Dirian wrote in to ask:
Hi Richard!
I would like to ask you how do I teach the alphabet to kids of 1st grade?
Hi Dirian,
Well the easy answer is …. don’t! 🙂
There are lots of games and ideas you can use to teach the alphabet, for example just about all the Genki English games can be adapted for this and there are many more ideas out there.
But … does teaching the alphabet actually help beginner students?
What?
Because English words aren’t written with the name of the sounds ( i.e. we say “dog” instead of “Dee-o-jee”), it might seem like they are learning something useful, but often teaching the alphabet early can be a real hindrance later on and actually reduce their reading age.
The main use of the alphabet in everyday communication is to teach the spelling of names, places etc. so the ninja tip is to keep the alphabet for much, much further on in your curriculum, for after the kids already know how to speak and can read English already using phonics.
The parents might put pressure on you to do it earlier, but just like in the UK where parents were pushing hamburgers through school gates when they switched to healthy lunches, educating the *parents* is often the first step we have to take! 🙂
So for best results 1. speaking first – 2. then phonics – 3. finally the alphabet (which could be months or years down the track!)
Good luck!
Be genki,
Richard
I absolutely agree. Teach phonics first. And of course, speaking (and singing) are the most important skills!