What average age should children start to know the alphabet??

[carbonarayum]

Saw a friend today with a just turned 3 year old who apparently knows the full alphabet and can almost spell his name. My DC 2.5 is no where near this. He can count to 10 (but can't really actually count, if you know what I mean -well maybe to 2) and knows what the alphabet song is and knows the alphabet poster on his wall is the alphabet, that's about as far as it goes..!!!

Friend talking of teaching phonics, practicing handwriting etc..

Freaked me out a bit as I'd have thought this would be a big step off yet age wise??!!

Just wondered what others experiences were?

Exactly as others said. My ds learnt the alphabet as a song before the age of 2. It played on a toy at his friend's house. He's now 2.2 and recognises capital A ('it's like a triangle' he told me), s and l. Nothing else. All in good time.

My DS has been really interested in letters since a very young age (had fridge magnets and the foam playmat with letters on) he use to ask what they were all the time, so we would tell him the sound. He knew all the letter sounds by 18 months, and now at 2.5 he knows sounds and names of all the letters, though does not know the alphabet song. He can spell his name (but it is only three letters long!) He can overwrite his name if I write it quite large, before anyone judges I'm not making him do this, he wanted to sign his own Christmas cards! He can count up to 15, but only recognises numbers up to 10. They are all different, and being a teaching assistant, I can tell you that alot of children arrive at school not knowing the alphabet, so nothing to worry about at all!

DC1 (asd and severe learning difficulties!) knew all the alphabet by 2.5. she is 8 and still significantly delayed across all areas

DC2 is in yr and only learned it at school once tuerned 5. She is very advanced and top of the year group (80 kids).

a 2.5 year old does not need to know the letters and doing so/not knowing really means nothing.

DD1 probably knew the alphabet (song and what each letter was) by 2 because a friend made an embroidery of the alphabet that hung where DD1 could see it from the change table and it was the perfect way to distract her during changes. The same with counting; for some reason counting to 10 or 20 during changes helped keep her calm so she picked it up early.

She could also spell her name from around 2.5 as she had a set of foam letters for bath time and would ask us to write words on the bath with them. Her name was naturally one of the first things we thought of.

DD2 (19 months) is pretty good at lying still during changes so we've not had to distract her in the same way. I think it will be a lot later that she learns the alphabet. She likes counting and tries that, which is very cute when she plays hide and seek with her big sister "2,4,2,4, here come".

It varies.

DD (2.11) knows most of the letters of the alphabet to look at (maybe 3/4s?) and nearly half of the alphabet in capital letters. She doesn't know how to spell anything at all but don't expect that for at least another 6ish months, maybe more.

She can write the letter l and I, but they are very similar/easy to write. She can write the number 1 and attempts the number 2 but it doesn't quite look like a number 2. She can nearly do a number 8. She knows up to 10 and knows what they all look like, including 0.

I'd say DD is about average in all of this. All children are different. As long as your 2.5 year old recognises words when spoken and takes an interest in the alphabet (the abc song) then I certainly don't see any problem.

Ds1 knew alphabet sounds at 3.5, started reading at 4. Ds2 knew alphabet sounds by 3 and was reading green band books at start of reception when he'd just turned 4.

I wouldn't have believed this prior to dd, but she knew all her letter sounds by 2 and I have video footage of her on her second birthday pointing out her own name and the names of other family members. So it varies hugely.

yr2 or 3 mine knew, kind of. Not before. They were very good early readers, btw.

Well. Ds had one of those alphabet jigsaws for his 2nd birthday and he was quite interested in it, would point to letters and ask me to name them, so I did ( and I am really anti formal learning pre school age, so wasn't trying to cram him full of book learnin'!)
By 26 months he could do the jigsaw and say the alphabet in order. He could also, fairly inexplicably, count to 100 at the same age! He was reading by his 4th birthday, and understanding too, because he would learn words and use them in context elsewhere ( my teacher friend had dismissed his reading as " just memorising ". It wasn't.
He is a decidedly academically average year 5 now
They all reach different stages at different times. He may one day be a genius again, who can say! ( or more likely will just think he is..)

