Mumble the Mole

Mumble is a soft grey mole-kid with a little pink nose and warm digging paws. He lives just under the meadow, where it is cozy and quiet and good for listening. Mumble loves sounds most of all.

Here is Mumble’s favorite thing to do: he takes any word, says it out loud, and then he catches the very first sound. Just the first one. The little sound right at the start.

“Milk,” says Mumble. Then, slowly: “mmm… milk. Mmm!” He caught it — the first sound of milk is mmm.

“Sun,” says Mumble. “Sss… sun. Sss!” The first sound of sun is sss.

That is Mumble’s whole gentle teaching.

Say the word. Catch the first sound.

Mumble listens with his ears, not just his eyes. That’s the important part. He doesn’t worry about how a word is spelled yet. He says it, and he hears the sound that comes out first. “Bee — bbb! Dog — ddd! Apple — aaa!” Each word begins with its own little sound, and Mumble catches it, one at a time.

Sometimes a word is tricky and Mumble says it very slowly, stretching the front of it out like warm honey: “fffffish… fff! The first sound is fff!” Stretching helps you hear it.

Mumble is never fussed if you catch the wrong sound. He just smiles and says, “Let’s say it again, nice and slow. Listen for the front.” There is no rushing under the meadow. Only calm, happy listening.

A grown-up can play the first-sound game with you! Pick anything you can see — a ball, a cup, a toy. Say it together, slooowly, and catch the very first sound. “Ball — bbb! Cup — kkk! Toy — tuh!” Then try the best word of all: your own name. Say it slow. What sound does it start with? That’s your first sound!

That is first-sound listening. You say a word, and you catch the little sound it makes at the very start. With your ears.

When Mumble catches the first sound just right, he feels a warm, tickly gladness in his whiskers — the happy feeling of hearing something clearly. He wiggles his pink nose and says, “Caught it! The first sound. Mmm, that felt good.”

Then he pops up out of his cozy tunnel to catch the next one. “Say the word… now, what’s the first sound?”

Say the word. Catch the first sound. That’s Mumble.