My child is 4 years old. What do I tell her about silent letters—I mean as far as recognizing them so she doesn’t sound them out when she sees them.  Which types of words are the most important for her to learn right now?  Should I stay with her learning to blend the sounds instead of having her identify the words because she has a very good memory?  Your professional advice would be helpful.

Thank you, Loving Father

Dear Loving Father (and I can tell you are by your questions): your question about silent letters is an interesting one.  As a 4-year-old, she should be focusing on fundamental phonetic word concepts.  Introducing silent letter combinations, contractions, digraphs, blends, etc., are reading concepts that are important, but further down the road.

Here at the beginning, stick with simple word concepts that allow her to learn and use attack skills while sounding out words.  When she is very confident with phonetic words (words that can be logically sounded out based on what each letter in the word says), then you can introduce the concept of long vowels.  Remember that old song: when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says his own name, the second one goes to sleep.

When she’s confident applying the reading skills she does know, then you can introduce the variations and subtleties of our language that have to be memorized.  Let her gain reading confidence here at the beginning by having her work with phonetic words and concepts.  Then her terrific memory skills will come into play with the many “rule breaker” words that she will begin to encounter.  Good luck and enjoy the process of working with your child.