A Simple Approach to Phoneme Isolation

Check out the other articles at phonics.org to see how other literacy apps measure up. 

Continue reading this article to learn more about the Sound Beginnings app. 

What is Sound Beginnings?

Sound Beginnings is an app created by Preschool University, designed for children ages 4 and up. Its primary goal is to help young learners practice phoneme isolation—identifying and isolating individual sounds in words and matching them to their corresponding letters. This is an early literacy skill. The app offers a free trial, and users can unlock full access with a small one-time fee.

There are four practice games for children in the app. All four games help children identify individual sounds in words:

• Game 1: Images to Letters – Match images with the given letter sound
• Game 2: Letters to Images – Fill in missing letters in a given
• Game 3: Which One Doesn’t Belong – Find the image that doesn’t fit the sound pattern
• Game 4: Double Match – Match image pairs that fit the given letters 

Is the Sound Beginnings App Easy to Use?

The following factors influence how easy it is to use Sound Beginnings. 

Getting Started and Navigation

Sound Beginnings is easy to get started with—simply download and begin playing. No sign-up or account creation is required. The main landing page presents four games to choose from, along with settings and instructions. Navigation is straightforward, and it’s easy to access all sections. 

Instructions  

The instructions section of the app is lengthy and detailed, but it is written exclusively for adults, not children. There are no verbal instructions within the games themselves, which means children will need an adult to guide them through each game (at least initially). This reliance on adult assistance can be inconvenient and limits the app’s overall usability, particularly for young users who may need more in-app support and reminders. Also, even adults may have difficulty figuring out how to play the game at first. A simple, repeatable oral direction for each game would be a beneficial upgrade. 

Engagement in Sound Beginnings

The following factors influence a child’s engagement in the Sound Beginnings app. 

Positive Reinforcement

One of the standout features of Sound Beginnings is its approach to positive reinforcement. The app avoids an elaborate external reward system, which ensures that the focus remains on learning rather than on distracting rewards. This minimalist approach supports the educational goals of the game without overwhelming young users. 

The grid of 12 bears that fills in with each correct answer is a subtle yet effective motivator. Additionally, it provides children with a clear sense of progress by showing how many questions are left, helping them understand how much longer the game will last. The absence of flashy “bells and whistles” is intentional, ensuring that the learning experience stays front and center without unnecessary distractions.

Visual Appearance

The visual appearance of Sound Beginnings feels somewhat outdated, which may not appeal to all users. However, the app’s use of real images is a notable strength. These images are generally clear, and there’s the added benefit that they can be clicked on to hear their names, eliminating any ambiguity about what the pictures represent. This feature is particularly useful for vocabulary building, as it helps reinforce word-object associations in a straightforward and engaging way. Despite its dated design, the app’s image-based approach effectively supports early learning.

Literacy Learning With the Sound Beginnings App

The following factors impact the quality of literacy instruction in the Sound Beginning app. 

Direct and Sequential Instruction

Sound Beginnings focuses primarily on practicing the identification of individual sounds in words, but it doesn’t provide direct instruction on sound-letter associations. The app assumes that children already have a basic understanding of all letter sounds, as it is designed specifically for practicing this skill rather than teaching it from scratch.

While there isn’t a clearly outlined scope and sequence or phonics plan, the game follows a logical progression by starting with beginning sounds, moving to ending sounds, and then focusing on middle sounds. This sequence aligns with how children typically develop their phonemic awareness, making it a sensible approach for reinforcing sound identification.

Letter Sound Correspondences

Sound Beginnings does a decent job of reinforcing phoneme-grapheme (letter to sound) correspondences. It presents letter sounds clearly and accurately with an American English accent which is important for children who are learning to read and spell. 

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to manipulate spoken sounds in a language and is an essential skill for new readers to develop. Phoneme isolation is one key component of phonemic awareness and is the simplest and most basic skill for new readers to learn. However, it is important not to linger on this skill for too long. Moving on to blending and segmenting phonemes to read and spell is more important for developing reading and spelling proficiency. Choose a different app to move on to these other essential phonemic awareness skills. 

Is Sound Beginnings a Good Literacy App?

Sound Beginnings offers a focused approach to practicing letter-sound associations and building one specific phonemic awareness skill: phoneme identification. The Sound Beginnings is easy to get started and navigate. It offers real images and subtle positive reinforcement to engage new readers. The letter sounds in this app are accurate and it does reinforce an important phonemic awareness skill. 

However, its limitations include a lack of direct instruction and a reliance on adult guidance for young users. Each of the four games would be easier to play and understand if simple, repeatable, oral directions were an option. Additionally, the absence of additional phonemic awareness skills such as blending and segmenting means it should not be the only tool for developing a child’s literacy skills. 

Overall, Sound Beginnings is a solid choice for practicing foundational phonemic awareness, but parents and educators should consider using additional resources to support further phonics development. 

Check out Phonics.org for more phonics app reviews, instruction tips, and learning resources as you teach your child to read!

Sound Beginnings: Overall Ratings

Quality of Literacy Instruction: 3 / 5

Usability:  2.5 / 5

Engagement: 3 / 5