Learning the alphabet- as in knowing the letters A through Z- is a common skill that kids love to learn and parents are proud to teach.  While you should be very happy about this accomplishment, it is not in itself crucial to the overall development of speech and language skills.  It seems counter-intuitive, but knowing "your ABC's" does not help you know how sounds form to make words and meaning.  It can be a key to unlock the communication door, though.  If you have a child who particularly loves  his letters and numbers, use that interest to draw him into other, more beneficial, language activities.

Use the letters and numbers as a "hook".  Start playing with the alphabet letters or magnetic numbers.  Let them lead your child into  more interactive play.  You can hold a coffee can and let her stick the letters to the outside to "build a house".  Use your imagination.  The goal is to broaden play beyond naming letters and numbers.

Expand on pictures in letter and number books. If your child is distracted by the letters or page numbers in books, help him find fun by looking at the pictures.  Describe what's happening, use action and describing words.  "Tell the story" using only the pictures.  If you are looking at counting books, name the items rather than counting them.

Play with the sounds of those letters.  Letter sounds can be more important than letter names in early language and pre-reading skills.  Try associating the sounds the letter "say" rather than the name.  (The A says /ah/).  Challenge your child to find 5 things in her playroom that start with that sound.

These are just three ways you can use a love of letters and numbers to unlock a world of language-rich play for your child.  What games do you play with your children around the ABC's and 123's?