when showing dd a alphabet puzzle toy, should i say the letters or sound the letters out?

[JeanPoole]

like should i say a b c d
or aa bb cuu duu etc

shes 2 years old and i'm wondering if i teacg her say d is d, will she find it harder to understand it makes the sound duu

Oh, I see! Yes, I agree, mrz, and again - sorry for snapping. I really do have childhood ishoos over this!

Iorek - phonetic diffs are the actual variations in pronunciation made by individuals, so a /t/ phoneme can be articulated differently by diff speakers. Oh, not doing this well. Hang on.

Habbibu - don't mean to be rude, but us lot with phonetics qualifications run the risk of making this thread really awful for other MNers!
Just have a look at this Iorek
www.davidcrystal.com

No, frank - I hadn't understood what mrz had said, so I asked her to explain - and she did!

phoneme is the group of sounds perceived by speakers of the language to have the same function in a word/utterance - so /t/ may be pronounced using the teeth (a dental t) or the vocal chords (a glottal plosive or stop).

There's a lot more to learning a foreign language than mastering phonemes though.

For the best (bar none) reading support (althoguh 2 too young to get into reading seriously)Headsprout is the best.

Also subject of my MSc (I'm a slat with great interest in reading)

Indeed, frank! But now I think about it, I don't think it can have been the phonetic/phonemic thing that bugged me - I am, and always have been, fairly sensitive to linguistic differences, but I just don't think it can have been that level of detail.

I guess maybe in a big class we'd be taught , well it's this sound, except for (enter twee rhyme) and then this (another rhyme), and I just didn't buy it - maybe I wanted absolute logic or absolute chaos!

moony - any insights into why some bolshy brats children might hate phonics? I loved loved loved reading once I could do it.

Oh, hang on, frank - A can be pronounced differently even as a capital letter - we do write some thinsg in capitals - warning signs, fcor example.

Dunno
Everyone bloody loves Headsprout though.
There's a free 3 episode trial on that link (and no,I don't work for them though).

My dd was waking before us and rushing downstairs to cram in an episode before going to school (and English her second language.)

oh Habbibu - you know what I mean! I wasn't talking about whole words being written in capitals! Let's not get silly about this now!!
An A standing alone is A!

Do I sound like I know what anyone means, Frank?!! I'm just seeking therapy...

I think your reasons for hating phonics are entirely understandable.

The only things I remember about learning to read are a very pretty alphabet poster, some flashcards in a blue packet, and having trouble with the word "knitting".

Thanks for phonemic/phonetic explanation.

I remember learning to read being really dull. Once I could read, and, more importantly, choose what to read - different story. Same when I was doing translations at Uni - Old English - lots of work for gloomy worthy poem; Old Icelandic - lots of work for ripping yarn with lots of blood, sex, arson and vomit in it. Much more rewarding.

mrz - I feel really quite bad about my snippiness now! many apologies.

Don't feel bad I didn't take it personally

Can I say I don't like Headsprout? nothing personal just wouldn't recommend it to the parents of the children I teach.

i am still here, just gone quite as it is sort of going over my head tbh.

mrz, it was teach the letter names first, then the sounds. Not don't teach the sounds. Was just replying to OP's original post.

You can say what you like of course but you will find no better evidence based programme than it in existence!

IwoulddoDrWho I did understand what you meant but from experience children who have been taught letter names first often really struggle with reading simply because they will try to blend words using letter names or even worse a mixture of sounds and letter names. Teaching sounds first and delaying letter names until these are secure in the child's memory makes learning to read an easier process.

I strongly disagree that there aren't better programmes out there in fact I think there are quite a few ...

Habbibu - I think some children don't like phonics as they find it very difficult to discriminate and manipulate the sounds.

No there aren't.
No offence, but I'm beyond the stage of undergrad. Linguistics theses. (Been there and done that.)

Actually most kids can easily grasp the A says a. A cow says moo.

I'm not disputing they can grasp the theory just that it slows down the reading process.

No offence taken moondog or intended I'm sure but I'm not taking from an undergraduate thesis stage I'm taking from a very old and very experienced teacher and literacy co ordinator's (and SENCO working with children with literacy difficulties) perspective.