It's important to teach young children the alphabet, but tread gently

What written word could mean more to a child than his own name? Meaning, not sounds or letters, drives a child’s earliest interests in print. An early literacy skill that is a strong predictor of future reading achievement is letter identification. Children who enter kindergarten knowing many letter names tend to have an easier time learning to read than those who do not. In fact, according to researchers Linnea Ehri and Sandra McCormick, “Knowledge of alphabet letters at entry into kindergarten is a strong predictor of reading ability in the 10th grade.” Yes, entry into kindergarten.

Although skills like letter knowledge are important, literacy development isn’t just a matter of learning a set of technical skills. Children acquire literacy through meaningful experiences. Just like oral language, children learn about written language through actual use in a social context. When children see and hear adults read and write in their daily lives, they, too, want to learn about words and letters.

We are delighted with our nation’s current emphasis on early literacy development, but our concern is that this attention to skill development may push first-grade reading instruction onto preschool-aged children. It’s unsettling to think that a parent or caregiver, with the best of intentions, would encourage children under two years old to learn the letters of the alphabet. Children this young must have real-life experiences that they can touch, taste, see, and talk about. Letters are abstract symbols that represent sounds and have little meaning for children this age.

Although children do need instruction to gain early literacy skills, whole-group lessons and intensive drills on isolated skills are ineffective practices with preschoolers. It’s not through drill, but through fun, interactive, age-appropriate activities that youngsters learn about literacy. So what is appropriate for baby’s first two years? To prepare for learning the alphabet, one- to three-year-olds need many opportunities to manipulate objects—such as blocks, balls, Play-Doh, large Legos, and puzzles—and lots of conversations with adults to help them understand the concept of same and different.

Three- to four-year-olds are beginning to focus on print in books, and they enjoy making connections between letters in their names and those in alphabet books and book titles. Shape and alphabet books are appropriate to use with this age group, as is naming letters on signs, boxes, and labels. They also like to “read” identifiable words in picture books, such as “STOP” in Trashy Town (HarperCollins, 1999) by Andrea Zimmerman.

Four- and five-year-olds are beginning to concentrate on writing their names and the names of their family members. By the time children are four years old, many are noticing that words are made up of different sounds and letters. They talk about letters and their sounds and like to use emergent writing to record information. They enjoy a literacy-enriched environment with opportunities to make receipts, menus, schedules, parking tickets, and grocery lists. This age group likes to write messages to other children and enjoys listening to books on tape as they follow along with the written text.

In our preschool storytimes, we use name tags or let children “sign-in” if they wish. We read alphabet books and create them with children; we provide opportunities for children to play with magnetic or foam letters. If possible, we provide lots of writing and drawing materials. Some books, like Bunny Cakes (Viking, 2000) by Rosemary Wells, offer perfect opportunities to talk about the purposes of writing and letters. A storytime can lend itself to list making, too. Ask the children to think of all the animals they wish to sing about in “Old MacDonald.” Write down their suggestions and refer to them between verses.

Are library professionals teachers? Should we be? Yes, and in the most appropriate way possible, so that parents and caregivers can model our best practices. We can demonstrate how to facilitate children’s literacy learning by translating theory and research into fun activities with meaning!