Teach children vowel blends before teaching long vowel rules. Certain letters, such as "c," produce different sounds based on what vowels come after them. When introducing children to letter sounds, pair certain letters up with vowels and have them memorize these combinations. Students should ideally learn to associate the sounds with the consonant-vowel combination, rather than the individual letters. Put “cu” and “ci” next to each other on the chalkboard and have children sound out the proper sounds of these combinations so that they can learn to recognize them. Place these letter combinations on flashcards and have the children say the sounds aloud, correcting them after each incorrect pronunciation.
Have children sing songs that encourage sound isolation, forcing children to focus on the individual sounds. One song that does this is "Old MacDonald." Write the spellings of the individual sounds on the blackboard and point to the individual sounds each time they're read. Say words to children and have them tell you the individual sounds they hear. Say "chicken" and have them separate the "chi-" and "-cken."
Giving children pictures that contain letters can help children associate sounds, letters and concepts. For example, the letter “c” could be placed next to a picture of a cat. However, because this can prevent children from learning to identify letters by themselves and instead rely on the pictures to identify the letters, have children look at the individual letters without accompanying pictures and have them sound out the letters.
Incorporate reading with art class. Give children pieces of paper. Make a sound and have the children draw a picture that corresponds with the sound, then have the kids write the letter that corresponds with the sound next to the picture. For example, the teacher could make the sound “da.” One kid may draw his dad and write the letter “d” next to it.
Read plenty of stories to children to get them interested in narratives. Read from a book and the children in preschool will eventually become interested in where the story comes from and how the letters work. Older children begin to read on their own, which will force them to connect letters with their appropriate sounds.