Unlock the Secret to Perfect Letter Sounds

The Power of the Mouth: Why Teaching Letter Sounds Starts with How We Speak

When it comes to teaching your child to read, one of the most powerful tools you have isn’t a flashcard or a workbook — it’s their mouth! Understanding how the mouth moves to make sounds helps little learners connect what they see (letters) with what they hear and say (sounds). This approach is called the articulation method, and it focuses on showing children how to position their lips, tongue, and teeth to make each sound correctly. For example, when making the /p/ sound, we press our lips together and release a soft puff of air. When saying /m/, our lips stay closed, and the sound hums through the nose. These small, intentional movements help toddlers understand that each letter sound is made in a special way. Teaching mouth formation builds phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in words — a critical skill for learning to read and spell. When children can feel how a sound is made, they’re less likely to confuse similar sounds like /b/ and /p/, and more likely to pronounce and blend words with confidence. By pairing visual cues (what the mouth looks like) with auditory cues (what the sound feels and sounds like), you make phonics learning multi-sensory, fun, and effective.