how to teach 2.10 yr old about Capital and lowercase letters

[LauraGas]

DS is 2.10. The last few weeks he has been almost obsessed with letters and knowing what they are and what word begins with them. He can recognise all letters of the alphabet - in captial letters. When we do drawing he mainly just wants me to write words for him. I'm keen to encourage this but am struggling with trying to explain about capital and lowercase letters. Is there a good way to do this so that he understands that the same letter comes in 2 formats? Not sure if there are any good books that anyone could recommend.

Just as an incidental, he can pick out all the letters of his name when asked - it's Joe. But, he insists that the O comes at the end. Can't get to the bottom of why, but think that it's maybe because that's the last sound of his name? Anyone have an experience of this?

Tell him that you use a capital at the start of names, whether of people or of places or of shops etc. That should be enough for now (bit difficult to explain sentence structure until he's writing iyswim). If you can get him using capitals on proper nouns by 3 he'll be doing better than my 15 yr old! .

And for the record, for the naysayers and detractors, yes some children do naturally learn how to read at 2. It's not especially uncommon. There is NO WAY you could teach a 2 yr old to read who was not ready to read, so can we just accept that the OP's son wants to learn?

[sigh]

but they see capitals out and about and ask

i give up..... clearly no-one has read further than the title and the same statement is going to be repeated ad nauseum

In America they teach capitals before lower case. An American friend who lives in the UK has given his daughter Sesame Street DVDs and they are always capitals, and all the alphabet books are capitals. All the British ones I've seen tend to have capitals alongside lower case. And yes, some 2 year olds just learn to read. But wow, people upset by the 2.10yr old learning his letters, look at this one year old!

ebenes- that is amazing. I wonder if she is sound-blending, or if she has learned by the "look and say" method. She didn't appear to be able to read "morning", so I wonder if that was one she hadn't come across yet, or if she just got bored with performing.

he's 2
get him a wall chart/frieze and floor puzzle with the alphabet on in both upper and lower case and then stop talking about letters for a bit. just concentrate on reading loads and loads of lovely stories

Yep, MOM, we do have a floor puzzle with both upper and lowercase letters on it. When you say to "stop talking about letters" what am I supposed to do when he asks me a question? As I've said before (and before....) I am not actively teaching/talking about letters. HE is asking me the questions about tne letters he sees on signs, covers of books, etc every day. My quest for a advice is merely how best to explain that letters have 2 forms, upper and lower case.

Everyone keeps mentioning the fact that "he is 2". Ok, he is technically, but he will be 3 in May and there is a big difference between a child who is just 2 and a child who is 3.

and as has been mentioned 2 or 20 times on this thread, she's not teaching him letters, she's not instigating the conversations, she's merely asking for the simplest way to answer a child who asks 'why does E look like that on that book but like this on this sign mommy?'

[Pink's head explodes]

PinkT - a big thank you to you (and to many others) for your support. I really feel you get my point!!! My head has exploded many times on this one and it's only from posts like yours that I've stopped myself from wondering why I put the OP in the first place. Am raising a glass of dry white to you!

of the wine, have been pregnant and bf-ing for so long i've forgotton what it's like to enjoy an evening tipple

glad i could help in some way, it's an odd sensation having such a young child asking to learn this stuff and not really knowing how to explain it or even how much you should explain in order not to confuse them.... hopefully we'll both muddle through the next year or so and when they start school they'll still enjoy the experiance of learning... and might have a bit of a head start to boot.

like a few people have said it's entirely possible the facination with letters will be short lived. but even if it is and they stop asking in a few weeks at least that thirst for knowledge is there

Laura, if it's any consolation, I am going through just the same thing with DD (2.7) who knows all her lower case letters (because she asked not because I think 2 year olds should learn to read) but is a bit weirded out by capitals. She keeps asking 'but WHY?' and unfortunately the only answer is really 'because it just is' because it doesn't really have a sensible explanation.

Am personally hoping that the WHY phase will slacken off soon but that might just be wishful thinking! All I'm doing is just saying 'Because it's the start of a name/sentence' etc repeatedly and hoping it sort of sinks in eventually. But if anyone has a foolproof method for stopping a child from asking questions they know the answer to, I'd like to know about that! Although if they did, I expect they'd be sunning themselves on a private island somewhere instead of posting here.

Horton- tell her because names are Special and deserve a Special Letter at the start so that people know they're special. Tell her also that the start of sentences is Special, so that people know it's a new sentence. That might satisfy her thirst...

I haven't read this whole thread but Laura, make sure you teach him the sounds that each letter makes as well. This is a classic mistake that parents make and their children end up finding it harder to read.

Keep it all fun and light-hearted; there's nothing wrong with introducing your child to complex information if they show an eagerness for it. Just make sure you don't push him.

Have fun with your clever boy!

Btw my DS (2.4) goes to a fab Montessori nursery where all the 2-yr olds are taught the sounds of the alphabet. They're taught at a higher level than most other nurseries I know because the approach is that if the children can cope with it, why not? But if a child struggles they can do something else they enjoy instead.

Names are Special is a good idea. Thank you, duchesse. It does at least make sense!

DD loves "playing letters." I bought the Jolly Phonics fridge magnets and basically confiscated all the capitals except the ones at the beginning of Mummy, Daddy, her name and those of a few other relatives!

Her obsession started with the Dr. Seuss alphabet book, though, which goes 'Big A, little a, what begins with a? etc. etc." I always used letter sounds when reading it, which meant it didn't rhyme, obviously, but DD didn't notice. The choice of illustrative words is a bit ropey in some cases, but the book is so mad and rollicking - it really makes you want to exaggerate the initial letters - that I think DD just focused on the words that did begin with the letter sound.

We're going to be the ones teaching her to read, btw, because we live abroad. She'll start learning to read in Czech at 6-7, and I'm hoping she'll be able to read in English before then. Judging by her current level of interest, she probably will be. I'll probably use Jolly Phonics (unless anyone can persuade me that one of the others is better?) and splurge on the handbook etc., while trying to keep the whole thing as much fun for her as it currently is.

Duchesse, re the amazing tiny reading kid: it's really some kind of freakish talent because I've seen other clips of her reading words that were written for her, like "Beatles" and 'Tonight Show' and she got them all. I think she was bored of performing when she skipped one of the words, and it seems to be a genuine ability to sound out word sounds. 'tonight' was particularly amazing because obviously it bypasses phonics, but maybe it was a word she recognised. I think it's really interesting, because it's a hint of how children eventually do learn to read - clearly that little girl reads words she doesn't understand and she doesn't talk ahead of her age. It can't be a coincidence that her parents are speech & language trained.