Why Teach the ABCs + Letter Recognition Activities
Understanding why teach the ABCs is essential for preschool teachers, as the alphabet forms the foundation for reading and writing. In preschool classrooms, engaging letter recognition activities help little ones connect letter names and shapes, strengthening their pre-literacy skills. And teaching the alphabet in meaningful ways sets the stage for future reading instruction.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty about why teach the alphabet and letter sounds in preschool and how to most effectively do it.
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Every preschool teacher knows the excitement of seeing a child proudly point to a letter and say its name. It’s a small moment with a big impact—one that signals an important step toward reading readiness.
But why teach the ABCs? Because learning the alphabet builds the foundation for literacy. When kids recognize letters, connect them to sounds, and see how they form words, they gain the confidence to become early readers.
The earlier children start recognizing letters, the more prepared they’ll be for phonics and reading. By turning letter learning into a hands-on experience with age appreciate activities, teachers can create a classroom where kids are eager to learn. A strong ABC foundation today leads to confident readers tomorrow!
Read this: Why Teach Recognition of Letters in Early Childhood.
What is Letter Recognition?
Alphabetic recognition is sometimes called letter recognition or letter identification, but all three terms have the same meaning. Letter recognition activities refer to the ability to visually recognize letters of the alphabet through hands-on learning activities and these have critical importance in early childhood education.
Learning Letters in Preschool
The following types of activities help children identify both uppercase and lowercase letters, distinguish similar shapes, and confidently name letters, setting the stage for strong reading skills.
- matching same case letters
- matching uppercase letters with lowercase letters
- naming letters in both cases
- distinguishing between similarly shaped letters like C/G, M/W, d/b and p/q
Some might even go so far to say that true letter recognition also includes the ability to name each letter and match that letter name with its written form, both upper and lower case, and in both manuscript and cursive.
How to Teach Letters to Preschoolers
Preschoolers need a lot of exposure to the alphabet. They need explicit instruction as well as plenty of indirect alphabet instruction.
This has been repeatedly affirmed by the top experts in educational research and the National Reading Panel. Phonics should be explicitly taught, and systematically.
This advice is especially important for preschool and kindergarten teachers whose teaching lays a foundation for future reading. Teaching letter recognition requires thoughtful preparation and execution to guarantee enduring outcomes.
How to Teach the ABCs to Preschoolers
Use a mix of explicit and systematic instruction and frequent and consistent exposure to letters through engaging activities that are developmentally appropriate.
Shop our Preschool Literacy Lesson Plans
Includes everything you need—daily lesson plans, printable centers, and more!
What Order to Teach Letters to Preschoolers
The alphabet should not be taught in alphabetical order. Teaching the alphabet in order puts a big focus on those beginning letters. Those are probably going to be the ones that your child sees and remembers most, since that Alphabet Song is so catchy!
What Letters Should Be Taught First
Instead, the correct order to teach letters is to them in the order of how frequently they appear easily decodable words. Letters like s, t, r, m, n, a, o, and p should be taught first. These are “high-frequency” letters and emphasis on these letters first will allow children to quickly start reading simple words.
Read this: All About Letter Recognition for Preschoolers.
Why is Letter Recognition Important for Preschoolers?
Letter recognition is important because it enables beginning readers to figure out how printed text is associated with the spoken language.
Having a mastery of letter names can make learning letter sounds easier for young readers. The sounds of many letter names are closely related to the sound the letter makes.
Learning Letters in Preschool
For example, say letter “d” and you will hear the /d/ sound. Say letter “m” and you will hear the /m/ sound. Many letters of the alphabet follow this, so even while focusing on letter recognition, children are also being exposed to and learning letter sounds.
This increases their overall letter knowledge.
This is why alphabetic recognition is one of the very first skills children learn while they are beginning readers. It parallels phonological awareness and comes before phonemic awareness and decoding.
Shop our Preschool Literacy Lesson Plans
Engaging, ready-to-use lesson plans designed for early learners.
How to Teach Letter Sounds
Researchers and seasoned teachers agree that the alphabetic principle and effective alphabet recognition instruction is a careful balance of both an explicit introduction and instruction of specific letters and frequent exposure to those letters in multiple forms, both isolated and within the text.
What is Required to Learn Letters?
More simply put, the best way to teach your preschoolers the alphabet is to follow these perimeters:
- explicit introduction of letters
- explicit instruction of individual letters
- frequent exposure to letters in multiple forms
- frequent isolated exposure
- frequent within-text exposure
This kind of combined instruction helps children learn letter names, shapes, and sounds within relation to each other in a fun and exciting way.
What Are the Four Components of Letter Recognition?
All children are unique and don’t acquire letter recognition skills at the same time, however most children know the alphabet by the time they start kindergarten.
A well-rounded and effective phonics curriculum will include the following four components to letter recognition.
Letter Learning has Four Components.
- letter recognition
- letter naming
- letter-sound knowledge
- letter formation
ABC Learning Activities
Following are a few very simple, easy to prepare letter recognition activities to help you get started.
Your next step would be to check out my Daily Lessons in Phonics Curriculum, which is designed for preschoolers and both systematic and explicit in its lessons.
- Hands-on Alphabet Worksheets
- Interactive Alphabet Books
- Animal Alphabet Puzzles for Letter Recognition
- Alphabet Soup Game
- Magnetic Alphabet Match-Up Game
- Letter Matching with Beginning Sounds
- Alphabet Letter Splash
- Food & Nutrition Emergent Readers
- Insect Emergent Readers
- Spring Emergent Readers
Resource Books About The Importance of Letter Recognition in Early Childhood
Several resource books written by experts underline the importance of letter recognition. Here are the books I rely on the most.
- Honig, Bill (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 848 Pages – 09/01/2018 (Publication Date) – Academic Therapy Publications (Publisher)
- This inviting book is a bridge between two major strands of reading instruction that are often held…
- Although the current climate of literacy instruction positions these approaches as diametrically…
- The authors reveal how effective teaching is a dynamic process that requires agency and creativity…
Teaching letter identification is one of the most important steps in building early literacy skills. By using engaging and developmentally appropriate letter recognition activities, preschoolers gain the confidence and foundation they need for future reading success. A strong understanding of letters and their sounds supports phonics development, fluency, and comprehension as children progress in their literacy journey.
By incorporating explicit instruction, frequent exposure, and hands-on learning experiences, teachers and parents can make learning the ABCs both effective and fun.
Whether through interactive games, sensory activities, or meaningful print experiences, the goal is to foster a love of letters and language. When children connect with letters in a way that excites them, they are more likely to develop the skills and confidence needed to become lifelong readers. Keep creating playful and engaging experiences, and watch as your preschoolers thrive in their early literacy development!
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
I totally agree. I think you can start early with reading alphabet books and putting out letter in our environment.