WE DON'T PERFORM MIRACLES...
WE TEACH THE CHILDREN TO PERFORM THEIR OWN!
Don't Forget to Bookmark This Site!
READING WITH PHONICS
The program that teaches YOU how to teach your children to read.
PARENT TO PARENT
Home
Things to think about
Phonics
Resources
By K. Michele Smith
September 20, 2000
A: I can certainly understand your daughter's frustration. Phonics has many levels which should be taught in order. When the order gets mixed up, things can get confusing very quickly.
First, make sure she knows the short vowel sounds, as in cat, bed, dig, top and cup. These are the basic vowel sounds, and need to be mastered before introducing vowel changes. Also, be sure she understands that the c makes the hard sound as in "cat", and the g makes the hard sound as in "good". The other letters are pretty simple. After this, she should know the 'ch', 'sh', 'th' and 'ph' blends. Additionally, teach her the vowel blends: ou and ow, au and aw, oi and oy, oo, and ee. These are special blends, and should be taught before any long vowel rules.
Once your child is comfortable sounding through words with the basic sounds and the blends above, you can introduce the long vowel rules; these are secondary rules that change the sounds of letters. When e is the only vowel in a word, and it is at the end, it has the long vowel sound, as in the word 'me'. When e is at the end of the word, and there are other vowels in the word, then e is silent and the first vowel is long, as in gate. Of course, there are many exceptions to every rule in the English language, but exceptions don't make any sense if you don't know to which rules they are exceptions.
I often help children understand the difference between long and short vowel sounds by explaining that the short sound is the sound the letter makes; the long sound is when the vowel says its own name.
There are many more rules, layered upon each other, but this is quite a bit and often helps students who get confused over which sound a letter makes, and when. For a more complete set of instructions, click on our Phonics link at the top of this page. There are several pages of free instructions for parents, and you can simply print them and begin helping your child learn to read (or improve their reading) right away.
I hope this helps,
Michele
All Contents Copyright 2000 by Valder Learning Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden.
