Beginning Sounds with Furniture — Letter S

Listen for the first sound in shelf. On this sheet the child is handed the letter S and finds every one of the furniture whose name begins with its sound — shelf, sofa and stool all open with S. Saying each word, catching its opening sound, then tying that sound to the letter S is the Kindergarten letter-sound link this practises, set among a sofa, a table and a lamp.

Producing the match — deciding that shelf begins with S — asks a child to do real phonics: hold the sound S makes in mind and test each picture's opening against it. Because the furniture include names that begin other ways, the child cannot guess; they have to listen. That careful sound-by-sound checking against the letter S is precisely what Kindergarten reading is built on.

Once a child can pick the S sound out of a word like shelf, that same careful listening works everywhere. When this sheet feels easy, move on to the A-sound pictures in furniture, or the B-sound pictures in furniture. Every beginning-sounds worksheet and the full furniture 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. Say shelf one more time, stretch out its very first sound, and feel exactly where the letter S begins it.