Insights regarding the Alphabet

1. What good does it do a child to learn a letter a week? If I have to wait 26 weeks in kindergarten before I know all of the letters of the alphabet, then the year is over! I might as well have stayed home. And I might already know many of my letters before I enter school, so why should I waste my time???

2. Children who need to see the letters of the alphabet are not very tall. So why do we always put the letters towards the top of the classroom. Would it server children better if the letters were put at their height?

3. Does anyone remember when students were sat in alphabetical order? What purpose did that serve? Was that the only way that the teacher could remember student names? It might be interesting to find out where that idea started?

4. Alphabet books are a great tool for any age level. They can be used to develop easy ideas --- A is for apple, b is for ball, etc. Or they can be used to help others understand a period in history - like The  Roman Empire -- A is for Aquaduct, B is for Brutus, C is for Caesar, etc. So much can be learned through creating your own class book.

5. It is important to practice the Alphabet Song -- not so much because it helps students know the letters, but rather because it helps them understand rhyming. It also has an impact on fluency. When we sing something, we tend to be much smoother.