What is this skill?
Hearing a beginning sound means listening to a spoken word and picking out the very first sound in it: the /s/ at the start of sun or the /m/ at the start of moon. No print is needed. It is a listening skill, part of what teachers call phonological awareness, and a child can do it with their eyes closed. The slashes are how teachers write a sound as opposed to a letter, so /k/ means the sound at the start of cat, whichever letter spells it.
Most questions here show three pictures and ask which one starts with a given sound. Children also answer yes or no ("Does hat start with /m/?"), sort pictures into two groups, pick the odd one out, and find the picture that starts the same as sun. The words are read aloud in the app, so the question can be answered by a child who does not read yet. Press Hear it in the mini-quest, or say the words yourself.
Why it matters
Spoken words feel like one solid lump to young children. They hear sun as a single thing that means the sun, and it may never have occurred to them that it is made of smaller sounds. Before letters can be useful, a child has to notice those sounds exist, since a letter stands for a sound. The start of a word is the easiest place to notice one.
This is the first step in a long line. A child who hears the first sound in a word goes on to hear the last sound, then the middle sound, then all of them in order. That is the same thinking they need to sound out a printed word, and to spell one. It costs nothing to practice, and it fits into a car ride.
Common mistakes
- Answering with what the word means rather than how it sounds. Asked what starts like cat, a child may say dog, because both are animals. Say the two words slowly and ask whether their mouth starts the same way.
- Giving the letter name, not the sound, for words spelled in a surprising way. Cat starts with the /k/ sound even though its first letter is c. The question is about what you hear, so accept the sound.
- Picking the last sound, or the word that rhymes. If your child says hat starts like cat, they are hearing the end. Stretch the first sound on its own, "mmm-oon," then ask again.
How to help at home
- Play a sound game while walking or driving: "I am thinking of something that starts with /b/." Take turns, and let your child trick you.
- Collect a small basket of toys or objects from around the house, then sort them into two piles by first sound, such as things that start with /s/ and things that start with /t/.
- Say your child's name, then swap its first sound for silly versions: Sam, Mam, Tam, Bam. Children love this, and it isolates the first sound without any explanation.
- At the table, stretch a word when you say it: "Please pass the mmmilk." Pause on the first sound and let your child say the rest.
Worked examples
These are real questions from the Tutorsaurus beginning sounds practice, with the answers worked out.
Example 1
Which one starts with /d/?
Choices: 🐱 cat, 🐶 dog, 🐸 frog
Answer: dog. Dog starts with duh. D-dog.
Example 2
Sort by the first sound.
To sort: ☀️ sun, ⛺ tent, 🧦 sock, 🦷 tooth, 🦭 seal, 🌮 taco
Answer: Starts with /s/: sun, sock, seal · Starts with /t/: tent, tooth, taco. Sun, sock and seal start with sss. Tent, tooth and taco start with tuh.
Example 3
Which one does NOT start with /g/?
Choices: 🐱 cat, 🐐 goat, 🎁 gift
Answer: cat. Goat and gift start with guh. Cat starts with kuh, so cat is different.