You know that posh educational resources and toys with the alphabet on them don't teach your child, right?!
I don't care if you have the most beautiful, carved wood letter puzzle and all the montessori bits to go with it - that ISN'T teaching your child. YOU teach your child!! And all you need is a library card and some zaziplays strategies!!

POINTING OUT LETTERS
If you want to draw your child's attention to letters then there's plenty letters in a book. YES we can always read the book for the enjoyment of the story, but it's also fine to pause and use it to teach other things.

Here you can see me (3 months ago - cough - old content - cough) reading a book with August (he's 21 months here) and simply pointing out a few of the big letters on the cover. There's ZERO testing or pressure from me. I'm not expecting him to know his alphabet - it's really not important at this age. I'm just commenting on it - simple as that.

A QUICK REMINDER THAT THE ALPHABET ISN'T IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW.

You know all the letters in the French alphabet but you can't speak French. Right? You've got the alphabet NAILED but you don't have any language so it's pointless.

The same applies with our kids. Language development and having a lot to say is WAY MORE IMPORTANT than knowing the alphabet. If they have nothing to say then they have nothing to write.

ADD A BIT OF LETTER/SOUND AWARENESS TO YOUR ROUTINES
🌸 Point out the first letter of your child's name when you see it about the place.
🌸 The letter sound is more important than the letter name, e.g. "ssss" not "ess" for S.
🌸 Just comment. Don't expect your little one to copy you and don't test them on their knowledge.
🌸 Noticing letters can be a fun game! How many D's can you find on the page? Race to find the next K!!

Tried this before? Let me know how it went.

Watch the video here