Should you teach letter names or letter sounds first?

After the first letter, the order for writing letters is different. It's in the guide to writing letters.

Most letter names have their sound in them

Start with the first letter of your child's name. Then teach B, D, J, K, P, T, V and Z, and after that, follow your child. Say "bee" slowly and you'll hear the b sound at its start. Children hear it too, and use what they know of the names to learn the sounds.

Most children know all these sounds by first grade. Until then, the first group comes easiest.

In F, L, M, N, R and S the sound is at the end

Give these six letters extra help. Stretch the end of the name into a word, like "Esss… sun." That tip is my own, from how the names sound.

"Eff", "el", "em", "en", "ar" and "ess" end with their sound, which is harder to hear. In a preschool study, children who weren't taught these sounds learned almost none of them on their own.

Why your child says Y for "wagon"

Teach H, W and Y on purpose. If your child picks Y for a word like "wagon", say "Y", then the y sound, then "yellow". It's a normal mistake.

"Aitch", "double-u" and "why" don't have their sounds in them, and "why" starts with the w sound. So some children write a Y at the start of words like "wet".

Say the name, the sound, then a word

Say the letter's name, then its sound, then a word that starts with it, like "B", the b sound, "ball". Pick words that start with the plain sound and then a vowel. Leave off the "uh", and say "mmm", not "muh".

In one small study, preschoolers taught with these steps learned about two more sounds than a group taught numbers instead.

For a vowel, start with the short sound, as in apple. Its name is the long sound, as in acorn. C and G each have two sounds. Start with the sounds in cat and goat, which C and G spell more often, and save cereal and giraffe for later.

Common questions

How long, and how often?

A few minutes at a time, and stop while it's still fun. In the small study, preschoolers had lessons in groups of three to five, for 10 to 15 minutes, about four times a week.

What if my child gets bored or says no?

Stop and try again another day.

What if my child isn't ready for letters?

Play with the sounds in words. Say rhymes, and find words that start the same, like ball and bear. Once your child joins in, show the letter those words start with, because sound games help most alongside letters.

We say "zed". Does that matter?

No. "Zee" and "zed" both start with Z's sound. In parts of England, H is "haitch", which starts with H's sound too.

What do I need?

Nothing special. The small study used magnetic letters and picture cards, and things around your home can be the pictures.

When should I ask someone?

Plenty of 5-year-olds are still learning letter sounds. In one US study, preschoolers of about 5½ knew the sounds of about two-thirds of letters like B and a third of the rest. If you're worried, talk to your pediatrician or your child's preschool teacher.

Where Puddlebright fits

In the Starts like… game, your child hears a word, like ball, taps the letter it starts with, and hears "B… ball… starts with… B". It uses only B, D, J, K, P, T, V and Z, and younger children can match pictures that start alike instead. It says letter names and whole words, never a sound on its own, so the sounds are yours to add. You can play a round below.