The Letter S is a very unreliable letter that often makes sounds other than the base /s/ sound:     /s/ as in snake     /z/ as in was     /sh/ as in sheep   1. Present a capital and lower case S to your child. See if she knows the name of the letter and […]
The letter Q is an extremely reliable, but redundant, letter. It does not make its own unique sound — it makes the /kw/ sound as in queen. This makes it a difficult letter for children to sound out.  1. Present a capitol and lower case Q to your child. See if she knows the […]
The letter K is a dependable letter. It usually makes the “kuh” sound as in kite. However, K is silent at the beginning of a word or syllable if it is followed by the letter “n” (as in knight).  1. Present a capitol and lower case K to your child. See if she knows the […]
The Letter D is a generally reliable letter. It usually makes the “duh” sound as in dog or sad.  D sometimes makes the /t/ sound (especially when it is the suffix “ed” as in kissed) When combined with another consonant, especially the letter “g”, a grapheme is formed which sounds like /j/ (as in ledger) […]
The Letter C is an unreliable, redundant letter. It either makes the /k/ sound as in cat or the /s/ sound as in celery. It is considered redundant because it doesn’t make a unique sound. The Letter C is part of the /ch/ digraph as in chicken When C is followed by ‘e’ or ‘i’ […]
The letter B is a dependable letter. It usually makes the “buh” sound as in bat. However, it is sometimes silent (as in doubt or lamb). The rule for remembering this is that when b comes BEFORE T or AFTER M in the same syllable, it is silent. This is too advanced for kindergarten students […]
1. Draw a letter A to show your child. Introduce the idea that an A makes different sounds when it is in a word. One sound is the name of the letter — see if your child can come up with any examples of words that start with that sound, such as apron, acorn, April, ace, […]
