Jj is for Jottings 1.  Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.

I love to be told that a teacher has just read “Aa is for Alpacas” to her class. Of course I’m delighted to hear it. But my real target is parents (and grandparents etc.) – to have the book at home and read it often, so the child is painlessly absorbing the sounds made by each letter of the alphabet through repetition of the bedtime story. The fact that it’s not exactly a story is really an advantage, because once you’ve read what is on each page (that’s the repetition part), then you can also talk about different things beginning with that sound (which is the reinforcing and consolidation part). This means that you can have a different experience each time you go through the book, whilst still getting the repetition that is needed to make a strong connection between each written letter and the sound it makes.
More on repetition later.