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Original poster

At what age do toddlers start to recite the Alphabet?

43 replies

small76 · 24/05/2009 13:27

Hi,I have a 2.5 yr old girl who is reciting the Alphabet in order without help.
Does anyone know if this is late, about right, early to do this?
I have an 8 yr old son and just cannot remember milestones.

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SOLOisMeredithGrey · 24/05/2009 13:29

My Ds was about 18months and Dd has been doing some of it for a few months at 2.5 now.

frustratedmom · 24/05/2009 13:31

Sounds pretty average. Does dd know names or sounds or both?

lingle · 24/05/2009 18:11

I would not describe this as a milestone.

ramonaquimby · 24/05/2009 18:14

I have a girl about the same age and she has been singing it for a while now - copying her older sisters. It's just a song to her at the moment!

ruddynorah · 24/05/2009 18:18

it's only like remembering the words to a song. it's all about sounding phonics now.

PatTheHammer · 24/05/2009 18:18

Think it's just the same as memorising songs, my daughter did this about a similar age. She is now nearly 3 and knows all the sounds (far more useful) and can sound out simple words and do some spelling etc. Your DD obviously has a good memory small and this will help her learning in later years

wotulookinat · 24/05/2009 18:22

sounds like a bright little thing to me

Sheesh, and to think I was proud of my son being able to count to ten at 2.5.

TrinityIsLovingHerLittleRhino · 24/05/2009 18:27

tis just memory
just like learning a song

Fillyjonk · 24/05/2009 18:27

Sorry, but why does it matter? Is she lovely and vivacious and fabulous in every way? Then why does it matter when she learns to do anything? They can pretty much all read and count and make rude noises perfectly well by secondary transfer, so the exact age at when they learn to do stuff like this-which has no real educational significance in and of itself, as far as I can see-seems a bit academic.

wotulookinat · 24/05/2009 18:33

Ah but we can be proud, can't we?

Fillyjonk · 24/05/2009 18:46

I don't think it is that simple, I'm afraid.

I had a child who didn't speak til 2. I remember seeing threads like this and, tbh, thinking there was something wrong with him. Now he is 5 and there is clearly nothing wrong with his speech but I remember how panicked I felt.

Honest to god, I want all you lurkers with kids who can't recite the alphabet at 2 months to know it doesn't matter. Early reciting of the alphabet doesn't predict early reading, early reading doesn't predict university entrance or even a lifetime of liking books. I don't think mine ever recited the alphabet, because I never taught it to them (why bother?), because we don't watch tv here and we don't have those "educational" toys.

PatTheHammer · 24/05/2009 18:46

Fillyjonk I agree that it has no significance what age they learn to do stuff, especailly this early when they tend to just have little phases of things they really like (numbers/shapes/letters etc). However, as someone who has taught lots of Y7 children of all abilities I am sorry to add that they pretty much cannot all read and count at secondary transfer. There is a significant number of pupils leaving primary schools who can't do this. Being concerned about your childrens learning is important, but like you said, not at this age

Catz · 24/05/2009 18:50

DD started doing this around 18mnths too. They'd done it at nursery (we'd not taught it to her). I didn't regard it as anything special though it is a nice 'party trick' for grandparents! She sings lots of songs and this is just another song to her, I don't think she has much idea about what it means but perhaps your DD does. It's a very nice thing to do in any case!

lljkk · 24/05/2009 18:56

DS 4yo sings the alphabet song, apparently it's done at school.
He was singing bits of it when he was 3yo.
I'm sure the other dc were not, don't think they knew the alphabet until 2-3 years of school had gone by.
They are all above average at literacy.

Fillyjonk · 24/05/2009 18:58

seriously, lots of them can't read or count at 11? Am a bit at that. Goodness.

I really agree with people being concerned with their kids learning also (am a home educator ;-) ) too. This is a Good Thing. Just not comparing young kids, or actually any kids.

PatTheHammer · 24/05/2009 19:03

Agreed, comparing kids is never productive at any age. They all have their own little special things and party-tricks particularly at this age

Yep, we usually have a group of about 10 children each year who cannot do one or the other of these things for various reasons. The fact that some of them start secondary school without a statement also beggars belief

cupofteaplease · 24/05/2009 19:07

Dd1 is 4 next month and still fluffs the alphabet song! I still love her though.

halia · 24/05/2009 19:16

DS is 4.1 and wouldn't be able to do the alphabet song if you paid him in chocolate icecream with blue sauce and sprinkles.

Noonki · 24/05/2009 19:31

dss can't receite the alphabet song at 12 probably as he has a mild form of dyslexia, he is clever in so many other ways though.

DS1 could at about 18 months as he has a memory didn;t mean a thing to him though as was just sounds.

it's not a milestone though it depends on how much you sing it and how good their memory is. It has little or nothing to do with literacy ime.

plusonemore · 24/05/2009 19:42

only a useful skill if you want to look up a word in the dictionary IMO

Fillyjonk · 24/05/2009 20:16

noooo plusonemore

its also useful for looking up people with amusing surnames in the phone book

frustratedmom · 24/05/2009 22:16

knowing the letter doesn't help you look up a word in the dictionary - you have to have half a clue to spell it! Am dyslexic and use to get cross when told to look up the words in a dictionary. my spelling is sooo bad i dont get close enough to find anything. pointed this out once and completely confused my challenger

PaulaYatesBiggestFan · 24/05/2009 22:20

mine are rubbish at milestones

think ds 1 was about 12 before he knew alphabet

at 16 he has just mastered a bike but he is too thin to swim

not sure about alphabet not something i have considered

they usually know their phonic one by late 2's iirc

Twinklemegan · 24/05/2009 22:27

It sounds a little early to me. DS can recite loads of stuff now he's 2.9, and I'm sure if I'd taught him the alphabet like a rhyme he'd be reciting that too.

But I just can't see the point. The same with numbers. He's learned his numbers in sequence from counting stuff which is fine. Numbers have a meaning in the real world. But letters are completely meaningless in the physical world- they are only significant as a visual aid to language. I'm much more interested in him learning rhymes and stories, and learning to love books and language than being able to recite what is essentially a set of abstract symbols. You might as well try to teach music notation to a toddler.

Twinklemegan · 24/05/2009 22:31

About numbers - I meant to say they have a meaning in that it's worth knowing that if there are 2 of something, you say "2". I'm not bothered about him recognising the symbol for 2 at this stage.

An exchange today is a good example of DS's interest in letters:

Me: What sound does bath start with?
DS:
Me: B. B for Bath. What sound does bed start with?
DS: Dunno
Me: B again. B for Bed. What sound does ball start with?
DS: I dunno.
Me: It's the same as bath. B for bath. So what is it for ball? It's the same - what do you say?
DS: SNAP!
Me: OK, what sound does cat start with?
DS: Miaow