Alphabet Poster Questions - Can They Help Your Child?

uestion: How can an abc's poster help with letter familiarity?

nswer: That's a good question. An abc's poster can help with letter familiarity as you hang the poster in a place where your child can see it often. With a bit of luck children just become confident with how each letter looks over time - a process of comfortable learning!

uestion: How can one of my (Catherine Pain's) alphabet posters help children to learn the sounds of each letter of the alphabet?
nswer: I designed my alphabets really carefully. The images I used to portray each letter begin with the phonetic sound that should help them in their reading later on..

So, for instance, the letter 'e' is shown with an object that starts with the 'e' - short vowel - sound (e.g.'elephant' or 'egg'). The child is (hopefully) then able to link the 'e' sound with the letter 'e'.


 uestion: How can learning the alphabet give power to us?

nswer: Once we can read we facilitate ourselves in becoming more self-sufficient. We are then in a position where we can be in command of our own learning. The world begins to open up. One way to do this is to expose ourselves to helpful information early. Displaying alphabet posters in the areas where your child plays is one really easy and fun way to get your child used to their letters. 

uestion: What can my alphabet posters bring to a nursery?
nswer: A sense of beauty. My posters (or any educational posters for that matter) can be exhibited anywhere you choose, but an obvious area would be the nursery. This is so that they are then readily available for your son or daughter to see. My kids' posters are also cheerful and cheering.

my two alphabet posters side by side

uestion: Why cherish alphabet posters?
nswer: Because they just look good. You can't put your finger on why exactly. Alphabets are somehow satisfying to see. There is certainly a strong reminder there of culture and our shared past. It could be something to do with the pictorial heritage that alphabets represent.

uestion: Why give one of my posters to a newborn baby?

nswer: Well, I believe that it's never too early to help your child to get the best chance that she or he can. These alphabet posters are an awesome offering at any time. From the newborn babe to the child at school struggling with their letters - each could well benefit from being given access to these posters.

.uestion: Why would Catherine Pain's alphabet posters be a great gift for a toddler? 

nswer: Just as it's never too early I also firmly believe that it's never too late too! These teaching posters are beneficial for young kids as they are getting to be more aware of their letters, so you can display them to toddlers to stir their interest in letters and literacy at a young age and also even if they are older.

uestion: So you say that one of my alphabet posters would be a fine present for any young child - even one who has started school already?
nswer: That's right! Surely it's better to get to grips with the basics as soon as you can? If you can help a young person to get a feel for the sounds that the letters make then you could be well on the way to really opening up the world of literacy and reading to them. Also viewing images or writing - in this case - the alphabet on a regular basis on the wall is a well known aid to your memory.

uestion: Why learn the alphabet anyway?
nswer: Knowing your alphabet is like having a secret recipe to a perfect meal. If you have all the ingredients then you can create something to nourish the body. My alphabet posters are a way of presenting a 'recipe for success' when it comes to understanding the building blocks for words. Know the letters and their sounds and you start with basic principles. What could be a more firm and sound platform than that??

uestion: How did I come to create these alphabet posters?

nswer: The agony of seeing so so many little children in the schools where I worked who seemed to be out of touch with their letters. Once I had created the posters I was able to show them to the children and start to help them to get to learn the shapes and sounds of the alphabet. I was really grateful to be given the chance to help to try to make a difference to the children I met in school. They taught me so much about what children like and what they need.

y quest into alphabet posters



y research got started many years in the past actually when I was a very little child, totally absorbed with  drawing and painting.


n my early 20’s, with my own young boys, I began to start to look into how young people learn things. I tried out several methods for 'easy' procedures  to aid my youngsters to pick up as much useful material as doable, with the the minimum of effort and the maximum amount of fun. Of course!

fashioned and published the first alphabet poster, alongside a numbers poster.

rom that moment I have been looking into how alphabets can easily be made to help out with informing daughters and sons everywhere effectively and (hopefully) with amusement along the way. Familiarity with the letters of the alphabet can be produced basically by having the alphabet on display in your home. It's as simple as that.

y (Catherine Pain's) alphabet posters, which you can find out more about at my kids posters, were painstakingly produced with all this in mind.

uite simply my aim is to enable young people to maybe even prepare themselves for that moment when they begin to start reading 'proper'. My posters are made to help people explore the shapes of the letters. They are also constructed to assist auditory perception. In short, the posters were designed by me to look good, and the sounds of the letters are illustrated through the items I chose to be partnered with the letters. Which will lead to an even more useful learning experience with a bit of luck..

bove all infancy is to me a time when we are free to have fun. Involving the alphabet in the universe of the young child means that that linkage of home and being loved and nurtured can go hand in glove with the memory of the friendly letters and the illustrations that furnish them.

s and when your child starts kindergarten or as and when they demonstrate an interest in reading then it can turn out to  be really handy indeed that the alphabet is not new to them - and if there is a warm, pleasing association in your babe's memory of the alphabet with you, your home and having fun then really, what better opportunity could you give your youngster by way of their education?

y journey with alphabets has moreover been seriously dominated by the enjoyment and kick of colour. A sense of colour is something that is almost impossible to teach - some claim that it cannot be learned. Anyone knows without having to perform a conscious effort when things look nicely balanced and 'right'. Colour and design is something that has been preponderate in my system for developing the alphabets. Even producing the letters themselves was a long and sometimes difficult task. Immediately when the alphabets began to take shape, however, I believed that they were fitting for their purpose - and I have been truly encouraged by the reception from my younger audience (and their parents and carers!).

eedless to say these alphabets, even though principally designed for their own sake and in answer to the observed deficiency of focus on educational and pretty presents for young children do make great gifts. Catherine Pain's alphabets are right for quite a wide age-range. They have been displayed on nursery walls and are also in primary school classrooms, so they have proved effective for the very young as well as older children, something which I am pleased about.

y alphabet journey is not yet over. I am working on some new projects too. I have been asked to produce an additional 'numbers' poster. It may be that I bring out further alphabets - it's something that will depend on what's apparently needed and on other factors which no doubt will  influence what I produce.

he main point of my alphabet story though is the role that alphabet posters play in literacy - and therefore the wider world. The alphabet is the building block of reading and writing. There is the element of being literate that can lead to a sense of self-confidence and self-empowerment. These may appear distinctly grand notions - but they all originate and are inspired by the ever simple abc.