Phonics

N has learnt all the phonics sounds just by watching the leapfrog DVD. I didn't intend for him to learn from the tv and was quite shocked that he could picked it up from there. Shocked, because i felt that the show was rather'noisy' with all the sub plots and thought a young kid like him (he was barely 2 then) could pick up the main subject. Anyway, I also have the leapfrog fridge magnet toy, which helped him to reinforce what he learnt.

Now im stuck. I told N's montessori playgroup teacher that he already knows his phonics so she went through with him. But she reported that she wasn't sure if he really knows because there were some letters he didn't pronounce accurately. I had to explain that while he could sound out some letters accurately but he cant articulate a couple of sounds. For instance, he cant make the sound 'ssss', 'ffff', 'vvvvvv' or even 'dddd'. He would try to sound them out by blowing through his nose! Not just phonics, it also the same with other words. For instance, he can count from 1 to 20 but a stranger won't be able to pick out what he is saying. He would say 1 as 'ah' and 2 as 'kgnu' (i dont even know how to spell out the weird sound he makes!), 3 is quite similar to 2, although his 4,5,7 are quite clear. But im very sure he knows all the sounds in his head. How do i know? He could independently picked out the correct alphabet when i ask him which one makes a particular sound. The teacher seems to think we have to put this on hold until he speaks more clearly. :(

But, i feel that N is ready to move on. I can't quite keep sticking to phonics forever. He'd be bored stiff! However, i do see good reasons why i should shelve it. Perhaps i should focus on his pronounciation? Yet, i think this can be only acheived when he is developmentally ready. So what do i do? Im stuck!