Letter Sounds
Here's What To Do
Find pictures (on the internet, in magazines, or in books) of three letter words like cat, bed, sun, etc..
Show your child one picture, and say the sound of the first letter in that word.
When your child answers correctly, invite them to write the letter on a piece of paper (you can write the letter for them if needed).
Continue until you've spelled the entire word together. Repeat for more three-letter words.
Put PEER Into Action
Pause:
- Relax, smile, and get on eye-level with your child in a quiet space.
Engage:
- Tell your child that you're going to spell out words by listening to their letter sounds.
- Sound out each letter by itself. For example, if your picture is a 'bed,' say: "Buh, buh, what letter makes the 'buh' sound? Eh, Eh, what makes the 'eh' sound? "Duh, duh, what makes the 'duh' sound?"
Encourage:
- Explain that spelling can be challenging because the sounds of letters vary (like: the many sounds of a, e, i, o, u) and some letters can have the same sound (like: c and k).
- If your child says an incorrect letter, write it down anyway. Try sounding out the word with the incorrect letter and explain why the letter does not work.
Reflect:
- Does your child seem to know many letter sounds? Which letter sounds are they still working on?
Not quite ready?
Ask your child to identify the letter that matches the first sound in a word (i.e. look at a picture of a dog, and ask what letter the word starts with)
Ready for more?
Instead of giving your child hints for each letter's sounds, see if they can say a word out loud and identify the beginning and ending letters (middle letters are more difficult).
As your child masters this skill...
They will know most letter sounds.