Teaching Letter Sounds to Young Children

All babies begin saying their first words when the time is right for them. As babies turn into toddlers their speech skills improve. They say many more words, and begin to talk in sentences. Many toddlers will say words improperly. By that I mean they can say the word well enough for you to know what word it is they are trying to say.

When you catch a word being said improperly take it as a chance to teach your child the correct way of saying that specific word. It's all about teaching letter sounds. The sounds of the letters of the alphabet are what words are made of. All words are made of letter sounds so when one of those letter sounds is mispronounced the word is not being said properly.

The way to teach your child the proper letter sounds for a word is to say the word. Give your child the opportunity to hear the way the word is supposed to be spoken. Pronounce the word clearly and slowly. This allows your child to hear all of the sounds in the word. If you speak words too quickly to young children they will not hear each letter sound the word is made of. Repeat the word a couple of times and then ask your child to say it. Each time your child tries praise them and encourage them to keep trying. It helps to say the word many times. It may take a while for your little one to catch on. They'll likely not say it perfectly the first time they try. Keep doing this each time the word is said improperly.

The alphabet is a wonderful thing. It is also a necessary thing. Children need to be exposed to the alphabet early. An excellent way to teach letter sound is to use letter flashcards that have pictures on them. The letter A will generally have an apple on it. Children will see the A, and the apple. They'll learn to identify the sight of the letter A with the picture of the apple and know that A is for apple. That is teaching letter identification. To teach letter sounds with the flashcards you say the letter name to your child. "A. This is the letter A." Pointing to it is helpful. Then once you've said the letter name you say the name of what's in the picture. "Apple." Then you say that the picture name starts with the letter name. "Apple starts with the letter A." Once you've done that you simply move on to the next letter.

Yet another way to teach letter sounds is by having fun with them. Go through each letter of the alphabet by saying the letter name twice, saying a word that begins with that letter, saying the letter sound twice, then lastly saying the word one more time. It's done in a sing song way. It's a fun way to teach children to say the letters of the alphabet, say letter names, say words, and say letter sounds all at the same time.

In order for children to say their words properly they need to learn all of the letter sounds that the words are made up of. Help your child to do this by practicing specific words with them when you hear them said improperly. Try to say the word and sounds slowly and clearly so that your child will hear them well. It may take a little practice but practice makes perfect. Thanks for reading and take care!