[lelanthran]

> Heck you need 'flashcards' before you needs 'flashcards for words'. You need to memorize the alphabet first.

I've a toddler who can read 3 paragraphs of 3 sentences each, and then tell you the details of the story he read[1]. He is 4y6m, right now. He has never learned the alphabet or the names of the letters (A,B, C, D, etc). He has only learned the sounds a letter or sequence of letters make for certain patterns.

You most definitely do not need to memorise the alphabet in order to learn to read!

Teaching children the alphabet before teaching them reading makes it a lot harder for them to learn actual reading.

[1] I've seen kids as old as 7 get confused by a book with no pictures, and he sails right on through because I taught him to read (using the DISTAR alphabet), and made sure none of our daily lessons had even a single picture in it.