"Mom, my teacher said there are twenty-six letters in the alphabet; what are letters and the alphabet?"

"Son, letters are graphic symbols representing one or more of the sounds used in speech.

"What about the alphabet, Mom?"

" The alphabet is a set of letters or symbols in a fixed order like A-Z used to represent the basic set of speech sounds."

"Mom, my teacher also said that some letters are consonants, and some are vowels. So what is the difference?"

"Honey, vowel letters  <a,e, i,o,u> and sometimes <y>. Vowels must also be present in every syllable. 

"Consonant letters  work together with a vowel to form a syllable and produce speech sounds.

" Mom, one last question. What is special about the letter <y>?"

"Honey,  <y> can function as a vowel as well as a consonant. In the word "my," <y>  functions as a vowel, making the <i> phoneme and in "yes," it is working as a consonant. Isn't that interesting"

" It sure is, Mom; thank you." 

Our aim at Reading Resolved is to enable our students to become word investigators, advance their understanding of language structures, and enhance their reading, spelling, and comprehension.

                                           By Sakina Khan

                                                Reading Resolved Inc.

                                            Structured Literacy Tutoring

                                                www.readingresolved.ca