Learning to read is one of the most significant milestones in a child's early education, and a key foundational skill is letter-sound correspondence.  This essential concept  - the ability to connect letters to their sounds - lays the groundwork for decoding words, blending sounds and eventually fluent reading. 


Why does Letter - Sound Correspondence Matter?

When children understand that each letter represents a specific sound, they can begin to recognize patterns in words, which begins to make reading less of a guessing game and more of a logical process. 

Like, an "Oh I get it, now!"moment.

Without this important skill, early readers may struggle to decode new words, which can lead to frustration and a lack of confidence.  

We all know how important it is to feel like "YES, I CAN DO THIS!"

Reinforcing Letter-Sound Correspondence Through Hands-On Learning 

Children learn best through engaging multi-sensory learning.  Incorporating hands-on activities not only reinforces learning, but also make the process fun and memorable. They are learning and really don't know they are practicing important skills.  

Here are a few effective strategies you may want to incorporate at home or at school...

Letter Manipulatives: 

Use magnetic letters, letter tiles, foam letters or create your own set of letters with index cards and allow children to manipulate the cards saying the letter name and sound each letter makes.  




Alphabet Hunt:  

Something I always did with my students, my own children/grandchildren was to create a Scavenger Hunt around the house/ classroom to find objects that start with the chosen sound. Put the letters in a paper bag, pull one out and the children walk around the house or classroom to find an item that begins with that beginning letter sound.  

Sensory Writing: 

This was always a favorite.  Have children write letters in sand, shaving cream or salt trays writing a designated letter while verbalizing the sound. I have had students use small cars and then "drive the letter" while verbalizing the sound. You can also have them sky write the letters by pretending their pointer finger is a pen and "write" in the air.     

Sound Sorts: 

Provide pictures and ask children to sort them by beginning sounds, blends, or digraphs.  




The Power of Repetition and Pencil-Paper Tasks

While hands-on learning is essential, structured, repeated practice through simple writing and/or cut and paste activities further strengthens letter-sound connections.


Some effective paper-and-pencil activities might include:

Matching Games:

Have children draw lines between. pictures and their corresponding sounds.  This not only supports visual tracking, but also fine motor skills. 

Beginning Sounds, Blends and Digraphs Worksheets:

Provide simple cut-and-paste activities where children match pictures to beginning sounds, beginning blends like "fl" and digraphs like "ch".

Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your child's \ students' learning journey!

Click below to subscribe and unlock this FREE Beginning Sound Resource for Early Readers.







Letter-Sound Mazes: 

Create mazes where children follow a path of pictures that start with a specific sound. Children can color each picture or draw a line to and from each picture until they get to the end.

Trace and Match Activities:  

Have children repeatedly trace the
letters, blends or digraphs and
color pictures that match the sounds.  This Alphabet Handwriting resource does just that. Trace the letter, find and color the box that has the matching letter and then color the picture that matches the sound. It is the perfect combination of fine motor (handwriting), letter recognition and letter sound correspondence. It's a Win- Win!

Need a few more ideas for Lettter-Sound Correspondence?  Click HERE


Blending Sounds: The Next Step

Once children have a solid understanding of letter-sound correspondence, they can begin blending sounds to form words. Explicit instruction and practice with CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words like "cat" and "dot" help bridge the gap between recognizing sounds and reading fluently.


Teaching letter-sound relationships through a combination of hands-on activities and more structured writing, coloring, tracing task is important in helping children become independent, confident readers.

By reinforcing these skills with engaging activities and repetitive step by step practice, we create a strong foundation for literacy success.


I would LOVE to hear how YOU incorporate letter-sound activities at home or in your classroom. Please share your favorite activities in the comments!  


Stay Tuned for the Next Post on Blending and Decoding!

Winter is the perfect time to ignite imaginations, fuel curiosity, and keep your classroom buzzing with excitement! Whether it’s crafting whimsical snowmen or diving into the icy world of Arctic animals, we’ve got you covered with resources that are engaging, educational, and best of all—just $1 during our Winter Dollar Deal Sale!

