Sounds Have Letters 4: Early Phonics Made Simple

This app is ideal for children from 4 1/2 to 6 years old and is a follow-up to Sounds Have Letters 1- 3. Try Sounds Have Letters 1 for free. These apps break down all the skills involved in learning to read and write to make them as easy as possible to learn and understand. Children learn to focus on a new letter in the words they say, learn about the letter that spells that sound, then practice picking that sound at the beginning or end of words that share most other sounds (dog vs jog, or bad vs bag). Next, children build words with the sounds that have already been taught by choosing the first, middle, then last letter in words, followed by the opportunity to read and write these same words. Letter names are not included because they don't help children read or write; they only help us talk about letters. Letter names only get in the way of children's understanding of the alphabetic principle. Names of letters seem very important to the adults in their lives, so children work hard to figure out how they relate to reading, but they don't relate to reading, so they just cause problems early on. If the letter b was named Fred, it could still represent the same sound in words. If you learn to read a second language with the same letters, you don't need to learn the names of the letters in the new language to read in that language. You only need to learn about the differences in the sounds the letters spell.

We suggest moving through these apps at a pace of one letter for every one or two days, but follow the lead of your child. Younger children may need to move slower or do two short sessions in a day.