The Dos and Don’ts of Teaching Pre-School Children Their Sounds

As parents, we can worry about how our children will cope when they begin primary school. And, as a result, do our utmost in ensuring they are as prepared as they can possibly be for the big day.

We teach them how to zip up their coats, buy shoes with Velcro fastenings to eliminate the worry of tying shoelaces. We make sure they know how to get undressed and dressed again when changing into their PE kits. The list could go on.

But in the preceding weeks, months, and years parents are often working on numbers, counting, letters and writing. All essential and with good intentions. Such a positive start can result in children feeling capable and in their comfort zone as they work through the classroom activities.

However, a common mistake, and one I saw again and again when working in Literacy Support, was where parents had spent their precious quality time teaching their pre-school children letter names rather than letter sounds. This meant that their child was starting at the very beginning, regarding literacy, when starting school.

Our letter names are A B C D E F G H… Z. (To clarify the letter name of B is pronounced ‘Bee’. The letter name of Z is pronounced ‘Zed’).

And children may start school being able to pronounce and recognise the letter names, possibly even recite the alphabet. But that is not how they are taught in school, and there is a very good reason for that.

When starting school, children are taught letter sounds, a b c d e f g h… z. (To clarify the letter sound of a is ‘a’ for apple. The letter sound of ‘z’ is ‘z’ for zoo, rather than Zed).

Once they know their sounds, they are then taught to blend these sounds together, c-a-t = cat, d-o-g = dog. This is the building blocks to spelling and reading. Letter names will come but, initially, the sounds are what children need to know.

I’m not saying that you must not teach your pre-school children their letter names, I am saying make sure to teach them the sounds first.

Call to Action

This week, work on letter sounds with pre-school children. Equally, if you have a child in primary one who is unsure of their sounds, then some extra fun work around these would be beneficial. And this doesn’t have to be sitting reciting sounds, it can be fun. Matching pair cards are a great way of subconsciously teaching sounds. As are cards where children match the letter sound to an animal or object, such a ‘f’ to an image of a flower. You can also have fun making your own cards, but I would suggest the grown up writes the sound, to allow for proper letter formation, and the child can then colour around. But, however you decide to do it, make it interactive and fun.