Gradually, they begin to notice individual letters. Now it's time for more formal instruction. Because you have a variety of learning styles, intelligences and developmental levels in your class, you cannot teach reading the same way to all children. One approach will not work for all children. Rather, you provide children with a variety of strategies and let them choose those that work best for them.
Some teachers even provide sandpaper letters for children to feel.
Contrary to popular opinion, whole language teachers do teach phonics. But they don't march children through a particular order of sounds. Mindful of learning styles and intelligences, they use a variety of methods, too, including games, music, drawing and rhymes. Students having difficulty with particular letter sounds may receive brief lessons, either individually or in small groups. In other words, children get direct instruction.