What is a key goal of letter/sound recognition in early childhood literacy?

A key goal of letter/sound recognition in early childhood literacy is to recognize and articulate the sounds of letters. This foundational skill is crucial for young learners as it directly supports their ability to decode words when they begin to read. Understanding that letters represent specific sounds helps children to blend these sounds together to form words, facilitating reading development.

By mastering letter/sound recognition, children build the necessary phonemic awareness that underpins the reading process. This skill enables them not only to read words accurately but also to improve their spelling abilities as they learn to connect sounds with the corresponding letters. Moreover, this knowledge serves as a stepping stone to more complex literacy skills, such as vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension, as children become more confident in their ability to tackle written text.