Short answer: Teach both.
Bonus answer: Teach letter names, letter sounds, and letter formation at the same time.
Why teach letter names?
Knowing the name of something makes it easy to talk about it. Imagine not knowing the word for bed. Instead of saying, “It’s time for bed,” you’d need to say, “It’s time for you to lie down on the mattress in your room that you use at night for sleeping.” Awkward, right? It is also a long, rambling sentence that is hard to understand.
Knowing the name of each letter provides an anchor to which new information can be attached. For example, imagine showing someone two cards, one with the letter Mm and one with the letter Tt. As you point to each card you say, “This letter represents the /m/ sound and this letter represents the /t/ sound.” How is the child supposed to remember which shape represents which sound? It helps to attach the sound to the symbol. Knowing the name of the symbol (the letter) reinforces the connection.
Why teach letter sounds?
Knowing the sound a letter makes is how a child learns to read. The science is clear: the brain is not hard-wired for reading. Children must be directly taught the sound each letter represents. Blending sounds together is how we read words. For example, to read the word mat, we first say the sound each letter represents /m/ /ă/ /t/, and then we blend the sounds
together to fluently read /mat/.
Knowing the sound a letter makes is how a child learns to spell. Educators talk about the phoneme-grapheme connection or the sound-symbol connection. A phoneme is a sound and a grapheme is the letter (symbol) used to represent a given sound. If a child wants to spell the word mat, they need to break apart each sound and think of the letter that represents that sound. If they know the sound-symbol relationship, they will be able to spell: First, they hear /m/, so they print the letter m. Then they hear /ă/, so they print the letter a. The last sound they hear is /t/, which they know is represented by the letter t.
Why teach letter formation?
Knowing the correct way to form each letter reinforces distinguishing features in each letter. Consider how similar these three letters look: r, n, m. The letter ‘n’ begins like the letter ‘r’ - we just extend the line all the way down. The letter ‘m’ begins like an ‘n’ - we just add another “up and around.” When we teach a child to print a letter, they must focus on the distinguishing details. The act of printing demonstrates how one letter is different from another letter.
Knowing the correct way to form each letter helps prevent reversals. The letters b, d, p, and q are all made with a circle and a line. Students can avoid confusion when their initial instruction teaches the correct position and direction of each circle-line combination. For example, the letter ‘b’ begins with a line and the letter ‘d’ begins with a circle. Letters are ALWAYS printed from left to right, so after making the circle for the letter ‘d’, continue to the right and add the line. Let’s compare the letters ‘b’ and ‘p.’ Both letters are made by making a line down and then tracing back up and circling around. The difference is the position. A ‘b’ starts at the top line and ends at the baseline. A ‘p’ begins at the middle line and extends below the baseline. Position and order matter. Confusion comes when a child just sees a circle and a line.
Why teach letter name, sound, and formation at the same time?
For some students, it is confusing to remember which letter makes which sound so it is important to teach in the most effective way. We know that people learn by seeing, hearing, and doing. Anytime these modalities are combined, the learning experience is more secure. So instead of just looking at a letter and saying its sound, teach kids to ‘do and say.’ For example, show them the letter Bb. Say, “The letter Bb represents the /b/ sound. Say the /b/ sound with me.” Then, practice printing the letter ‘b’ as you say the /b/ sound.
If you’re working with a child who already knows the name of each letter, that’s great. Now it is time to add the letter sound and the letter formation. Be aware that a child may be able to sing the ABC song, even if they really don’t know which name matches which letter. Remember: knowing the letter sound is how students learn to read. Knowing the letter name gives us an easy way to identify individual letters, and knowing the correct letter formation helps students focus on the distinguishing details among letters. Students who know all three - the sound, the name, and the formation - have an easier time mastering the complex task of reading and spelling.
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