What is the best way to teach the alphabet?

1. Sing the alphabet

2. Print out each letter on large page sized piece of paper

Get him the to trace the letter the way it's written

3. In a box, or large plastic bin full of sand or cornmeal, (after tracing the paper letter) with his pointer finger get him to trace the letter into the sand. (He should be able to see the letter, if not, take some sand out)

Start with A. Always get him to repeat the letter verbally while tracing.

When all the letters are done, try flash cards.

Capital letters only. You will confuse the crap out of any little kid by trying to do capitals and lower case at the same time.

Once all of this is done, then go for the lower case letters.

This way he is learning verbally, visually, and by using his hands. Your are putting all the learning types into one.

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A lot of the answers on here are giving you strategies to have the child memorize the symbols and the order that they come in. That doesn't help unless they know what the letters mean. Even associating each letter with some object, like A = Apple, B = Batman won't necesasrily help because if the child can't recognize that A is not actually another way of saying Apple but simply refers to the letter a and the phoneme a then you would have taught the kid to go to the store and purchase a pound of granny smith A's or try reading a B and Robin comic book. While I don't know enough to answer your question, I can tell you that what you're looking for is a way to teach a child language who does not have an understanding of phonics or phonetic awareness. Maybe using those more specific terms in your search will help you find the answer.

Another suggestion would be to stop by any elementary school in your neighbourhood and ask to speak to a special ed teacher. Tell them your situation and ask them for strategies.

there are a lot of ways to incorporate numbers into your day. You can count the numbers on the clock, You can do a number hunt, you can count the the number of cookies or fruit snacks, and they have counting books or you can make your own with construction paper and cut outs. The alphabet you could sing in the car , while playing , while changing diapers, just about anytime. Also read lots of books the wiggles and barney both have alphabet books which my 2 year old son loves and doesnt realize he is learning.

Teach 1 or 2 letters a day. Have him color the bubble letters on print out worksheets. Also talk about what starts with that letter. I would try to teach him upper and lowercase at the same time, but if he doesn't understand....then do i set at a time.

Take things with you to use as aides. Putting cards in front of a child will help very little. You must use things like...apple for A, Banana, B. Crayon for C...and so on. The child will associate these with the alphabet better. They see the item in real life and then learn better.

Associate each letter with an animal. Make a one page sheet with each letter with an animal beside it that begins with that letter. One page will be simpler for someone with a learning disability and the animals will appeal to a six year old.

To get you started:

A: Alligator

B: Bear

C: Cat

D: Dog

having been a tutor I can tell you it's hard to teach reading to someone who can't tell what the letters ARE...so make the letters MEAN something...a= apple, b= bread, c=candy/cat, whatever the kid has in his life that pertains to the letter...make the letters BIG (he may be able to see them perfectly fine, but you need to impress the letters on his brain, if possible.) don't move fast...do one one or two letters at a time and make it FUN. Make a story out of it...make him laugh...kids will learn better if things aren't so boring.

By Rote. Make it a game. My father got me a ruler with the alphabet written out on it, and I slowly managed to recite all the letters. The secret of small children and letters is to MAKE THEM BIG ENOUGH. Maybe get a strip of wall paper and fix it as a banner along a bedroom wall with the letters painted on it.