How do I start teaching the sounds?

Some children begin to learn letters and sounds at a very early age, even 2 or 3 years old. Other kids show no interest and have to be dragged into it! No matter at what age we start teaching them, we want to be sure that they learn the SOUNDS of the letters! Start with the Blue Set of phonograms. Teach them 4 at a time. The best way is to have them write the letters as they say the sounds. Start with the "circle letters." They're the ones that we make starting with a circle. Start with the lower case a, c, d, and g. Say the sounds and write the letter at the same time. Practice writing the letter when he hears the sounds and also saying the sounds when presented with the letter. Even if your child isn't ready for writing the letters yet, use the letter sounds whenever you can. Have him bring you the /a//A//ah/ magnetic letter from the fridge. Have him say the sounds of sponge tub letters in the bath!
As soon as the child knows those first 4 letters, have him begin to read nonsense words with them. You'll need to explain that letters say their most common sound first, so we use the short A sound in these words. Try: dad, gag, cag, dag, gad, cad. Work on reading them quickly. Add new letter cards as you teach them.
Flip through the cards helping your child to decode these nonsense words as you build them. Watch as this child discovers rhyming words with the cards he knows.