Under an initiative called "Sounds-Write," adopted by the school district more than two years ago, words are not just letters on a board, but sounds with interconnected meaning.

And the process repeats. The activity helps link spoken sounds to written letters, but also the processes of reading and writing words, said Robertson.

I write alphabet letters on a clothespin and then hide it in an area in the yard for Ellis to find. This is boosting observation skills and early learning skills.

Ask preschooler Zane Pike to write his name or the alphabet, then watch this 4-year-old's stubborn side kick in. He spurns practice at school and tosses aside workbooks at home. But Angie Pike ...

So the International Phonetic Alphabet, the standard for representing the sounds of the world's spoken languages, has a symbol for it. This is how you write a bilabial click: ʘ ...