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[yaichenbaum]

I am looking for sources about our mesora(s) in teaching alef-bais.  Does anyone have any information about "kametz alef aw" or any other mesoras in kriya instruction?

[dascenter]

You need to be in touch with your local Daas Torah who will either know or know whom to ask.
I do know that I once had occaision to talk to a few girls principals and asked them why they didn't have a speech therapist consult on the kriya program so that it would make more sense cognitively and they answered that Daas Torah has told them they had to stick with Mesora (maybe you can speak with these principals)
Hatzlacha,
Chanie Monoker

[S. R. Daina]

Children who learn according to the Mesora learn just the names of the letters (not their sounds) at age 3-4. They go through it fairly quickly, ranging from two to five letters a week, depending on the school. (The schools which go faster usually do spend a week of review each time they have completed  a certain number of letters.) After this they move on to nekudos, chanting "kamatz aleph ah" etc. They begin with the letters in aleph-bais order (including the osiyos sofios which do not have a nekuda if they never appear as such - when they get to these letters they will say the letter and its sound "endeh mem - mmm..."). Each nekudah gets two weeks of practice, with the students learning aleph through mem with the new nekudah the first week and then nun until the end the next. At some point they work with the letters mixed up, but I do not remember exactly when. After learning all of the nekudos (excluding sh'va) by chanting them they go back to the kamatz and practice reading the letters without saying "kamatz alef'... Refer to the  sefer the Mesores to see the order of the rest of the klalim that they learn. If you would like more information and are comfortable speaking Hebrew or Yiddish I can see if I can get you a contact number for a principal of an Eitz Chaim or similar type school which has been teaching this way for generations.