Imagine a group of children sitting quietly at their desks while the teacher draws the letter 'a' on the board. Then she turns to her class and says, "This is the letter 'a' and it says 'a ' (short 'a' sound). 'A' is for apple."
The children, looking at the squiggly line for the letter 'a,' may think, "Okay, if that's what you say. You're the teacher." But others will question it. Because when they draw a funny-looking line it doesn't say a sound! Letters are abstract concepts to many young readers, making learning difficult. These children will benefit from a more relational approach, where it's simple to connect the squiggly lines of letters with their sounds. Acquiring 40 sounds with the Harbor Friends engages them to learn and is super easy to remember!