Phonics:
Phonics is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between the sounds of spoken language, and the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language.
Why is Phonics skills sequence important?
There are many different phonics skills sequences, but the most effective ones share a common characteristic: the order in which sound spellings are introduced. consonants are introduced first because they are easier than vowels. Consonants with high utility, that are easy to discriminate (both auditorially and visually), and that have the highest frequency of use are typically presented first, (e.g., s, m, t, f, b, r). These consonants are called continuant sounds, they have a prolonged sound. It is easier for beginning readers to hear their sounds and separate them.
Letter recognition:
Is a critical building block in the basic foundation of reading. It prepares the student for learning the alphabetic principle (i.e., letter-sound correspondences and blending; phonics).
Alphabetic Principle:
According to the alphabetic principle, letters and combinations of letters are the symbols used to represent speech sounds of a language based on systematic and predictable relationships between written letters, symbols, and spoken words.