We all know it. A,B,C,D,E,F,G.....But have you really ever thought about how useful this song is? Of course it is naming the letters of the alphabet. We use them when spelling out words. However, when we try to read in English, the names of the letters are not important, but the sound. And the ABC song becomes quite confusing for children when it comes to teaching about the sounds of the alphabet: phonics.
Phonics is a tool for reading the letters of the alphabet. When a child sees the word 'cat', he can sound out each letter to read the word: 'cuh' 'ah' 'tuh'. Running the sounds together he can read cat. The names of the letters of the alphabet would have the child read 'cee' 'ay' 'tee' bringing little understanding to the written word itself.
At a school I used to teach at in Tokyo, the teachers never sang the traditional ABC song. Instead we sang a phonetic version of the alphabet to the tune of, 'This Old Man...' It goes, Ah, buh, cuh, duh, eh, fuh,...etc. Try it and see! It takes a while to get used to, but it is so much more helpful for kids learning English.
Here is a link to the phonetic sounds of the English alphabet.
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/phonemic-chart
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