Hurry—this offer is available for a limited time! 
January 19-20…JUST 2 DAYS

Explore over 101 fabulous deals, from frosty winter resources and cheerful Valentine's Day activities to creative year-round ideas and so much more! Oh and let's not forget the Clip Art!

These Dollar Deals are not a Hashtag sale, but rather a flyer to browse and see what might work for you and your students.

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Snowmen at Night Writing Prompt & Craft

Let’s bring the beloved story Snowmen at Night to life! This activity combines creativity and writing in the most magical way.

Your students will:
   •   Design and create their own snowmen: Let imaginations soar as they craft unique snow characters.
   •   Write about nighttime adventures: What do snowmen really get up to after dark? From sledding under the moon to snowball fights, their stories will come alive!
   •   Have everything they need: This resource includes templates, instructions, and ideas—but the sky’s the limit if your students want to add their own sparkle and flair!
It’s the perfect way to combine winter fun with essential writing practice.

🐧 Winter Animals Non-Fiction Research Project

Ready to journey to the Polar regions? This research project will inspire young learners to dig deep into the fascinating world of Arctic animals.
What’s included:
   •   Engaging graphic organizers: Simple, structured tools to help students gather and organize facts.
   •   Research made fun: Penguins, reindeer, and polar bears spark endless curiosity and motivation to learn.
   •   Cross-curricular learning: Combine literacy and science as students explore and write about their favorite Arctic creatures.

This project is perfect for the chilly months January and February, when students are brimming with excitement about the snowy season!

Why You’ll Love These Resources

Both activities are designed to:

✔️ Spark creativity and motivation.

✔️ Build essential literacy and research skills.

✔️ Keep students engaged and excited during the winter months.

And the best part? You can grab them for just $1 each during our Winter Dollar Deal Sale!

Don’t Miss Out!

These frosty deals won’t last long, so grab them now and bring some extra winter magic to your classroom!

[Shop the Winter Dollar Deals Now!]

Let’s make this winter unforgettable for your students with activities they’ll love and lessons they’ll remember!

Stay cozy and creative!!!


These activities are ideal for the winter season, fueling curiosity and excitement about the Polar regions. Whether it’s creating snowy masterpieces or learning about fascinating wildlife, your students are sure to love these winter-themed resources

✨ Special Price: Only $1! Hurry—this offer is available for a limited time! [Shop the Dollar Deal Now] It will be Gone January 20th before midnight!

"You're never too old to set new goal or dream a new dream" - CJ Lewis


Recently I was asked to share a bit about myself with BOLD JOURNEY Magazine, which is an online publication that simply shares and publishes stories about people like you and ME.                                                                                                                            I am not sure how I was nominated and that really doesn't matter...BUT...this gave me an opportunity to reflect on my journey, work ethic, and personal philosophies as well as; some insights into my experience creating resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.                                                                                                                                                              
So, I thought I would share this with all of  YOU to offer a glimpse into my journey.

I hope you enjoy it!  

Meet Kathy Simpson





Children love to scribble and draw with pencils, crayons, paper and maybe even on the walls.  

I know my grandkids would scribble something on a piece of paper and I would say. "Read this to me." and they would "read" it back usually saying it says "I love you or I had fun or maybe something silly, but they knew what they wrote and what it said.

It is on this premise and experience that you and I know that kids have ideas tucked away in their heads ready to spill out on paper or walls!  


With that being said, this is Part One of a Series of Blog Posts about how to encourage your students or children to write more at home and at school using some basic principles I have learned through my years of parenting and teaching! Ideas that you can put into practice immediately after reading this post!


Writing is so important for all children, yet can be so difficult for some.  


They want to know how to spell but you as a teacher want to get them to get their ideas on the paper so their ideas...those thoughts, those experiences flow onto the paper easily without hesitation and still what echoes throughout your classroom, "How do you spell dog.  How do your spell because?  How do you spell where???"

So how do you support your students to feel confident and take risks with their writing?  Good question right? 



One way I found and I am sure many of you already use this method is to encourage “Kid Writing” everyday...everytime children are writing at home and/or at school.

