Starts With asks a child to hear the first sound in a word and match it to a letter. A picture of a fish appears beside "_ish". What is missing?
What your child is learning
Hearing the separate sounds inside words is one of the strongest foundations for reading. Before children can sound out a word on the page, they need to notice that "fish" begins with "fff" and "moon" begins with "mmm".
This game joins that listening skill to the alphabet. The picture gives the word, your child supplies the sound, and the choice of letters turns the sound into a symbol.
How to help
Say the word slowly and stretch the beginning: "ffffish". Ask, "What sound can you hear at the start?"
Use letter sounds more than letter names for this game. The name of the letter F is "eff", which does not sound like the start of "fish". The sound "fff" does.
If your child is unsure what the picture is, tell them. The game is about sounds, not about guessing drawings. The rest of the word is written out to help.
Some sounds are easier to hear than others. Long sounds you can hold, such as s, m and f, are simplest. Short ones such as b, d and t are harder to catch.
A few words begin with a sound that does not match the usual sound of the letter. "Giraffe" would be an example, though you will not meet it here. The words have been kept regular. The game also avoids offering both C and K as choices for the same picture.
Taking it further
Play "I spy" with sounds: "I spy something beginning with mmm."
There are forty-eight pictures, so rounds stay fresh. For first-sound practice, HTML5 games like this can stand in for a whole box of flashcards.