done that myself. It just starts to blend in with the wall.
As someone who only puts the necessities on the wall in my preschool classroom (which is mostly child-made art), I’ve always made sure that an alphabet was up there in some form or another. At times it was because it was required where I worked, but then I also used them when it wasn’t required because I found ways to use alphabet wall cards so that children were asking questions about them and figuring out important literacy skills like phonics.
It is important to expose children to the alphabet because we want them to interact with it and become familiar with these straight and curvy lines that form together as letters. Letters that come together and create words. Words that come together to make sentences. It all begins early on.
I once heard it explained really well. When we read to children, we point to the words so that it gives meaning. This helps them realize that we are not just making up a story. They start to see that we are saying a word written on the page.
Alphabet wall cards with pictures are an extra bonus because it gives children a visual to help them remember the letter sound(s). Whenever we can involve the senses, children will learn more.
Other ways that I love to help children learn the alphabet is with music. We especially love learning the alphabet through the alphabet songs.
If you are singing alphabet songs, pointing out a picture in a visual, holding an object, or moving your body to a letter sound, you are giving children the ability to learn in multiple ways. We also love using hands-on alphabet games and activities.
All children learn differently and some will learn better by seeing, or by doing, or by hearing. I try to remember this first and foremost and incorporate all of these.
Love it! Thanks a lot!