Begin at the beginning for emergent readers Regardless of the age for emergent readers with little or no phonemic awareness, we begin first using picture cards to teach the initial consonant sounds heard in the letters: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, and w ….(We hold the sounds heard in q, and z till later because we notice these sounds are often difficult for the emergent readers). It is important to note that at this stage we are ONLY teaching the initial c