Posted in Literacy Tips

"Don't begin with the letter names.   Do begin with the letter sounds."

Letter names really serve no purpose in reading words because your child uses the letter sounds not letter names. In fact, you are probably placing an obstacle in the way of your child's learning to read because the letter name provides an extra choice in his mental process of deciding how to sound the letter in a word. Except for the five vowels, this extra choice is always a wrong choice for your child that can confuse him. Some children are able to easily overcome this obstacle, others are not. Why take the chance?