How do we get young learners to understand that what looks like a ‘d’ also sounds like a ‘d’? The Launch Literacy Program takes a simple, straightforward approach. After completing the two steps below, young learners will grasp this concept in order to accurately write single letters and begin writing words.

Duck, dinosaur, doll, dog.

After establishing an internal sense of left and right, the child is ready to start linking sounds and letters. For reading and spelling to develop, the child needs to be able to:

• link a letter to a sound
• link a sound to a letter

Step 2. Linking letters to sounds is essential for reading.

When we look at a letter (also known as a grapheme), it is important to think of it as a symbol that is representing a sound. To establish the letter-to-sound link, young learners need to repeatedly:

• see a specific letter
• link that letter to its related sound

How does this work? The Launch Literacy Program links that letter to the first sounds in words – words the child already hears such as duck, dinosaur, doll and dog.

Our Letter Tracing and Letter Writing Books provide young learners with repeated opportunities to practise this cycle and establish the letter-to-sound link.

What does success look like? The child sees a ‘d’ and knows that it sounds a ‘d’.

Once the child can link all the letters to sounds, they can begin to sound out the letters in simple words, blend them together and enjoy very simple reading. This is also known as early decoding. Discover more about decoding here.

Step 3. Linking sounds to letters is essential for spelling.

This step requires the child to hear a sound (also known as a phoneme), in a spoken word – and then go into their internal store of letters to retrieve the correct ‘symbol’ or ‘picture’ of that letter. Once retrieved, the child needs to able to correctly produce these letters on the page.

To establish a sound-to-letter link, young learners need to repeatedly:

• hear a specific sound
• link that sound to its related letter
• write the letter with the correct starting point and letter formation

Launch Literacy Letter Tracing and Letter Writing Books provide the child repeated opportunities to practise this cycle, establish the sound-to-letter link and practise correct letter formation.

What does success look like? The child hears a ‘d’ and knows that it looks like a ‘d’.

Once the child can link sounds to letters, they can begin to write those letters to create simple words. This is also known as early encoding.

At Launch Literacy we are committed to getting young learners reading and writing fast. Why wait any longer? Let’s begin!