The National Reading Panel found that sound work done with letters had bigger effects than sound work done without, almost twice as large for reading. A U.S. practice guide says to link sound work to letters as soon as a child knows the first few letter sounds.
The National Reading Panel found that sound work done with letters had bigger effects than sound work done without letters.
In the source’s own words“Teaching children to manipulate phonemes using letters produced bigger effects than teaching without letters.”
For reading, the panel reported effects almost twice as large when children worked on sounds with letters.
In the source’s own words“teaching children to manipulate phonemes with letters created effect sizes almost twice as large as teaching children without letters”
The panel explains why letters matter: they help children carry their sound skills over to reading and writing.
In the source’s own words“Teaching with letters is important because this helps children apply their PA skills to reading and writing. Teaching children to blend phonemes with letters helps them decode.”
The panel says children who do not yet know letters should be taught letter shapes, names and sounds so they can use letters in sound work.
In the source’s own words“If children have not yet learned letters, it is important to teach them letter shapes, names, and sounds so that they can use letters to acquire PA.”
The foundational reading guide says to link sound work to letters, using sound boxes with letter tiles and word building, as soon as a child knows the first few letter sounds.
In the source’s own words“Teachers can use Elkonin sound boxes with letter tiles and word-building activities for this instruction as soon as students have learned their first few letter sounds.”
The same guide's first step is teaching children to notice that spoken words are made up of separate sounds.
In the source’s own words“Teach students how to recognize that words are made up of individual sound units (phonological awareness).”
The National Early Literacy Panel reported that adding teaching about letters or simple phonics seemed to strengthen the effects of sound-awareness training.
In the source’s own words“Teaching children about the alphabet (e.g., letter names or letter sounds) or simple phonics tasks (e.g., blending letter sounds to make words) seemed to enhance the effects of PA training.”
We read each of these ourselves on October 9, 2026. Follow the links to read them too.
“Behind in reading” can mean ten different things, and each one needs different help. Check off what is true for your child. You will see the one thing to work on first, and what can wait.
