Phonics Rules
Phonics rules teaches kids to break down words into smaller “chunks” so that even the most difficult words can be easy to read. I’m going to explain some of the more common and basic phonics rules for early learners. I posted in my Early Literacy blog the Fry Word List. The Fry Sight Word List is 1000 of the most common words to appear in reading materials. By the end of kindergarten, your child is required to know the first 100 words. I did not blindly have my child memorize each sight word. When my child was old enough to understand, I went over the phonics rules with my child as I introduced each sight word. We all know there are exceptions to every rule. So, some of the “sight words” they will just have to learn. I taught them the rules very slowly and made sure they understood the rule before moving on to another rule. I also explained that some words may not follow the same pattern, they are the exception.
You can read my blog on Early Literacy for a more detailed explanation on how I incorporated literacy into my children’s daily routine from birth. When they were around two years of age, I started introducing them to some basic sight words – “I,” “a,” “the,” “see,” “like,” & “and.” I pointed to each word as I read them books so they would be able to understand what a “word” is. When they were around four years of age, I introduced the ABC Book to them and tried to incorporate that into their routine on a weekly basis. The ABC Book will help them learn their sounds. All of this is explained, in detail, in the Early Literacy blog. You can also purchase the printable ABC Book in my shop.
When my kids were around four to five years of age, I started introducing the phonics rules to them. Before I started introducing the phonics rules, I made sure they understood what a “word” is and knew most of their sounds. I began by teaching them simple three letter words and introduced them to word families. Word families are a group of words that share a common pattern, in turn, they rhyme. Below I listed examples of word families.
Rule: Single vowels in the middle of a word has the short vowel sound. I always like starting with the -at word family. If you have letter cards or magnetic letters, this is a great time to pull them out. If you don’t have either, you can always use a dry erase board or paper if you have nothing else. Show them the letters “a” and “t.” See if they can blend the letters together and say the word. If they are having difficulties, say the sound for them individually and then blend it together slowly to see if your child can figure out the word. Once they have that word, add a letter to the front and see if they can figure out the new word. Remind them that the “a” and “t” put together says “at.” Keep changing out the front letter and see if they can figure out the new word. If they are having difficulties, you can help them with the sounds and show them how to blend them together. Then you can move on to the next word family. When you change word families, always begin by showing them the base word first before adding letters to the front.
Rule: When a word ends with a silent “e,” the vowel makes a long sound. After they get very comfortable blending three letter words, the next rule I introduced was the magic “e.” I explain that all vowels make two sounds – a short vowel sound and a long vowel sound. Examples of short vowel sounds are A for apple, E for elephant, I for igloo, O for octopus and U for umbrella. The long vowel sound sounds like itself. Examples of long vowel sounds are A for acorn, E for eagle, I for ice cream, O for ocean and U for unicorn. The “e” at the end of the word controls what sound the vowel will make. M-a-t spells “mat,” where as m-a-t-e spells “mate.” After they get comfortable with the magic “e,” you can show them the exceptions. “Have” is one of their sight words. It does not follow the rule. The “a” in “have” makes a short “a” sound, not a long “a” sound like the rule says.
While working on the basic sounds with the children, I also introduced digraphs. Digraphs is when two letters work together to represent one sound. The digraphs we focus on in kindergarten are th, ch, and sh. You can introduce digraphs when working on word families. Chin, chip, chop, them, this, that, ship, shot, shut, etc. Digraphs can also be at the end of a word. Such, much rich, bath, math, with, cash, fish, wish, etc. I believe in first grade they will introduce wh and ph.
After teaching them some basic rules, we worked on understanding syllables. For the children to understand longer words, they need to understand syllables. Have them listen and clap for each syllable. Begin with one to three syllable words, then move on to longer words. For example, but/ter/fly. The child should clap three times. Below I listed examples of words with multiple syllables.
Rule: When a word has two vowels in the middle, the first vowel is usually long, and the second vowel is silent. Next, I showed the children words with two vowels in the middle – bait, rain, teen, boat, pain, etc. I taught my kids the rhyme, “the first vowel does the talking, the second one does the walking.” My kids seem to really like this rhyme and they said it every time they saw a word with two vowels in the middle.
Rule: “Y” can sometimes act as a vowel. When “y” is at the beginning of a word, it will act as a consonant – you, young, yarn, yellow. When a word ends with “y,” it will act as a vowel. When a word with one syllable ends with a “y,” it makes the long “i” sound – by, my, why, shy, cry. When a word with two syllable ends with “y,” it makes the long “e” sound – baby, mommy, happy, carry, sorry.
The English language has so many rules. Below are a few additional rules to help your child once they are comfortable with the fundamentals listed above.
- Every syllable must have a vowel.
- When a syllable ends with a vowel and is the only vowel in that syllable, that vowel is usually long. Examples: ba/ker, be/come, fu/ture, pa/per, be/gin.
- When a “c” is followed by “e, i or y,” it usually has a soft sound of “s.” Examples: city, cent, cyclone.
- When a “g” is followed by “e, i or y,” it usually has the soft sound of “j.” Examples: gem, giant, gym.
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