Mastering their ABCs, Part 1: How I used Blended Learning to teach my kids their letter sounds at home
Simple, stress-free, and straightforward strategies for early childhood literacy!
While I made it my focus as a parent to read to my kids as babies, I knew as their homeschool teacher that I wanted to help them start recognizing letters and the sounds they made. I knew that I needed some interactive way to engage my 2-year-old daughter to learn her letters and letter sounds. So, I went with a blended learning approach—which includes a mix of a face-to-face approach followed by a digital resource to reinforce what they just learned with me.
Now, I agree that limiting screen time is important for a child’s development, and I chose to combine digital and face-to-face approaches at that time because it made learning fun for my child, so, please do what fits your needs.
Face-to-Face resource:
The first step is to get some alphabet picture cards. I wanted real images to represent each letter and had both the upper and lower case letters on there. The words I typed in to find some free resources were, “free printable alphabet flash cards with real images”.
Please be careful downloading links from any random website. I made sure I could find one where it wasn’t bombarded with ads, and everything was labeled. Also, once I clicked on the image, I didn’t have to download the file, but I could simply print what I needed.
Here is an example of one I found about 10 years ago and used for my kids:
I could not find the same one today, but after searching, I found an even better free resource that includes not only letter cards but shapes, numbers, time, and many more.
Alphabet and More Free FlashCard Resource: TotCards.com
Now, I made sure to go through the whole deck with my child and I would:
First, face the card towards them and say “big A,” for example, and point to the uppercase A, pausing in between—Some kids will just listen and not repeat you, absorb what you are saying, and some will try to repeat it after you.
Next, I would say “little A” while pointing to the lowercase A.
Then, I would point to the photo of the apple and say, “Apple”, again allowing time for them to absorb or repeat it.
Don’t worry about the image not matching the actual letter sounds, yet. This is simply to teach them to recognize the letter and what the letter is called. I will be sharing more resources that will go along with letter sounds, soon.
No Printer or Laminator:
No worries! Before I found, printed, and laminated the free flashcards above, I purchased some index cards and simply created an upper-case and lower-case letters flashcard set and wrote them in using a permanent marker. Here is the set I used:
Digital resource:
One of the digital resources I loved, and that made learning the ABCs fun for my child(ren), was one that I reviewed and researched before allowing my child to see it.
The reason this resource became one of my favorites was that it was:
It was engaging
It incorporated a story woven into it that I loved, where you should not give up when learning something new.
It had a mix of kids from all races, and my children could see themselves in it.
The music that went along with the storyline, made it easier for my kids to grasp it and sing along.
It threw some mystery and allowed my kids to eventually learn and help the main character learn his alphabet when he couldn’t remember what letter came next.
It’s roughly 38 minutes long, which eventually allowed me to take care of other chores, with them in eye-sight, while they watched and learned their alphabets.
What is this awesome digital resource called?
Sesame Street’s: Do The Alphabet —features one of the cutest characters, Baby Bear. As of today, February 24th, 2025, you can find the full wonderful 38 minutes of it for free on YouTube via the link below, but I cannot promise that whoever posted it, will still have it uploaded there. The second option is to remove that risk and purchase the DVD by searching the title on your browser. The price ranges from $16-$20, depending on what site you purchase it from.
Free Version (YouTube): Sesame Streets: Do The Alphabet
Being consistent is key!
After sticking to this daily with my kids, they started to identify their letters, both upper and lowercase, and knew their alphabet, with the help of the catchy repetitive song that Big Bird sings to teach Baby Bear his alphabet. I saw improvements in about a month or less, but remember it can vary, and remaining consistent is key.
I hope that sharing these resources helps you wherever you are on your journey. If you liked this article or learned something, please share or like it.
Please leave a comment or share resources that you loved using with your child(ren). I believe that it does take a village to raise your child(ren) since I, myself, have learned about so many other resources from other parents or people I’ve met along the way.
*Disclaimer: "I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in these links and am not receiving any commission for sharing them."