Beginning Sounds with Household Things — Letter N

Listen for the first sound in nightstand. On this sheet the child is handed the letter N and finds every one of the household things whose name begins with its sound — nightstand all open with N. Saying each word, catching its opening sound, then tying that sound to the letter N is the Kindergarten letter-sound link this practises, set among a lamp, a chair and a clock.

Beginning-sound matching is phonics, not visual searching: the child is not looking for the shape of N on the page, they are listening for which household things START with its sound and connecting that sound to the letter. With nightstand to find, the practice stays concrete, and every picture named strengthens the link between the sound the child hears and the letter N it goes with.

Once a child can pick the N sound out of a word like nightstand, that same careful listening works everywhere. When this sheet feels easy, move on to the A-sound pictures in household things, or the B-sound pictures in household things. Every beginning-sounds worksheet and the full household things set are free to print or play online for kindergarten, and each first sound a child names makes the next letter that little bit quicker to catch.