We've Been Teaching the ABCs All Wrong. Sort Of.

Most of us start with the ABCs.

A, B, C...
A is for apple. B is for ball.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But when it comes to learning to read, there's an important shift that makes things easier.

Sounds Matter More Than Letter Names

Letter names, like “ay” for A or “bee” for B, don’t help kids decode words. They’re useful for spelling later, but reading requires a different skill set: the ability to hear and combine sounds into words.

For example:

• The word bat isn’t read as “bee-ay-tee.”

• It’s read by blending the sounds “c-a-t.”

When children learn the sounds letters make (like “b says b”), they can start to recognize and sound out words—a crucial step in becoming readers.

So if you've been doing the ABC song and A is for apple, you're definitely not alone.

You've just got one more little piece to add.

What sound does A make?

And that's where the reading really starts.