Teach Your Child the Other Consonant Sounds with These Free Resources

Free Reading Resources, General, Teaching

November 17, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

#4-Memorizing Words (Before Sounding Them Out) Leads to Reading

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

memorizing words is what good readers do

While teaching my own five children how to read, I have discovered that memorizing words before learning how to sound them out is a HUGE (and often overlooked) part of learning how to read.

When children memorize words, they learn that letters come together to form words and that these words have meaning.

Elliot and Ophelia Exploring My Homemade Flashcards

How I Discovered the Importance of Memorizing Words

When my daughter Ruby (my first of five) was 6 months old, I started showing her the Your Baby Can Read videos (They are now called Your Baby Can Learn because people got mad about the claims that babies could read and so they had to rebrand themselves). They were simple, engaging, and effective. While watching the videos together, she was always engaged, but she never vocalized anything until after about 10 months. (This is the silent period of language acquisition where children are little sponges taking everything in, but not yet speaking.)

Then at about 12-14 months old, she expressed an explosion of language! She started out by saying the beginning sounds of the words and eventually words by the dozen. By the time she was 15 months old, I would write down words from the video and she would read them! Then I started adding more words pertaining to things she liked: cat, walk, moon, mom, dad, Ruby, etc. and after repeated exposure, she would read those too.

People who saw her do this would be blown away, but they would say, “She’s not reading those words, she just memorized them.” And I would say,

“YES, MEMORIZING WORDS IS A PART OF READING!!!”

We are so trained to think that words need to be sounded out, and yes, that is a part of reading too, but once a word has been sounded out over and over again, it becomes MEMORIZED.

Ruby Loves Reading

Age to Start

The ideal time to start teaching children to memorize words is between 6-10 months of age and ideally before a child is 3. (If your child is older than 3, don’t worry! He or she will follow the same progression just with certain modifications.) At 6-10 months of age, neurons in the brain start to form connections that will lay the foundation for how the brain is organized. By the time children are 2-3 years old, they have more neurons than they will ever have in their entire lives. After this, synaptic pruning occurs as the brain becomes more specialized based on the child’s environment.

Reading with Julian

First Words Flashcards

I selected words for my flashcards that would be useful for a baby or young child to know. Words like clap, wave, hug, and kiss are actions that little ones like to perform. Simple nouns like ball, cup, cat, and dog are things that young children are likely to be familiar with and see in their every day environments. I also included these same words with suffixes so that children can build an understanding from a young age that words with suffixes may look different but still carry the same core meaning.

The words for the flashcards are written in a font that I personally created. First of all, I wanted to create a font that is representative of how we teach children to write. I also wanted to be able to fill in my letters with simple bold colors that would create a pleasing image.

I purposefully do not include images with these words because I want children to memorize the shape of the word as if it were an image itself. By showing children the video along with the flashcards, they will learn what the words mean while still keeping the focus on the shape of the word.

First Words Resources

I chose simple words that use some sort of action and purposefully didn’t include a picture so that children will learn to memorize just the word. When children are learning about letter names and sounds, it’s important for them to see that these letters and sounds come together to form words and that these words have meaning. Yes, they are getting that concept with the word from the flashcard, but using these first words resources really reinforces that concept.

Materials to Make My Flashcards

You can certainly just print these flashcards out on card stock and use them as is, but babies love to chew on things, and laminating them and putting them together with some rings will ensure their durability. *Before and after laminating, I cut the corners so they are rounded.

Printer – A good basic printer like this will do the job, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of printing, I would recommend something like this.
Card Stock – I like to make sure I always have plenty of this around for all of my flashcards, posters, and other needs.
Laminating Sheets – I like having this in stock at all times because not only is it great for laminating flashcards, but for making favorite things books and saving favorite pieces of art work.
Laminator – I have a basic laminator like this, and it works great for all types of paper and projects. When laminating, you want to leave at least an eighth of an inch of laminate around the edges so it won’t peel.
Paper Cutter – You will LOVE having this around for cutting school pictures and so much more, but it’s great at cutting 4-5 pieces of card stock and 3-4 stacks of laminated card stock.
Three Hole Punch – This hole punch is really sturdy and can handle a whole stack of paper. I like angling my flashcards so I get right in the center of each of the top corners.
1/2 Inch Loose Leaf Rings – When making flashcards, I have found it’s best to use two rings on top to keep everything organized and easy to flip through, and this size is best.

