Kindergarten Letter Sounds

Kindergarten letter sounds are the first step in learning to read. Yet, many educators teach letters sounds incorrectly. I’m going to go over some of the most common pedagogical letter sound mistakes. That way, you can teach your students in the most effective way.

Hold Continuous Sounds.

First, make sure your student holds continuous sounds. Continuous sounds are sounds you can say for a long time. For example, “m” is a continuous sound. Thus, your students should say “mmmmmmm” for the symbol “m.” Other examples of continuous sounds are s, n, v and l.

Clip Stop Sounds.

Stop sounds are sounds you cannot hold for a long time or else you’ll add an “uh.” Students should say these sounds quickly. “D” is a stop sound, because you cannot say it for a long time. If you try to, you’ll say “duh” which is incorrect. Some other examples of stop sounds include b, g, j and k.

Say the sound 1x.

I’ve heard so many educators get this one wrong. Most educational videos on Youtube also do this incorrectly. Do NOT have the child say the sound 3x in a row. For example, if you show the child the “m” symbol, do not let the child say, “m! m! m!” Instead, have the child say the sound 1x: “mmmmmm.” We do not say the letter sound 3x when we read (we say it 1x), thus we should do the same during letter sound instruction.  

Say the correct letter sound.

Educators often say the wrong letter sound. For a beginner i does NOT say i as in ice cream (it says i as in igloo). For preschoolers and kindergartners, there’s a certain letter sound that you should teach first. If you teach the correct beginner sound, your students will be able to read words like him, get, and sat. Here are the correct letter sounds to teach:

a as in apple

b as in bat

c as in cat

d as in dog

e as in elephant

f as in frog

g as in goat

h as in hat

i as in igloo

j as in jaguar

k as in kangaroo

l as in lion

m as in monkey

n as in nest

o as in octopus

p as in panda

q as in queen

r as in rhinoceros

s as in snow

t as in turtle

u as in umbrella

v as in violin

w as in wing

x as in fox

y as in yak

z as in zebra

Vary the order of the flashcards.

You want your student to memorize the letter sounds, not the order in which they occur. Mix up your flashcard pile.

Teach 2-4 new letter sounds at a time.

Don’t introduce all of the letter sounds at once. This will overwhelm the student and result in poor retention. Instead, gradually introduce letter sounds over time. Introduce 2-4 new letter sounds in one lesson. Don’t introduce more until your student has demonstrated mastery (over 70% accuracy rate) over the ones you’ve introduced.

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