A kindergarten student is using pictures and the beginning sounds of words to make meaning while reading. Which of the following of Ehri's phases best identifies the student's progress?

The prealphabetic phase is characterized by students relying mainly on visual cues and memorizing whole words without understanding the alphabetic principle. Students in this phase do not make connections between letters and sounds, which does not match the student's use of beginning sounds in their reading strategy.

In the full alphabetic phase, students possess a complete understanding of the alphabetic principle and can decode words by sounding them out. This student is not yet at this level, as they are still using pictures and only beginning sounds rather than decoding words fully.

The consolidated alphabetic phase represents students who can use larger units of letters or chunks to read words efficiently. Since the student is focused on using pictures and beginning sounds, they have not yet reached the level of consolidating their knowledge into larger reading units.