The problem with names
The letter b is called 'bee' but says /b/. A child who knows only names will look at bat and produce 'bee-ay-tee', which is not a word and never becomes one. Names are useful for spelling out loud and for talking about letters. They are not what reading runs on.
Sounds first, names alongside
Teach the sound as the primary fact and let names arrive naturally from the alphabet song and from talking about letters. Most schemes introduce a handful of high-utility letters first — s, a, t, p, i, n — because those six alone make more real words than any other six.
Say the sound cleanly
The most common teaching error is adding a vowel: saying 'buh' instead of /b/. It seems harmless and it wrecks blending, because 'buh-a-tuh' cannot be merged into bat. Clip the stop sounds — b, d, g, k, p, t — as short as you can.
Continuous sounds — m, s, f, l, n, r, v, z — can be held: mmmm, ssss. Those are the easiest to blend with, which is why they are worth teaching early.
