https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:16:35 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1535914 Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:27:10 +0000 looch 1535914@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pumuckl: Haha, I lived next door to you then for almost 4 years, in Switzerland!</p> <p>My niece is about a year older than my son and my mother in law is always startled by what my son knows in comparison to my niece. She doesn't know any of her colors, shapes or numbers, where my son can recognize them and name them all and he's a full year younger, actually almost 2. But it's all going to come out in the wash, when they're older, I am fully expecting them to be able to read and write, lol.</p> <p>I do think though, that the model in Europe has advantages. It's more about the set up, making sure you have the tools to learn, rather than the US, which is a focus on the hard skills. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1535899 Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:18:09 +0000 Pumuckl 1535899@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Yup, I'm a born and bred German :happy: I wonder if the starting with sounds vs. names has anything to do with the better scores? But then I guess actually understanding what your reading is the critical skill. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1535876 Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:05:09 +0000 looch 1535876@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pumuckl: I didn't realize you were abroad...but yes, that's typical for schools in Europe and I had a hard time coming around to the fact that they start later but end up scoring better on tests! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1535859 Tue, 01 Apr 2014 06:57:30 +0000 Pumuckl 1535859@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow I'm flabbergasted as to how early kids know letters. Here in Germany you always start with the sounds of letters and not their name. Teachers actually prefer kids not to know the alphabet before they go to school (so age 6/7) because if they i.e. know the B (and call it bee and not bh - name vs. sound) it makes it harder for the teachers to learn them how to read. So the normal age for knowing letters is 6 or 7 here.</p> <p>Isn't it interesting how different approaches can be and we all turn out to be literate :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1535835 Tue, 01 Apr 2014 06:32:32 +0000 looch 1535835@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@brownie: That's an interesting observation, about the language delay and less interest in letters...I was thinking my son is the same in that he really focuses on both the concrete and abstract concepts of numbers but doesn't show as much interest in the letters. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1535113 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 16:30:17 +0000 VanillaBean 1535113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SAMMYFAB</p> <p>We agree to disagree. However, I want to make it clear that my observations were not to imply or to make any parent/caregiver feel guilty in any way on this forum. If it did unintentionally, then I apologize. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1534965 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 15:10:00 +0000 mamimami 1534965@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son goes to school full time at age 3 and he doesn't know all his letters yet. I mean, he knows the SONG! But that's not the same :) He can count but often skips numbers after 10 or so. Sometimes he seems to understand them and sometimes he doesn't. Anyway, all this is just to say I don't have any concern about him and neither do his teachers, in fact he has been accepted into a competitive program for next year. </p> <p>SO I would say Pre-K to K is what's normal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1534958 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 15:08:57 +0000 loveisstrange 1534958@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Pre-K to K. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers/page/2#post-1534950 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 15:07:39 +0000 meredithNYC 1534950@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Rainbow Sprinkles: I'm with you! My 22 month old can count to 3, but is not too interested in going beyond that yet :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1534928 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 14:59:26 +0000 brownie 1534928@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Around pre-k is when most kids should master basic letters and numbers (so between 4 and 5). My reasoning behind that is from my friends kids in kindergarten who are considered failing kindergarten because they don't know their letters and have to read in kindergarten. </p> <p>My situation is that my son is almost three and can easily count to twenty and has one to one understanding. He can also read the numbers 1 -10 (new trick we just found). He can mostly sing his abc song BUT has a speech delay which has drastically reduced his ability to work in that area. He isn't interested because he struggles with it. He recognizes that letters are letters and they have meaning but not which letter. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1534865 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 14:39:11 +0000 Mamaof2 1534865@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travelingnanny: By Kindergarten they should know them</p> <p>If they know them earlier that's great! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1534837 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 14:31:37 +0000 honeybear 1534837@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think this thread has gotten a little bit away from the original question. I think by around pre-K they should have some letters down and probably 1-20 in terms of numbers (just being able to recite them, not necessarily to count objects that high). By the time they enter Kindergarten or shortly thereafter I'd assume they would have the whole alphabet and sounds and be able to count up to around 20 objects. Here is some support for these assumptions: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/five/literacy.