Ah, the alphabet song is brilliant, mine used to sing it all the time.
It's surprising how many people still mumble bits of it when trying to position a letter.
I've noticed it a few times and have done it myself, young people and my students did it all the time

DS1 could read lots of words before 3, all train related. I taught him, partly to see if I could, for something to do with him - he was very motivated to learn, always trying to read street names etc. I made flash cards, which he loved. He's always been interested in how things work, and that included reading.

On the other hand, DS3 couldn't even talk until he was 3,let alone read, and plus he was ds3, so not pfb, and I had a lot less time on my hands!

There was very little difference between their reading ability at 7, both were fluent. I put it down to coming from a family of avid readers, and we spent a lot of time reading with/to them for pleasure. But a lot of 7 year olds are fluent, so it really might not be anything I did at all! Do whatever you and DS will enjoy - it's important that reading is a pleasure, not a chore.

It might help him to be familiar with the alphabet song, but if he's not, he'll learn it when he gets to school anyway. I have 7 year olds in my class who can't read much at all, but they all know the alphabet song - it's not a determiner of reading ability.

DD1 could spell/write her name by 3.6-4ish - she is 7 now and starting to read well after a very slow start, I don't think letters/words come easily to her. She was never really interested in 'environmental print', she was read to from birth, but is not a natural book lover (yet!).

DD2 is 3.8 and has started showing a massive interest in letters recently. She knows the all letters and spells all the signs she sees (capital letters only) and tells us what they say eg spells out "S A M S U N G" then says "that says TV"! She has a speech delay so it is lovely to see her do well with her understanding of letters and numbers, we encourage her interest a bit but do not 'teach'.

I am hoping this will lead to more fluency when it comes to reading, but who knows at this stage. It would be nice to have her not struggle as DD1 did.

My 3.4 yr old knows her alphabet and has for about a year. She knows the letters and also the phonic sound for each letter b
She had a peppa pig alphabet book that she loved so I read it to her quite a lot.
I also put on YouTube alphabet and phonics songs for her while she's having her breakfast so I can get on with stuff.
I don't think she's exceptionally bright or anything. I've actively exposed her to it.

It really doesn't matter. My brother was a free reader before the age of three. I couldn't read at all when I started school, and was way behind in reading until about 6. We both eventually went to the same (considered very prestigious) university.
With reading, and all these things, there are no prizes for getting there first, and it isn't an indicator of innate intelligence. So teach your child if they're interested (my dd is, and is getting on to being a free reader at just under 4). But if they're more interested in other things, that is equally important. Most of dd's friends can't read or write like she can, but they are clearly just as intelligent.

My mum has been an early years teacher for 30 years. She always tells me with mine that the best thing you can do for a child is give them a love of books. Read to them lots, encourage them to get involved.
Don't teach anything as such; they'll get that at school.

But instil in them a love of reading and an interest in the world around them. Encourage questions about everything and when they ask, tell them. Don't say 'just because' to things like 'why is the sky blue?' Tell the truth - and if you don't know it, find out together.

All this stuff is important. Phonics at 3? Not so much.

My son was about 2, but he has always loved words and numbers. From when he started walking and we'd toddle round the streets he would point at all number plates, door numbers and street signs. Then he became obsessed with watching alphabet songs on you tube. That progressed to writing the full alphabet in caps by age 3 on his chalkboard. One day he spelled out and wrote the word Apple. 3.5 years old on holiday he read the kids menu. Not every word but we were gob smacked! Bought him a set of kids reading books (Biff and kipper) not long after. Read the level 4 books with no issue. All before age 4.
My daughter couldn't care less and she is a year older! She does however have an extensive knowledge of minecraft!
Some kids are just really into letters/numbers etc.
Oh, I've never actively taught him, but we read a lot together.

Dd is 2.2 and can identify a few of letters. She can sing the alphabet song but that's no different to singing twinkle twinkle little star.

My daughter is 22 months. She recognizes most letters (when asking, "Where is the...") and can say most of the letters. She took a great interest on flash cards at an early age & we play games, sing songs, etc that involve the alphabet. That being said, every child is different. She was late to walk (18 months). Now I can't keep up with her!

Given this thread was started in 2013 the op's child is probably reading war and peace by now