Tradition

Most people are familiar with learning the alphabet from A to Z. There's even a song to help us remember letter names. It's how most people learn, and continue to learn, the alphabet.

 The reality of reading

Yet, if you stop and think about it, do we say letter names when we read?

Is the word "cat" /see-ay-tee/ or is it /k-a-t/?

Reading is actually a collection of sounds pushed together.

Letter sounds

It's interesting that even though reading is composed of letter sounds, the emphasis of teaching the alphabet starts with letter names.

 The benefit
Since reading requires knowing letter sounds, learning these sounds BEFORE letter names will help children learn to read faster and thus build their confidence to continue learning more. To get the best results, introduce a maximum of three sounds at a time. You can start with the letters in your child's name or the first three most commonly used letters E, T, and A.

Happy Teaching!