Free Printable Alphabet Worksheets

for
Beginners

Preschool writing and pattern worksheets to print for learning and practicing the letters of the alphabet.

Don't Start Too Early

“The idea that parents should hurry reading, spelling, writing, or math ahead of children’s normal development is not supported by a single replicable research study in the world or by any clinical experience in history. All history, research and common sense points in the opposite direction! We repeat: Any who push the three R’s early deny the readiness the Creator built in – reasonably mature vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell, reason, brain growth, coordination – as clearly documented in our books Better Late Than Early and School Can Wait.”

Research and my personal experience has shown that just like your babies learned to walk and talk in their own time, with very little help from their parents, so too, children who are read to and encouraged to explore their world, will want to learn to read and write in their own time, and will also require much less 'teaching', if they are not pressured to do so before they are ready. According to Dr. Moore, “young children who have problems reading are usually just not ready.”
(The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook, p101)

Children who begin their formal education later, learn to read and write more quickly and soon reach the level of their peers who began earlier. They do not stay 'behind' for long! Just because children in school are forced to begin reading in Grade 1, is no reason for your children to have the same fate. It has been suggested that forcing formal language and reading on children may, in fact, be denying them their childhood!

Charlotte Mason, an 18th century educator wrote:

“A mother’s first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air.”
(The Original Homeschooling Series)

So before you print out the worksheets that follow, remember a few guidelines to prevent your children from ‘burnout':

1. Keep it fun

I believe that, at this age, children should have a daily routine that allows plenty of time for physical activity, both work and free play and time for self-inspired learning. It is also important that you do not require your children to attempt tasks that are beyond their ability as they need positive experiences to build confidence. Therefore do not do any activities, which you know are too advanced for your children.

“There is reason to believe that the thrill the youngster finds in experimenting with the natural things about him at home is soon stifled by the distractions and regimentation of the typical school program.” (Raymond Moore, Better Late Than Early, p172)

I propose that you do as many learning activities as possible 'incidentally' while you are busy with your day, rather than in a formal 'sit down-and-learn' manner. Encourage your children to notice the world of letters and numbers around them.

Here are some suggestions for achieving this in an informal manner:

• Help your children to identify items in your surroundings beginning with a certain letter, while you are busy with daily tasks. Point out letters and numbers when you go out – street names, house numbers, bill boards, road signs, shop signage and advertising logos.
• Ask your children to point out familiar letters on food packaging when you are shopping or unpacking groceries.
• Read the letters and numbers on car licence plates.

2. Keep it short

Research has shown that young children are naturally far-sighted as their eyes have not fully matured to function like that of an older person. For this reason, to avoid eye-strain, a child should not focus on a book or a page for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. When they write, encourage your children to make big letters at this stage. Later on (when they start Grade 1) they can learn to write neatly between lines!

Only let your children do the worksheet activities provided if they are able to and are motivated to do them. At this early age, let us not take the fun element out of learning by forcing such formal activities on such young children.

Do not to be too critical of a child’s scrawled efforts, but encourage her to keep improving. If a child is loath to write, then encourage her to do just three beautiful letters, rather than requiring a whole row of letters.

This advice and the worksheets below are taken from ABC Fun & 1-2-3

Free Printable Alphabet Worksheets

Please note that these ABC Fun & 1-2-3 worksheets are copyrighted and that limited reproduction is permitted. Your integrity will be appreciated.

Suggestion: Let your children first practice writing the letter correctly in the air, then let them trace over the letters or patterns on the worksheets with their fingers before finally allowing them to write on the paper using a thick crayon or marker.

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