Introducing Letters to Kids with SATPIN

You can introduce letters to young children in many ways, and for good reasons. We want them to be able to recognize letters by shape and know their names and the sounds they make so they’re ready to be confident readers. The issue is being able to do all of this within a child’s short attention span. I found that the order in which I taught letters was highly important for young children who were learning to read. I wanted to get these young learners up and running as quickly and confidently as possible. So, I used a specific letter order known to get young children reading successfully.

Before teaching your child to recognize letters be sure they are ready to learn these skills. There are some key skills (such as recognizing letters) that children need before we begin introducing reading skills.

When children are ready to begin learning the letters of the alphabet, use SATPIN. To get started teaching your child letter recognition using SATPIN, you need to do four things:

SATPIN is a specific order in which the letters of the alphabet can be taught. Many believe that children need to learn the letters in alphabetical order, but that simply is not the case! Learning the letters in alphabetical order does nothing really to help young children learn how to read. What they need is to be able to recognize letters by shape and associate the sounds for each letter. That’s what gets young readers moving quickly. Children who are taught using SATPIN order are able to read 10 words before having to learn the rest of the alphabet! That’s how powerful this simple trick is for your child.

Tip #1 Planning is the key to this approach. It mostly requires you to change how you view the alphabet. When you are teaching your child, keep in mind that the letters of the alphabet serve the purpose of written communication. A great addition to a lesson or game is singing alphabet songs. However, a child being able to sing alphabet songs has little impact on them having purpose-written communication.

Tip #2 Once you have wrapped your head around using the SATPIN order, go ahead and choose a supportive phonics program. Many have had good succes with the I Can Read program.

Tip#3 How will you track your child’s progress? This is very important. Child-friendly assessment and tracking will help you know exactly which letters your child may be struggling with. Using a pre-assessment is recommended to figure out what your child already knows. Sometimes young children will surprise you with what they know and what gaps they have.

Tip #4 Fun-filled activities are your friend! Make sure that you plan fun-filled activities to teach letter recognition. Teaching letters using SATPIN is only the approach and so it’s very flexible. You can help your child learn the letters by shape and associated sound by inserting various fun activities.

Introducing letters to your child should be a natural progression if you keep print visible in their environment. Your little one will be ready to recognize letters if you refer to print on cereal boxes or read recipes to raise their print awareness. Overall, if you want them to have a smooth transition from merely recognizing to reading, strongly consider using the SATPIN order when introducing letters.