Sounds First! Why Focusing on Letter Sounds (Not Names) Builds Stronger Readers

We all want our children to embark successfully on the grand adventure of reading! Singing the ABC song and surrounding them with alphabet letters feels like the intuitive first step. We understand this common starting point and the loving intentions behind it. But when the core goal is learning to read words, is focusing first on letter names the most effective strategy for a child's developing brain?

Based on a deep understanding of how reading develops and potential pitfalls for learners, our principled approach prioritizes teaching letter sounds first. Let's explore why.

The Hidden Confusion: Why Letter Names Can Muddle Early Learning

For a young child just beginning to connect spoken language to mysterious symbols on a page (what researchers might call a "naive" pre-literate mind), learning is already complex. Adding unnecessary layers of information can unfortunately slow progress or plant seeds of confusion. A primary source of this potential confusion lies in mixing abstract letter names with the concrete letter sounds too early.

Consider the letter b. We show the shape 'b', and we want the child to associate it with the quick puff of air sound /b/ needed to read "bat." However, its name is "bee" (/biː/) – which sounds like a whole syllable! This mismatch makes it incredibly difficult for a child to isolate the single /b/ sound required for blending. They might try to blend "bee-a-t" instead of "/b/-/a/-/t/" for "bat." Similarly, the name for 'a' ("ay" - /eɪ/) directly interferes with learning its most common short sound /æ/ as in "at."

While some letter names (like 'W' - "double-u") contrast more clearly with their sounds (/w/), the high potential for confusion with letters like 'b', 'a', 'e', 'i', 'g', 'j', etc., is significant. It forces the child's brain to constantly figure out: "Are they asking for the name or the sound right now?" This extra cognitive load hinders the development of the direct, automatic sound-symbol connection that is the bedrock of fluent reading.

Sounds First: Building a Clear, Direct Path to Reading

Our approach, grounded in the Science of Reading, therefore emphasizes teaching letter sounds directly and explicitly from the start. When a child learns to reliably connect the visual shape 's' to the /s/ sound, and 'm' to the /m/ sound, without the interference of letter names, they are building the essential foundation for decoding (sounding out words) much more efficiently. This focus on the approximately 44 speech sounds (phonemes) and their common letter representations creates a clearer pathway for understanding how our written code works.

How We Talk About & Teach Sound-Symbols Effectively:

Building this crucial connection effectively involves specific strategies:

• Call them "Sounds": During initial instruction, when pointing to a letter shape ('m'), we consistently say, "This sound says /m/," or ask, "What sound does this letter make?" or instruct, "Write the sound that says /s/." This keeps the focus squarely on the sound-symbol link needed for reading.

• Multi-Sensory Connection: We encourage activities like tracing the letter shape while simultaneously saying its sound. Feeling the movement while seeing the shape and hearing/saying the sound creates multiple strong pathways in the brain, reinforcing the connection much better than visual-only methods.

• Strategic Sound Sequence: Not all sounds are created equal for beginners! Effective, research-informed instruction introduces sounds systematically. We typically start with continuous sounds – ones you can hold and stretch (like /m/, /n/, /s/, /f/, /l/, /r/, and vowels) – because they are easier to blend smoothly. More difficult stop sounds (quick puffs of air like /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/) require more articulatory precision and are introduced strategically. This is why "mom" (/m/ /o/ /m/) is often much easier for a beginner to blend than "dad" (/d/ /a/ /d/). This careful sequencing prevents unnecessary difficulty and builds success.

What About Letter Names & the ABC Song?

Does this mean letter names are forbidden? Not at all! The ABC song is fun and helps children learn the sequence of the alphabet. Letter names themselves become very important later on, primarily for:

• Spelling words aloud ("How do you spell 'cat'? C-A-T").

• Talking about letters ("Is that a 'b' or a 'd'?").

Our principled recommendation is not to withhold names indefinitely, but crucially, to avoid emphasizing or heavily encouraging their use during the initial, critical phase of learning sound-symbol connections and how to decode. Let's build the sound foundation first to prevent interference.

The Risk of Ineffective "Edutainment"

It's worth noting that some popular educational programs or games, while visually engaging, might focus heavily on entertaining animations of letters paired with their names, without building the crucial skill of linking those letters to sounds and using them to read words. Some struggling learners report finding these approaches more confusing than helpful. Effective learning requires building actionable, transferable skills, and our focus is always on instruction that directly translates to better reading and spelling ability.

The Eulexia Tutoring Way: Clarity and Confidence

At Eulexia Tutoring, our WordFlight program and Parent Training embody this sound-first principle. We prioritize building strong phonological awareness and automatic sound-symbol connections using explicit, multi-sensory instruction before drilling letter names. This ensures a smoother, less confusing, and more confident start to reading, setting students up for success based on solid research and effective pedagogy.

Conclusion: Prioritize Sounds for Reading Success

While the alphabet song has its place, focusing first on mastering the sounds that letters represent provides a more direct, efficient, and less confusing foundation for cracking the reading code. By building this core understanding systematically, we empower children to tackle reading with greater confidence and less frustration.

Want to ensure your child gets started with evidence-based strategies?

Read Our Post on Phonological Awareness

Building the foundation: Directly linking a letter's shape to its sound (/s/), not its name ('ess'), creates the clear connection needed for effective decoding.

The result of a solid foundation: When sound skills are automatic, children can decode words accurately and fluently, unlocking the path to becoming capable readers.

Learning sounds can be hands-on fun! Multi-sensory strategies make abstract concepts like speech sounds more concrete and memorable for young learners.