When we think of the alphabet, almost certainly the famous Alphabet song comes to mind.  In fact, I’m just about willing to bet, it ran through your head just now (you’re welcome!).

Naturally most people assume that this is the correct order to introduce letters and for many years it was done just so.

However, as you probably are aware, just because we’ve always done something one way, doesn’t make it the right way.

There is tons of research that supports the fact that the order in which you introduce letters matters. Using the traditional ABC order can be confusing to some students.

Think about it.  The most commonly reversed letters, b & d, p & q are introduced together (or practically).  Of course kids are confused when they have such similar letters thrown at them back to back.
For this reason, I did alot of research into which order of introducing the alphabet was not only the most effective, but also the most developmentally appropriate.  Today I’ve created a free resource for you detailing that order, as well as an explanation of why this sequence works.

But first…

Before we get started it is important to note the way I introduce letters and sounds as a parent-teacher is totally different than the way I do in a classroom setting.

If you’re working at home with your child, or in a preschool setting and have the time and flexibility to do letter of the week.

I LOVE that! There is so much fun to be had with this!  As you probably know, I love teaching letter of the week so much I created an entire letter of the week series with free lesson plans. I’m currently starting this same process with my 3.5 year old and doing one letter a week (in the recommended order). I am so excited about the fun activities and cute crafts to come!

However, as a classroom teacher, I introduce them differently.

Kindergarteners today don’t have the luxury of the letter of the week fun.  They are often expected to be reading by the middle of the year so things have to be sped up considerably.  In a classroom setting I introduce around 4 lowercase letters a week.

The Carnine Order

In either instance, I like to follow the Carnine order to introduce letters. This is  the sequence which I used with my own daughter when I started using letter sounds.  It’s also how I prefer to introduce letters in the classroom.

Unfortunately when I worked in the school system we often had to align with other programs the school purchased, some of which agreed with this order, some of which didn’t.

However, in current research, as well as the research I did in graduate school studies, suggests that this method is the most effective method of introducing letters.  And it makes sense.

It separates visually and auditorily similar letters so students aren’t learning b and d close together, or having to discern the different between /i/ and /e/ at the same time.  Those are just a few of ways it helps young learners.  I won’t bore you with the research but there’s a ton available with a quick Google search.

For this reason, I introduce letters in the order suggested by this method.  To help you out I’ve created a handy reference sheet for you!  You can grab it by clicking here or on the image below.

Also important to note, I introduce all lowercase letters first.

This is a slight variation of the Carnine method as they mix uppercase and lower.  However, as a Kindergarten teacher, I’ve  found that kids whose parents have worked with them were already familiar with some  uppercase but not as many lower (the struggle of getting Kinderkids to NOT write their names in all caps is real y’all!).

Ironically, even though most kids recognize uppercase letters first, the vast majority of text they encounter is in lowercase.  Which is exactly why I think it’s important to do lowercase first.

Once all lowercase have been introduced I go through the uppercase pretty quickly.  I do continue to follow the Carnine method in that we introduce all the letters who look different first (Bb, Gg, etc) and then all the letters who look similar (Cc, Oo, etc) at the end.  My students have usually picked up on them quickly as they’ve been seeing them daily on our flashcard review. My goal is to get through all letter introduce in the first quarter of school, so I can then focus heavily on segmenting and blending sounds for the rest of the year.

In addition to introducing letters using my flashcards and letter of the week series, I also reinforce this instruction with beginning sound sorts.  Once students have become fluent with beginning sounds we transition into ending sounds and then medial vowel sounds.   I’ve got a whole series on Word Sorts with lots of freebies coming very soon so stay tuned.

After a period of intense focus on letter sounds and segmenting them into simple beginning, middle and ending sounds, you are then reading to begin a spelling and word study program.
To help you with that, I’ve also created a post on my recommended order for teaching spelling patterns which includes some free spelling lists and other goodies!  Be sure to check it out!

In the meantime, if you have any questions drop them in the comments and I’ll try and get back to you as soon as possible!  And be sure to be on the look out for my series on Word Study, coming soon!!

And be sure to check me out on Pinterest, where I’m pinning all these ideas and so much more!