In case you missed the blog, Lynbrook School is revamping its curriculum and is the first American school district to adopt the Sounds-Write program.
Along with the growing pains of learning something new, the idea of teaching kids to identify letters by their sounds rather than by letter names can be daunting and can sometimes stretch teachers to get out of their comfort zone.
To help you introduce letter sounds to your students, here are some of our observations and recommendations.
What is the difference between letter names and letter sounds in phonics?
Traditionally, American kindergarten teachers have tried to ensure that their students know the letter names (“A, B, C”) and the order of the alphabet by the end of the school year. However, the names don’t always align with the actual sounds used when reading the words. This can be confusing for early readers learning phonics.
At Phonic Books, we understand that being encouraged to avoid letter names goes against everything they have come to believe about early childhood literacy.
Why does modern reading instruction focus on sound first?
Children in the UK are taught to identify letters by the sounds they make in words rather than their alphabet names. This practice reflects the belief that sounds are more helpful than names in learning to read and spell. UK parents follow the school’s philosophy and generally do not drill letter names before children begin formal education.
American children, on the other hand, are taught to sing and recite the “Alphabet Song” as early as possible. Parents believe their children will become better readers by knowing the names of the letters and look for preschools that share this enthusiasm for letter name recognition, rather than focusing on learning letters by their sounds.
As a result, most American children enter kindergarten with at least some understanding of letter names.
Common reading errors linked to letter names
Before adopting a sound-first approach, many teachers observed that children would rely on letter names when trying to sound out words.
This can lead to errors for beginner phonics learners. For example, the letter Y does not represent the sound /w/, and the letter U does not represent the sound /y/, but those are common errors for beginner readers and older struggling readers.
Children often rely on letter names instead of sounds when decoding words. Even worse, they will listen for the letter name in a word and not understand that a vowel precedes the consonant sound. For example, the word ‘tent’ will often be spelled TNT, and the word ‘melt’ will be MLT. Why? Children hear the letter name N and think it stands for /e/ /n/. They will hear the name L and think it is /e/ /l/. Vowels are missed altogether or confused because there is just too much information thrown at them at once.
Need educational resources to help teach phonics to students? Get in touch with us today.
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This blog was written in collaboration with Faith Borkowsky
Faith Borkowsky is the founder of High Five Literacy and Academic Coaching and is a Certified Dyslexia Practitioner with thirty-five years of experience in literacy instruction – as a classroom teacher, reading and learning specialist, regional literacy coach, administrator, and tutor. Ms. Borkowsky provides professional development for teachers and school districts, as well as parent workshops, presentations, and private consultations on science-based literacy practices. She is the author of the award-winning book, Failing Students or Failing Schools? A Parent’s Guide to Reading Instruction and Intervention, and the “If Only I Would Have Known…” series of books, conceived as a roadmap for literacy readiness and success for parents of young children. In 2021, Ms. Borkowsky was a finalist for the World Literacy Foundation award for her significant contributions to literacy.