If the child is bringing you the flashcards it's much worse not to provide her with the "instruction". At such a young age it's all about them leading. If you're sitting them down and pushing it on them it's not appropriate...at that age.
I'm no expert but my DD's schools have not emphasized phonics and I think that's really bad. Even the smartest kid/person needs this skill at some point because the words get harder and harder!!!
Her singing is also advancing a bit more lately and she's experiencing singing in other languages. The instructors teach the kids by sound (they also see the word in the foreign language, and either the meaning is explained to them verbally (one group) or the English translation is there beneath the foreign language (another group) and it is explained to them the letters or blends that sound different in x language than English. Then they practice one little tidbit of a sound at a time, put the flow of the word together, then add rhythm and then the music.
This probably sounds like "no, duh, how else would a person learn this?" but DD's never, ever had anything so rich at school in English. Phonics has never been a focus at the two schools she's attended. It makes me very supportive of phonics!