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/five/literacy.html</a> </p> <p>As for the anecdotes, I'll add mine in case anyone reading this thread is feeling stressed: My child is 3 and not even close to reading on his own. I think he has about 2/3 of the alphabet and letter sounds down, but he mixes those up occasionally. I think his accuracy might be lower if he had only uppercase or only lowercase letters to work with. His ability to count objects is good (I know he can get to six, because he can count the dots on a die reliably) and he recognizes single-digit numbers. Counting to 20 out loud requires some prompting. However, I think his comprehension and recall of texts and his vocabulary are pretty stellar because we read to him regularly and include some books that are quite advanced. </p> <p>@Rainbow Sprinkles: @irene: Don't stress! Read Mrs. Cowgirl's extremely thoughtful post (linked below), take a deep cleansing breath (or have a glass of wine!), and read a book to your child. :) </p> <p><a href="http://www.hellobee.com/2013/10/31/so-how-are-you-teaching-him-to-read/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellobee.com/2013/10/31/so-how-are-you-teaching-him-to-read/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1534564 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:01:53 +0000 Sammyfab 1534564@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@VanillaBean: I'm going to have to disagree that a child's knowledge of their alphabet and numbers (or ability to learn) is dependent on exposure and parent intervention. Comments like these are just going to increase the mom guilt that is so prevalent on these boards. </p> <p>I do agree that it is highly individual and a child's interest in learning their letters and numbers plays a larger role. You can't force a child to learn something they're not interested in...and you can't drill concepts into their head if they don't give two shits. The best we can do as parents is foster a supportive learning environment and give them as many opportunities to learn as possible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1534377 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:17:42 +0000 KT326 1534377@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son just turned two and doesn't really know any letters and can say 1-2-3 but I don't think he knows what it means. We aren't pushing anything. I sing the alphabet and count things to him but he hasn't shown interest in doing it himself. We just had his 2 year check up and the pediatrician didn't bring it up. I'm not worried at all. I know every kid is different and I won't be surprised if he just busts out singing the ABC's one day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1534333 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:05:46 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 1534333@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jump Rope: We didn't do too much. We found a phonics song on you tube that she loved between 12-14 months which taught her all the sounds of all the letters. Then, whenever we were out we would pick out letters on signs. Pretty soon she was picking out letters in the books we were reading. Then I encouraged her to make the sounds of those letters. Pretty soon (and without her realizing it ) she was sounding out words. I made sure to point out rules like the sound that th makes when they are together and that a vowel goes long when there is an e on the end.</p> <p>Bob books are very easy and build confidence. Books to remember are beautiful and great too. She still sometimes thinks she can't read other books, and is always surprised when she can. I think it's all just part of the process.</p> <p>We definitely backed off a few times when she stopped showing interest. She had the skills before three but ultimately wasn't ready to put it all together yet! We had to let her tell us what she was and wasn't ready to do. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533653 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 08:16:47 +0000 Weagle 1533653@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sandy: I agree that it needs to be based on interest, for sure. Like your LO, mine loves letters and numbers. She could spend a lot of her inside playtime just sorting through number/letter games and toys. But she won't give a block a second glance. A ton of her friends are opposite, but I have no doubt they'll gain interest in it at some point! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533562 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 07:48:03 +0000 LulaBee 1533562@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO is 19 months and can say the alphabet and count to 20. We don't push this on her, she prefers to do her "ABs" and count while we are in the car- I try to turn on the radio and she says "no, count!". She will sit by herself in her room and count pictures in books. She does not yet recognize what letter/number is on the paper, it's all verbal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533559 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 07:44:45 +0000 sandy 1533559@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jump Rope: my LO is 28 months and can read most of the BOB books in the first boxed set. She started by learning all her letters and the sound that each letter makes. There is an old Leapfrog DVD called The Letter Factory (they have a new one that I didn't like as much) that is like 20 minutes and after watching it a few times she completely learned her phonics. They make it into a song and each letter is animated (so the A gets frightened and says "ahhhh!" She has the Hape Letter Puzzle and she loved to play with all the letters and make their sounds. We started grouping three letters at a time - F-U-N and she would sound it out and combine the sounds then replace the F with an S and it's S-U-N, then replace S with a B and it's B-U-N, etc. There is a Leapfrog DVD called the Talking Words Factory and they go to a factory where the letters get combined into simple words (sad, mad, bad, cat, sat, fat, etc). She hardly watches TV but we would let her watch these DVDs around the time she was 2 and she got it so quick and would want to play letters and words all the time. She has the Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader apps that Mes.Bee mentioned and she has apps for sight words - which the BOB books also work on - the, is, etc. I think a lot lf it is exposure and making it fun and like a game for them of they're showing interest. Some kids are really into building and I'm sure that's some type of spatial and physical skill - my LO has no real interest in bulding but she freaking loves letters and words. It also helps that she has a ton of alphabet books </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533528 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 07:27:02 +0000 irene 1533528@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You guys are stressing me out....! :) my LO recognizes most of the numbers roughly around these 2 months (24-26 months). He did it all by himself and I was quite shocked that one day he pointed at the elevator with the floor "3" written on the wall and he pointed at it and said 3. He can count to at least 25-30 (in both English and Chinese), and sing the alphabet song now. However, since we are the idiots who were trying to push bilingual, I haven't introduced the alphabets to him yet (other than A-Z song and some Elmo videos here and there). I have no idea how much he learned at daycare on alphabets. I have just bought an alphabet puzzle and we'll go from there....! