Teaching Capital Letters

Teaching capital letters can often be a challenging task for parents and teachers. Learning the letters are a child’s first steps towards reading. Specifically in my own classroom and with my daughter I like to start off with only the capital letters. I find it easier to break the letters up into three groups: capital, lowercase and letter sounds. In fact I think starting with capitals is the easiest way to break into letters. Granted teaching all of the capital letters at one time can be overwhelming for the child and for the parent or teacher. Therefore, I like to teach 5 to 6 letters at a time.

I like to pick out 5 of the easier letters to learn plus the first letter of the child’s name. Starting off with the letters; A, W, X, O and I seems to be most effective when working with younger children. They are letters that stand out and are easy for them to remember when they see them. I also then add in the first letter of their first name. While in preschool working on the capital letters, he or she will most likely also be working on learning the spelling of their name.

The first thing is to purchase some flashcards or make some flashcards by hand. You can make your own flashcards by simply folding a piece of paper in half vertically. And then once again horizontally twice. That will make 8 small squares. You can then cut out the squares and write a capital letter on each square. If you want to buy flashcards you can go to your local Wal-Mart and purchase a set of capital letter flashcards. I also recommend flashcards that you can purchase on Amazon.com. They are Eric Carle flashcards.

Eric Carle Flashcards:

Each card has the capital and lowercase letter on one side. The cards also have a animal that starts with that letter on the back. Your child will only be learning the capital letter but while they are working on it they will also be casually seeing the lowercase one next to the capital. This may help them in the future when you begin lowercase letters.

Once you have your flashcards it is important to work on them daily with your child. Working for only 5 minutes a night can make a huge difference. You can do the flashcards after they finish their dinner, right before bed, while they are sitting in the bathtub or even in the car on the way to school. Flashcards can make all the difference in the world in trying to teaching capital letters.

This alphabet peg puzzle is fun for your child to work on their own or with you. With the puzzle you can do many activities. You can ask your child to find certain letters on the puzzle and have them remove the piece from the puzzle. You can also remove the pieces for them and hand them a letter and tell them to say the letters name and then place it back into the puzzle where it belongs.

Alphabet Peg Puzzle

Another great use for the puzzle is having them remove the letters and feel it with their fingers. So that they can trace the edges and see how it is shaped. Some children are better at learning hands on so being able to hold the piece helps them visualize it when they see it on paper. The puzzle allows the kids to see the letters in their own hands and may help them to learn them quicker. This puzzle from Amazon is one of my favorites when teaching capital letters to my kids.

Along with flashcards and puzzles you could also use letter magnets with a magnet board or on your refrigerator when teaching capital letters. Letter magnets are another fun and useful way for a child to work on his or her letters.

Letter Mangnets

Similarly, you can do a lot of the same activities with magnets that you can do with a puzzle. Have your child find the letters that you tell them to find. Once they found the letters, have them pick up the magnets and feel each letter. You could have them place the letters in alphabetical order and you could also have them put the magnets up as they see each name of the letter. Magnets are other hands on ways of working on capital letters with your child.

I also think that worksheets can be helpful for a child when learning to recognize letters. In other words a worksheet allows a child to see the letter on paper, which is where they will most likely be seeing them in school for a very long time. Since a matching worksheet is simple and helpful for the first way of recognizing a letter. I have attached a matching worksheet that has the letters A, W, X, B, I and C to start working on matching with your child.