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It’s not uncommon for some students, especially those with dyslexia, to struggle with letter sounds. Reading begins with the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in language (phonemes). This weak phonemic awareness makes it hard to connect those sounds to written letters when learning to read.
(“What sound do you hear at the start of bat?”)
The good news is that with explicit, systematic, and multisensory instruction, all students can master sounds and progress with their reading.
Here is a research-based, step-by-step strategy for teaching letter sounds so they stick – even with struggling learners.
Before kids can connect letters to sounds, they must hear and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words.
Phonemic awareness is the foundation for reading success. Spend time playing simple sound games that don’t require print, such as clapping out syllables, identifying the first or last sound in a word, or changing one sound to make a new word (cat => hat).
These activities build the child’s ability to hear sounds in their head, an essential skill for decoding later on.
Phonological awareness is similar to phonemic awareness but includes the broad ability to recognize and manipulate not just sounds, but also words in a sentence and syllables within a word.
Both are foundational skills for students learning to read.
See this post for 6 Fun Ways to Develop Phonological Awareness that includes free printables and activities you can implement into your lessons today.
The Pre-Reading level of All About Reading includes fun, phonological awareness awareness building, fun activities in every lesson.
Use a structured approach to teaching sounds. Rather than introducing all 26 letters at once, teach a few at a time, beginning with high-use consonants and short vowels (for example m, s, t, a).
Be sure to teach one sound per letter before adding alternate sounds later on (for example, c as in “cat” before c as in “cent”). Repetition and review are key. Continue to review previously-taught sounds, and don’t add new ones if your student has four or more phonograms she is trying to master.
Kids learn best when multiple senses are engaged. Encourage students to see, say, hear, and touch each sound. For example, trace a letter in sand or on textured paper while saying the sound.
Another activity to try is to match magnetic letters to picture cards of words beginning with the same sound. For kids who struggle to connect the sound itself to the letter, connecting how it feels when making a sound can be helpful. Encourage your child to notice how the sound feels when spoken by noticing where their tongue is, how their lips move, and whether their throat vibrates.
These multisensory approaches activate different areas of the brain and help anchor learning more deeply.
Five to ten minutes of focused practice each day is far more effective than an hour once a week. Keep sessions short, consistent, and positive. Use quick review games like sound flashcards, sound matching activities, or another phonological awareness activity from this list of ideas. The goal is accuracy first, then speed. Regular, short sessions also reduce frustration and help kids feel successful.
When your child can recognize and produce letter sounds, use them in real reading and writing contexts. Build simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words such as cat, dog, or sun.
Read short, decodable stories that include only the sounds your child has learned. Encourage him to spell simple words using magnetic letters or by writing them out as they sound. Connecting sounds to meaningful reading and writing gives kids a sense of purpose and shows them how their hard work is paying off. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel! All About Reading Pre-Reading covers everything you need to know to teach phonological awareness to kids who struggle.
Parents teaching their struggling learners at home can think of themselves as tutors. Here are some best practices for teaching.
For more details on these teaching tips, read this post – 10 Tips for Reaching Your Struggling Learner.
Hands-on, multisensory tools help learners make connections that stick.
Adding phonogram cards, sand trays, and color-coding with markers deepens sound-symbol understanding, and short, focused lessons with frequent review reinforce mastery.
Expect struggling learners to need a lot of practice and review.
One of the biggest mistakes when teaching struggling learners is introducing too many sounds at once, which can overwhelm memory and lead to confusion.
Another mistake is to rely too heavily on worksheets or passive methods that don’t actively engage students. Kids who struggle need plenty of time and practice to master each concept through movement, touch, and repetition – not just paper tasks. Keeping lessons focused, interactive, and multisensory helps learning stick and builds lasting confidence.
Progress with struggling learners can feel slow. Know that steady, consistent practice truly adds up over time. Remember to celebrate small wins, like mastering a few new sounds or completing a short reading passage. These moments build motivation and confidence – both for the student and you – reminding everyone that real learning happens one small success at a time.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words. It’s all about listening.
Phonics connects those sounds to written letters, teaching kids how to read and spell words.
A child only needs to know a few basic consonant and short vowel sounds before blending words.
The letters m, s, p, and a are a good place to start because the sounds are easy to pronounce and several interesting words can be formed right away.
Refer to this article for more teaching tips: Helping Kids Sound Out Words
Teaching uppercase (capital) letters first can be helpful because the shapes are more visually distinct and less likely to be confused with one another. Here’s more information. You can also benefit from this advantage if you teach both uppercase and lowercase letters together, as long as the student isn’t overwhelmed by attending to multiple forms of a letter at the same time. What matters most for future reading motivation is that the child has an enjoyable introduction to the letter shapes and can recognize the letters with confidence.
Check out our Uppercase Letter Crafts and Lowercase Letter Crafts books to help teach your pre-reader!
This is very common early on. Use multisensory activities like tracing letters while saying the sound or visual cues such as “b has the bat before the ball.”
With time and repetition these reversals fade. Read this post to learn four ways to solve tough reversal problems.
Look for persistent difficulty recognizing sounds, remembering words after learning them, or spelling simple words despite regular practice.
If these challenges continue beyond age 7 or 8, consider professional evaluation for dyslexia or related learning differences.
See this article, Signs of Dyslexia in Kids, to learn more about dyslexia, signs you may be seeing, how to get tested, and other resources for learning about dyslexia.
For more help determining if your child may have dyslexia, download this helpful 37-point Symptoms of Dyslexia Screening Checklist.
Shaylynn
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Sally Farneth
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