Some kiddos are hesitant to take risks and write without knowing how to spell, but if you make it non-threatening and support young writers with positive feedback on what they are writing, they will take risks and begin to use creative spelling to spell more difficult words writing the sounds they hear.

This is a win-win situation.

As you circulate around the room, have the kiddos read what they have written. I always asked if it was okay to write adult spelling below their writing so I remembered what they wrote. If that doesn’t work, then write it on a sticky note with their name. Anyway you do it you are learning so much about your students!

Why is this Important?  

✎  You can learn so much about a student’s phonological awareness and other writing skills simply by analyzing Kid Writing! 


1.  Does the student have beginning sounds, ending sounds, digraph, affricates and/or medial vowels?

2.  Do they have an understanding of what letters spell a word but maybe they are not in the correct order?

3.  Are they using some conventional spellings of sight words? 

4.  What do they know and what do they still need to learn?

5.  Do they have capitals, end marks or an understanding of words and sentences?

I can tell from this sample:

  • The writer has some conventional spellings of my, his, love and is.
  • I notice the writer needs to work on blends and digraphs as the writing is missing "br" and "th" in the word brother, also "br" in Brady. "Pr" is missing from practice.  
  • The writer has learned that that the "ea" vowel combination says "e" but it is not used properly in the word he.  
  • Also, the silent "e" in the word name is not used. That is something to work on as well.
  • The writer does not hear the difference between "n" and "m": at the end of words.  
  • She is more on a Phonetic spelling level., but does understand some conventional spelling words and patterns. 


What do you notice?

So much data can be collected to discern where each child is to drive small group writing, phonics and reading instruction!



How can we encourage parents with supporting their children at home with writing?

✎  Now you have your students on board with "Kid Writing" but what about all the parents grinding their teeth with their children spelling words incorrectly at home?

1.  Talk to parents:  I always chatted at back to school night or in a special meeting, if needed, explaining what spelling expectations I have or the district has for the grade level taught.

2. Send an example of 'Kid Writing" like the one here to show them first hand why this type of spelling is desired.  

( this is a free resource in my TpT Shop)

3. At back to school night or conferences show exactly what you can learn using a sample of "Kid Writing" and show what phonemic skills and concepts that example demonstrates.




✎  Have parents consistently encourage writing at home.

To do this send home a list of ways to encourage children to integrate writing in their everyday life.

Here are some ideas to include in your list or for parents to try:

  • Write lists for gifts they might want at some future point.
  • Write thank you notes to grandparents, aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers...anyone really!
  • Keep a daily or weekly journal to write about their experiences...what they like to do or don't like, how a sports game or ballet class went.
  • Keep a feelings journal.
  • Create the grocery list for family shopping.
  • Create a "to-do" list for the week.
  • Have your child write a list of chores that need to be completed.
  • Create a writing spot in your house or classroom where kids can simply write with various media: pens, colored pencils, markers, magnetic letters or whatever. Don't forget to include different types of paper!
  • Encourage writing to friends who live far away or not far away!
  • Label things around the house or draw pictures and hav your children label the picture.
  • Praise you children for what they do know..."Wow, you knew that beginning sound or ending sound...Way to go!"
  • Write some journal entries together where you write a sentence and then your child writes a sentence.
  • If your child wants something, have them write you a note convincing you to get what they want.
  • Respond in writing to a favorite book, movie or television show...even what they like about a favorite video game!
  • Make a list of what they observe on a car, airplane or train trip...even what they see around the house, restaurant or even while at a sibling's play, dance or game.
  • Create a non talking day where everything you need or want has to be written down!
  • Give your students or children some fancy pens and props to use while writing.

There are so many more ideas that you can come up with to add.


Remember this is the first part of a series focussing on writing at home and at school.  There is so much more to come...so don't forget to check back for more. I have so many ideas tucked away to add a little pizzazz to writing at home and at school!

See you next time!










Right from the get-go as soon as you can, make sure parents understand the importance of working together to ensure their child's academic, social and emotional growth.
Try to restate this idea every time you speak with parents/guardians, write an email, send a message through a text or anyway you communicate with parents/guardians.
At the bottom of homework sheets, e-mails, or even at the end of a conversation, I always would write or say,