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With 52 letters (upper and lowercase), 44 phonemes (distinct sounds), 21 consonants, and just 5 vowels, it’s no wonder that learning to read is a process that unfolds over several years. But how does it begin for our youngest learners here at Indy?

In our Early Childhood classrooms, students engage in play-based activities throughout the day that introduce the foundational building blocks of literacy, beginning with letter recognition. Through hands-on, multisensory experiences, children build strong brain connections that support memory, focus, and understanding, helping learning truly “stick.”

These experiences may include drawing letters in sand or shaving cream, forming letters with playdough, or painting large-scale letters, like those pictured here. Students begin with capital letters, as they are visually easier to distinguish and write. We follow the Handwriting Without Tears program, which introduces letters in a developmentally supportive sequence by grouping similar strokes (such as E, F, and H). Each concept is revisited multiple times and presented in a variety of ways to ensure learning is accessible, engaging, and responsive to where each child is in their individual learning journey.

Above all, these experiences are designed to be joyful. In Early Childhood, learning happens best through play—when children are curious, engaged, and having fun. By embedding literacy learning into playful, hands-on experiences, we foster a love of learning while building the strong foundations students need for future reading and writing success.