Last updated 2026-09-10. Written by the TernQuest team. This guide is for parents of preschoolers and kindergartners who want to teach the alphabet in a way that leads to reading, rather than to a child who can sing the ABC song and still cannot read "cat".
Should you teach letter sounds or letter names first?
Direct answer: Sounds first, or sounds and names together with the sound getting the emphasis. Reading works by turning letters into sounds and blending them; the names ("em", "tee") are labels that do not help with that. A child who knows m says /m/, a says /a/ and t says /t/ can read "mat" today. A child who only knows the names cannot.
This is a change from how many of us were taught, and it is the one thing to get right. Names are still useful (for spelling out loud, for talking about letters), so do not hide them; just say the sound first every time: "This is /m/. Its name is em."
Quotable version: "Teach the sound before the name: m says /m/. A child who knows six sounds can already read words; a child who knows every letter name cannot."
How do you say letter sounds correctly?
Direct answer: Say the sound alone, short and without an extra vowel tacked on the end. /m/, /s/, /t/, not "muh", "suh", "tuh". That trailing "uh" is the most common mistake grown-ups make and it directly breaks blending later, because "cuh-a-tuh" run together does not sound like "cat".
Two kinds of consonants
- Continuous sounds can be stretched: /m/, /s/, /f/, /n/, /l/, /r/, /v/, /z/. Hold them ("mmmmm") and they are easy to hear and easy to blend.
- Stop sounds cannot be stretched: /b/, /d/, /g/, /k/, /p/, /t/. Say them as a quick puff of air and cut it off. Practise in a mirror; if your lips or tongue relax into "uh", shorten it.
Short vowels
The five short vowels are the sounds in "apple", "egg", "igloo", "octopus", "umbrella". Teach the short sound first; the long sounds (which match the letter names) come later with silent e and vowel teams, which we cover in long vowels and silent e. Short vowels are the hardest sounds for children to tell apart, so give each one a keyword picture and an action.
What order should you teach letter sounds in?
Direct answer: Not A to Z. Start with a small group that contains at least one short vowel and several continuous consonants, so the child can blend real words after only a few letters. A widely used starting set is s, a, t, p, i, n: with those six, a child can read sat, tip, pan, nap, sip, pin and more. Then add letters in groups, always including a vowel every so often.
| Group | Letters | Words unlocked (examples) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | s, a, t, p, i, n | sat, tip, pan, pit, nap, sip |
| 2 | m, d, g, o, c, k | mat, dog, cot, mop, dig, kid |
| 3 | e, u, r, h, b, f, l | bed, rug, hen, fun, lip, bell |
| 4 | j, v, w, y, z, q, x | jam, van, wet, yes, zip, box |
The exact order varies by program and your child's school may use a different one; the principle is the same: vowels early, useful letters before rare ones, and blending as soon as possible. For what to do once blending starts, see CVC words: how to teach blending.
Keep visually similar letters apart
Introduce b and d, and p and q, in different groups with time between them. Teaching them side by side invites confusion. Reversals themselves are normal in preschool and kindergarten.
How many letters should you teach at a time?
Direct answer: A few at a time, with daily review of everything learned so far. Add a new letter only when the current set is automatic (the child says the sound within a second of seeing the letter, without thinking). A new letter every few days is a common pace in kindergarten classrooms; a preschooler may go slower, and that is fine.
The daily shape:
- Review every known letter with flashcards or magnetic letters. Fast and light: show the letter, child says the sound.
- Introduce one new letter if the review was clean: its sound, its keyword, its action, how to write it.
- Blend a word or two using known letters, once you have a vowel and a few consonants.
- Play one short game (below).
Aim for about 10 minutes. Stop while it is still fun.
What does multisensory letter practice look like?
Direct answer: Pairing each letter sound with something the child sees, hears, says and does. Multisensory practice is common classroom practice because young children remember actions and pictures better than abstract shapes. It needs no special equipment.
Ideas that work at home
- Keyword and action. /s/ with a snake hand wiggling, /m/ rubbing the tummy for "mmm, yummy". Same keyword every time.
- Sky writing. Trace the letter in the air with a whole arm while saying its sound.
- Textured tracing. Salt in a tray, shaving foam on the table, sandpaper letters, finger on the carpet. Say the sound while tracing.
- Sound hunts. "Find three things in the kitchen that start with /p/." Pan, plate, peach.
- Letter of the day on the fridge. Every time someone walks past, they say the sound.
- Alphabet books and songs, with you emphasizing the sound rather than the name.
When should blending start?
Direct answer: As soon as the child knows one short vowel and two or three consonants. There is no reason to wait for the whole alphabet; blending early is the point of the teaching order above. Start with two-letter chunks ("a-t, at") and then three-letter words that begin with a continuous sound ("s-a-t, sat"), stretching the sounds together rather than saying them separately.
If the child can say the sounds but cannot hear them joining into a word, spend a little time on listening games first: rhyming, clapping syllables, and "I say the sounds, you say the word" without any letters in sight. Our post on rhyming and syllables has car-ride versions. Letter sounds and blending are both on the kindergarten reading skills checklist, so you can see how they sit among the year's other goals.
When is an app the wrong tool for letter sounds?
Direct answer: While the child is still learning to hear and produce the sounds. A screen cannot hear whether your child said /t/ or "tuh", and cannot correct the mouth shape. Do the introduction yourself, in person, and use an app only for review reps once a set of letters is known.
That is also the honest line for TernQuest: its kindergarten reading games practise letter sounds and CVC blending, and one child can use it free, but for a preschooler who is meeting letters for the first time, a lap, a book and magnetic letters are the better tool. Add the game once your child has a first group of sounds and needs practice more than instruction.
Related reading
- Kindergarten reading skills checklist (2026) — letter sounds in the context of the whole kindergarten year.
- CVC words: how to teach blending — the next step once six sounds are solid.
- How to teach a kindergartner to read at home — the full 20-minute plan that this fits inside.
Next step
When your child has a first set of sounds and needs repetition more than teaching, TernQuest has letter-sound and blending games mapped to California Common Core and is free to start for one child. Keep saying the sounds together in the car regardless.