At a basic level children recognize that letters represent the sounds of spoken words. As children master each letter of the alphabet, they map these letters to the sounds they represent.

This stage introduces the most common letters and the sounds they make. This is different from the letter names many of us learned to read with. The other key skill is segmenting, which is the ...

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Who created the alphabet and decided its order?

My favorite English letter is ‘U’, because it means “you.” I like “you” the most. That sounds sweet and romantic, right? It’s what every girl likes. If a boy said something like this ...