There was a program called 'Your Baby Can Read' that was shut down because babies (birth to 12 months) can't read! What was overlooked by the developers was that the brains of babies are most attuned to the sound of language, enabling them to do much more than most realise, potentially reading earlier. And toddlers can read for meaning!

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A schema-driven exploration of the connection between spoken and written English is especially important if we are to prevent dyslexia, as we are also overcoming phonological deficits. At all stages, we are checking the reading circuit, but a deficit in distinguishing the phonemes of spoken language can be found as early as six months.

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So, the memorisation of whole word flashcards is not useful as a foundation for learning to read and spell, even though this might be a lovely party trick (and why so many parents bought the program).

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In the new book, I go over what parents (and EY teachers) can do to better support babies and toddlers as scientists. One of the most important skills is phonemic awareness—the ability to isolate, segment, and blend phonemes—and when we make those sounds visible, it is easier to understand the complex concept of 'speech sounds' and how they relate to written words.

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By associating the speech sound each 'Phonemie' says (just as a dog says woof, and a cow says moo!), children will be able to understand concepts that most toddlers cannot grasp when looking at words on paper. They offer a 'visual' connection to the reading and spelling 'code'.

Although being non-speaking—for example, at age 4—or pre-verbal does not mean children cannot read and spell (as long as we help them early), this focus also accelerates phoneme articulation. Amari can already produce sounds most 15-month-olds won't for some time.

He is really interested in the Speech Sound Monsters—the Phonemies!