Does your child need to learn to identify all of the alphabet letters before kindergarten? The answer depends upon who you ask.

The National Early Literacy Panel found that alphabet knowledge is one of six variables that have "predictive relationships with later measures of literacy development." Alphabet knowledge is defined as "knowledge of the names and sounds associated with printed letters."

In the Ohio Early Learning Content Standards, the Department of Education has the following indicator of typical development in preschool: "Recognizes and names some upper and lower case Letters in addition to those in first name." There are no indicators concerning the "sounds associated with letters."

National Head Start Standards are even more specific: "Identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name." This indicator was mandated by the legislature.

What do the preschool and kindergarten teachers in your area think?