Mastering the Letters and Sounds

There is so much about reading and teaching children to read that I want to share with you. My last 2 blogs I got ahead of myself. Its like I’m trying to cram 35 years of experience into 350 words or less. I will just slow down and try to be more productive. I will take it one step at a time.

My next seven blogs will focus on teaching children beginning reading. I am concentrating on Kindergarten skills, but if your child is ready for it go ahead. Remember, “Early literacy instruction begins in the home and shouldn’t wait until a child is in Kindergarten or first grade. Teachers are important but the first teachers are the most important teachers—parents.” (Patricia Edwards Reading Today Oct/Nov 2010). Until a child is about 5 years old do not force these things on them. Children and parents need to build a bond through reading together. Introduce your child to the sounds and letters, as they are interested. If by Kindergarten they are not engaged in letters and sounds, then the drilling begins.

Step one: Mastering the letters and sounds. Think about letters from a child’s point of view. There are 26 letters with 5 vowels, but they don’t always make the sound that your loving adult just taught you. Of those 26 letters there are upper and lower case letters. It can seem confusing to a child. Where to begin?

Show your child the letters together and separately. “Aa”, “A”, or “a”. Let them know that to learn to read, type on the computer, or to write anything in the world, you only need to master those 26 letters.

Even when you as the parent know how to read sometimes you wonder what exactly are the sounds I need to teach my child. Teach the consonants and short vowel sounds.

Vowels are the letters that change their sound the most often. Start with the short sounds. Think of a short 3-letter word with the vowel in the middle. Then isolate that sound. /a/= the sound found in the middle of “fan”. /e/= the sound found in the middle of “net”. /i/=the sound found in the middle of “pig”. /o/= the sound found in the middle of “dog”. /u/= the sound found in the middle of “mud”.

About the consonants: “K” and “C” share a sound /k/. “C” has 2 sounds /k/ and /s/. “G” has 2 sounds /g/ and /j/. “S” has two sounds /s/ and /z/. Teach the first sound to start with.

Ideas to learn ABC’s:

1) Get magnetic letters to put on your fridge.

2) Get ABC flash card and puzzles.

3) Write the letters and put them around your house.

4) Start with teaching the letters in his/her own name. Then follow with Mom, Dad, and siblings. The other day Sam said to me “Grandma, here is a “G” it is your name.”

5) Let your child get on www.starfall.com

6) My favorite ABC video is “Leap Frog: Letter Factory”. It presents the letters and the correct sound. If you are thinking of presents for your child this is excellent.

7) Teach the letter with a picture for the initial consonant and then say the sound of the letter. For example: “Aa” apple /a/ /a/ /a/; “Bb” balloon /b/ /b/ /b/; “Cc” cat /c/ /c/ /c/.

8) Read a variety of ABC books and talk about the sound the picture starts with and the letter on the page.

9) Other ideas: Sandpaper letters, alphabet games, letter stencils, dry-erase boards, play-doe, paper, pencils, markers, and painting easels

This is a slow process but don’t be frustrated. It is easy to you but complicated to your child. Enjoy the time with your child as you unlock the key to reading. Reading will change his/her life. “Reading sparks the fire of learning”! (Reading Today)