Letters & Sounds Collection

Bundle our essential pre-reading materials together into one discounted set!

The sandpaper letters and the movable alphabets are the must have learning materials you need to teach children how to read. This Pre-Reading Essentials kit includes (1) the traditional movable alphabet (ready-to-use letter cards), (2) the phonogram movable alphabet (ready-to-use letter cards), and (3) a digital file to make your own sandpaper letters.

• Sandpaper Letters: Use these to teach children the sounds of the 26 letters and 17 key sound phonograms in English. Craft these yourself out of sandpaper or felt. Use our digital file as your guide to make each letter the perfect size and shape! We recommend using a Cricut or other plotting cutter (Sandpaper Letter SVG for Cricut) or you can use our secure printable PDF and trace/cut-out your own.

• Movable Alphabets: Once children have learned their letter-sounds, they are ready (and eager) to start phonetically spelling words even before they can draw them with a pencil. Phonetic spelling is a foundational step for reading (accurate spelling doesn't count until around age six). (Note: No box is included. Read about storage options here.)

• Traditional alphabet (ready-to-use)
• Fully laminated with rounded corners (to acknowledge the tactile sensitivities of those small hands)
• Cards are approx. 1.25"W x 2"H and are eco-printed on only one-side (to isolate the difficulty)
  
• Includes 20 of each vowel, 20 each of the high frequency consonants n, r, s, and t, and 10 each of all other consonants...plenty of letters to write everything they like!
• Consonants are pink and vowels are blue to match the sandpaper letters
• Comes with a powerful lesson plan that will bring the alphabet work to life

• Phonogram alphabet (ready-to-use)

• Fully laminated with rounded corners to acknowledge the tactile sensitivities of those small hands
• Cards are approx. 2"W x 2"H and eco-printed on only one side (to isolate the difficulty)
  
• Includes 10 of each of 17 phonograms (ai as in paint, ar as in yarn, au as in Paul, ch as in chip, ee as in tree, er as in fern, ie as in pie, ng as in king, oa as in boat, oo as in book, or as in corn, ou as in cloud, oy as in boy, qu as in quick, sh as in ship, th as in moth, ue as in blue)
• Comes with a powerful lesson plan that will bring the alphabet work to life

With these items and materials you already have around the house, you can teach children what they need to know to learn how to read.

Key steps to reading

In the big picture, there are four key steps children need to climb before they'll start reading. They need to:

1. Have a rich dictionary of words and practice speaking at least one language
2. Be able to hear the individual sounds in language (Phonemic awareness)
3. Learn the sounds that each letter/key sound phonogram make (Letter-sound knowledge)
4. Have practice building words (segmenting)/be inspired to "write" what they want to write with the movable alphabets  (even before they can control a pencil well)

You can achieve steps 1 and 2 using things you may already have on hand. (See our blog posts on Language Activities, Spoken Language lessons, and Sound Games for ideas.)

For steps 3 and 4, you need the materials in this kit! 

Choose either print or cursive font (we recommend cursive).