“K-Mart Mommy, K-Mart!” I would proclaim as we drove past a K-Mart. To this day, my mother loves to tell this story of how, at the ripe old age of 28 months, I knew how to read.

Now I’m the Mommy, and my 13 month old son, Garrett, is participating in a program called SOUNS. SOUNS is an informal early language program for the home that introduces young children to letter symbols through their most common sounds. Children are like sponges—they absorb everything. SOUNS coaches parents and caregivers of children 5 months through 24 months in ways to introduce certain short vowel and hard consonant sounds, rather than bombarding their child with all the “names” of the alphabet. I remember when I was in elementary school, anytime I asked my teacher how to spell something—she would always reply, “Sound it out.”

SOUNS makes sense! What if we taught our little sponges the sounds or phonics of each letter, but did it in a way that was fun? By playing with these perfectly sized and beautifully sanded maple letters, Garrett is learning them. I’m sure you’re thinking, how much fun is it to play with a wooden letter? You would be surprised. Each letter fits snuggly between Garrett’s plump little fingers, making it easy for him to grasp and manipulate it. My husband has invented the game “Diver Down,” so he, too, can interact with Garrett and the SOUNS. With Daddy’s help, Garrett “dives” down to find his “ah” (letter o) and his “mm” (letter m).

“So much of a child’s sensitive period for language is lost because we don’t incorporate the symbols and sounds into their world and hands soon enough,” says Brenda Erickson, the director of Counterpane Montessori School in Fayetteville and creator of the SOUNS program. As she explains, “Isolated sounds in association with the sound symbols (letters) are easily learned if the hand is involved and learning becomes incidental.”

Most importantly, SOUNS works—little Garrett ran up to touch a giant ‘O’ on the TV screen the other day exclaiming “ah!” Perhaps, in months to come, he will be able to discover he can read Sam’s Club or STOP signs—and, of course, K-Mart.

 By Jennifer Harvey-Howley