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533489 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 06:47:26 +0000 Mrs. Jump Rope 1533489@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: how did you teach her to read? I can see Chloe reading early but don't have a clue where to start with teaching her. </p> <p>We didn't really practice shapes, colors or numbers very much before she started preschool last fall. We'd count objects, especially when we'd build towers together, but I don't think it really registered. </p> <p>Now she's 2.5 and since before Xmas, she can count to 13 and more recently, knows her shapes and most of the alphabet. I nearly fell over when we took a walk &amp; she said "mama, OCTAGON!!" at the end of our street (stop sign)!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533466 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 06:06:46 +0000 Andrea 1533466@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think in the 3's they can read and write the letters and numbers if they attend preschool or you've been teaching them at home. But each child is different so I know kids that are almost 4 that cannot do this yet even with preschool/daycare attendance. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533465 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 06:06:16 +0000 looch 1533465@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son didn't know his alphabet before age 2, but he did know some numbers. He actually learned his numbers quite early, but I am not sure why, to be honest. I don't recall showing him any numbers or explaining what they were for. He's 3 now, and he can count on his fingers and he understands the abstract concept, which surprised me. He likes to put stickers on his fingers and the other night he was counting down, 3 more left, 2 more left, 1 more. It's a concept I didn't realize he knew. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533440 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:33:28 +0000 VanillaBean 1533440@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Alphabet/number knowledge is different for every child. It depends on how much exposure a child has had and if a parent/caregiver works with the child on learning the letters of the alphabet and number consistently. I have observed as early as a young toddler to a six years old ability to recognize letters/number. As noted by others, it is a wide range. </p> <p>My son is currently 14 months and I would not expect him to know his alphabet/number. :) It is not my priority right now. He is as happy as can be exploring his environment physically, getting his hands into many things at the moment. lol Plus, his attending span is quite short so I am following his cues. </p> <p>I would like my son to be proficient at recognizing the letters of the alphabet/number by the end of kindergarten as expected (state education standards). Each school district may have different expectations even though the state standards are the same. If he happens to pick up letter/number knowledge earlier, that's fine with me, too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533389 Mon, 31 Mar 2014 00:31:50 +0000 Rainbow Sprinkles 1533389@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow. My 23-month old doesn't know her letters OR numbers. I didn't realiZe that so many learned them at such a young age. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533347 Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:38:40 +0000 MrsMccarthy 1533347@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Tor knows his letters and numbers really well. He impressed the EI therapists because its advanced for his age bracket (18 months). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533339 Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:33:27 +0000 Mrs. Bee 1533339@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Kimberlybee: it was endless alphabet! we've reviewed it before on the blog. now she's playing endless reader! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533336 Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:31:18 +0000 lilteacherbee 1533336@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: agree.</p> <p>There's such a large range, but kids should know letter names and count to 20 by kindergarten. Some of my pre-k kids still only recognize one or two letters/numbers and then I have some who go way beyond that (full day public pre-k). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533329 Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:21:37 +0000 sarac 1533329@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 30 month old knows the sounds for several letters and is really interested in pointing them out. She's deeply interested in letters and reading lately. She has started to ask us to point to a word while we read it, so she's clearly trying to figure it all out. It's so interesting to see.</p> <p>I don't believe in pushing academics this early, so I'm just following her lead. We don't sit around singing the alphabet song, but an app that teaches letter sounds might be a hit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533325 Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:14:39 +0000 HLK208 1533325@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS knew his ABC's by 2.5. By 2, he was counting to 10. By 3, he knew the sounds of each letter, by 4, he could count to 20, now at almost 5, he can count to 100 and count by 5's (working on time). He's starting to sound out words a little bit on his own. I feel a lot of pressure since 3 of his friends can already read. From the kindergarten requirements, they just need to know how to write their name, ABC's and count to 20.</p> <p>My 22 month-old still isn't counting much other than to 3 (and after 3, it's "three, three, three, five". She can recognize letters but hasn't sang the ABC's by herself. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-age-should-a-child-know-their-letters-and-numbers#post-1533307 Sun, 30 Mar 2014 22:50:09 +0000 Kimberlybee 1533307@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Bee: Way to go Olive and yay for apps! Do you remember what app she used to learn her letters? </p>