Which developmental stage focuses on understanding the relationship between letters and sounds?

The Novice/Early Reader Stage is crucial in early childhood literacy development as it is the phase where children begin to grasp the fundamental relationship between letters and sounds, also known as phonemic awareness. During this stage, children start to recognize that letters represent specific sounds and that these sounds can be blended together to form words. This understanding is foundational for reading development, as it enables children to decode words, which is a primary skill they will use throughout their reading journey.

In this stage, educators typically engage children with activities that help them sound out letters, recognize patterns in written language, and develop a sense of how sounds correlate with the letters they represent. Mastering this skill is essential for progressing to more advanced stages of reading, as it lays the groundwork for fluent reading and comprehension skills that will develop later.