Sounding Out

We adults take for granted our ability to look at a word and pronounce it. We forget that this is an ability learned through years of practice. I was reminded of this when I showed my four-year-old some word flashcards (Readiness cards by School Zone). He sounded out each letter of the word, put the sounds together, and then pronounced the word. He did this for the words "left," "wet," "full," and others. It seems like a slow process when a child does this, but I was actually quite amazed because it shows how flexible and adaptable our brains are. We can create symbols (letters and words), assign meaning to them, memorize them, and use them to communicate with one another at a high information-transfer level to discuss poetry, philosophy, theology, and other fields of knowledge. But all this begins with a child sounding out letters.