Sounds come before names
When children start reading, what matters most is the sound each letter makes, not its name. The letter c says "c" as in cat, not "see". Many schools teach this way (it's called phonics), so using sounds at home matches what your child hears in class.
When you say a sound, keep it short and clean: "m", not "muh". That makes it much easier to blend sounds into words later.
Start with the first sound in words
The easiest sound to hear in a word is the first one. Play with it all day long:
- I spy with my little eye, something beginning with "s"…
- Find things in the house that start with the same sound as your child's name.
- Say three words and ask which one starts differently: sun, sock, dog.
Then hear the middle and end
Once first sounds are easy, try the last sound ("What does cat end with?") and then the middle one. Short words with three sounds, like cat, dog, sun and pig, are perfect for this.
Blending: putting sounds together
Blending is saying the sounds in order and hearing the word: c-a-t, cat. Start by saying the sounds yourself and letting your child guess the word, as a game. Robot talk works well: "Can you pass me the c-u-p?"
When your child can blend spoken sounds, they're ready to try it with written letters.
Practise with pictures and play
Pictures make letter practice concrete, because children can say the word before they think about its letters.
- Wizzy Words shows a picture and asks which letter the word starts with (First Letter), which letter is missing (Missing Letter), or to spell the word from mixed-up letters (Spell It). Tapping the speaker reads the word aloud.
- Start on Easy, with 3-letter words like CAT and SUN, before moving on to 4-letter words and longer ones.
- Off screen, magnetic letters on the fridge are great for building short words together.
Keep it light
Short, playful moments beat long lessons. If your child is tired or frustrated, stop and come back another day. Reading together every day, and talking about the pictures and words in books, helps just as much as practising sounds.
