Do I teach my 3 year old the alphabet or phonics?

[Beatrixpotty]

DS1 is 3.5 and has just starting asking about words and letters.When he says"Tell me what the letters are" do I say "Ay,Bee,See,Dee" etc or "Aa,Buh,Cuh,Duh" etc.I know they do phonics when they start school but I don't want to confuse him .What's the latest advice?

Definitely phonics. However, it's important to say the sounds without the "uh" sound at the end. There are various websites where you can listen to the phonemes being pronounced correctly.

I'd get the jolly phonics book. I got it for dd and read her a few pages each night. She loved it and it gave her a really good grasp of phonics.

Dunno about latest advice, I would use phonics similar to what they say on Starfall or ReadWriteInc (I can't hear the difference).

dd started reception class in september. they use thrass as a way of learning letter sounds and phonics. i find it baffling but she gets it. they have songs to remember the different sounds, which are hilarious to listen to.
ds (yr2) transferred from a school where they learned the sounds a, buh, cuh etc and has progressed tremendously since learning the thrass method (was behind in old school, now working at level 3)
not many schools use thrass but it is a great way of understanding letters as well as sounds

Phonics and only phonics.

Both. Leapfrog fridge alphabet thingy, plus phonic cards and reading together.

Prepare to sing along..

"A says ah and A says A..every letter makes a sound A says ah aaand A"

like this

Thanks for advice..phonics it is then.Alphablocks on iPad is going down well already.Impressed that your DD can read at 3.7puddle jumper! Don't think DS will be there for a while but at least I know how best to help him

Agree with all the advice here. Just to warn you, I taught my DS all the phonics. He then blindsided me by coming home reciting the letter names because he'd picked them up from the alphabet song which of course every three year old comes across somewhere! So, we did have a period of confusion where he would sometimes say the letter name and sometimes the phonic sound. However, it didn't take him too long to be able to differentiate the two quite easily. I just reminded him of the difference between the name and the sound.

Yes my Ds was taught the alphabet song by his grandad when he was almost 3 and it caused him a lot of confusion when he went into reception class (he didn't attend nursery and to be honest I just thought the alphabet song would be sufficient ). I had to re-teach him the little alphabet (phonics) so he could read. nobody taught my Dd (3) her alphabet song but I did point out letter sounds as I was reading stories to her but she didn't seem too be taking it in, but has now started bringing reading books with words home, so maybe she is using them at school.

Really? is the alphabet song no good?
my 2.5 year old knows the alphabet in english and spanish...and she sometimes confuses the two...is that bad?

but phonics only?
I never even thought about that. Surely phonics comes in when putting a word together, but shouldnt they know the letters as well?

anyway what are the best letter and learning to read apps? anyone tried good ones?

I don't think there's anything wrong at all with the alphabet song. You just have to make sure they know the difference between letter 'names' (as in the song) and 'sounds' (as in phonics). If they know both, I think you have no problem. If they confuse the two then it could be an issue (but only if they continue to do so over the long term, not if they do so temporarily).