What type of letters do preschoolers select to represent sounds in their stories?

Preschoolers often select a small number of letters that are usually the first letters of the words they want to represent in their stories. This behavior reflects their developing understanding of phonemic awareness—the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken words. At this stage, children are not yet fully proficient in writing and spelling, so they tend to use familiar letters that they can confidently associate with the sounds they hear at the beginning of words.

For instance, if a child is trying to write about a "cat," they might choose the "c" to represent the initial sound. This approach helps them make a connection between letters and sounds, aiding their literacy development. As they advance in their writing skills, they will begin to include more letters and represent additional sounds, but at the preschool level, this principle of using prominent initial sounds is crucial for their understanding of written language.

The other options do not accurately represent the typical behaviors of preschoolers in this context. For example, selecting a wide range of letters or only vowels would not align with how children are learning to connect letters to sounds at this developmental stage.