The written word connects multiple representations of the same content

Connected to the main concept “uchitsya-legko.rf — learning to read as decoding the written code”.

The same meaning can exist for a child in several forms:

• a real object or situation;
• an internal concept;
• an image;
• a familiar spoken word;
• the sound of that word;
• a word spoken by the child themselves;
• a written word;
• letters and larger structural parts.

For an adult, these representations are closely linked and perceived almost as a single whole. For a child, they may be independent. They may know the object and its name very well, but not realize they are speaking a separate word; know a word by ear, but not recognize its spelling; know the name of a letter, but not use it as a decoding element.

Therefore, the system should store not a binary state of "can read / cannot read," but a map of connections between representations.

This model leads to the principle “Learning to read should go from known supports to the unknown code”: the next unknown element is introduced through representations that have already been confirmed.

The spoken vocabulary holds a special place: “Spoken vocabulary is the recognition base in learning to read”. If a word is already known in meaning and sound, the written form has something to connect with.

The ultimate goal of the "spelling → word → meaning" connection is described in “Reading is word recognition and meaning recovery, not sequential letter sounding”.