First Words Video

I highly recommend printing out my flashcards to use while watching my First Words Video. In the video, I repeat each word three times and allow pauses so that children can have a chance to say each word the second and third time. After each word, I have video clips showing my children acting out the meaning of each of the words. The video is 30 minutes long and and loops through all of the words three times with videos of my children singing a song inbetween sets.

First Words Video

How to Teach Your Baby or Toddler

I recommend starting to use these resources when your child is between 6-10 months of age and to do so while they are learning their ABCs. You will see the most dramatic amount of growth if you can start before the age of 1, and by the age of 3 at the very latest.

Start with the video first. I have found that the best time to show the Words Video is while my children are eating. As you show your child the video initially, he or she might not show a tremendous amount of focus and attention, but as the video becomes familiar, you will notice it holding your child’s attention for longer periods of time.
Add the flashcards. After your child is familiar with the video, start introducing the flashcards. Try to get through as many as you can but don’t force it. You may find that your child has favorite words and it’s okay to only include those favorite flashcards in the pack.
A little bit over a long period of time is best. Don’t try to cram everything into one day creating the “perfect lesson”. Doing a little bit over a long period of time is the best way to get something committed to long term memory. Keep little baskets around your house with flashcards so that when the moment is just right, they’re easy to grab.
Show the flashcards while watching the video. Once your child is familiar with the words and video, use them together!
Use wait time. In my video I ask, “Can you say____?” and “What does this say?” After each question, I pause to give children a chance to say the word. When you do this with your child using the flashcards, make sure you allow just the right amount of wait time. If the pause becomes really long, just say the word and move on.
Point out these words in daily life. Remember some of your child’s favorite words and use them often during the day. Words like kiss, clap, wave, and ball should be easy to incorporate throughout the day.

How to Teach Preschoolers and Older Children

If you have children are 4+, and you haven’t started to teach them how to read yet, don’t fret! It is still possible to use these resources to teach children them how to read. The approach will just need to be a bit different and focus on more engaging and hands on activities in order to make it interesting and appealing.

Have the video on in the background. An older child may not be as motivated to sit down and watch this entire video, but you can play it in the background while they are playing. Wait until your children are building with legos, doing puzzles, or drawing, and then have this video on in the background so they can at least hear it. You may find them pausing their play to watch the video here and there and that’s perfectly fine. You could also have it on during meal time.
Teach a younger sibling, friend, or even stuffed animal. If you’re teaching your one year old and your four year old at the same time, you can pretend like both you and the four year old are really just teaching the one year old. You could also pretend that you’re teaching a stuffed animal who doesn’t know how to read words.
Write and wipe. Kids LOVE using dry erase boards and markers. You can write the word and have them erase it, of have them copy the word from the flashcards and write it down.
Flashcards timed. Show your child the flashcards repeatedly until he or she can say most words correctly. Then time a first read through, making sure it’s nice and slow. This will motivate the child to beat his or her original time.
Loose cards and pocket chart. Take the flashcards off from the rings and hand one card at a time to your child. Have them place the cards into the pocket chart while trying to sort them in some way (by color, by type of word…is it an action? verb or is it a thing? noun)
I spy. Spread all of the cards out on the floor and say, “I spy with my little eye a yellow word that starts with the letter c.” If they don’t get it, give another clue by acting out the word (like clapping your hands for clap) or giving another clue (like meowing for cat). They can either gather the words they find in a pile or put them in the pocket chart.
Make a Path. You can spread out the words in a long line in any order. Then pretend that the floor is lava and tell your child that the words are stones that will save him or her from the lava. As he or she hops from word to word ask him or her, “What word are you on now?” or “What word will you be stepping on next.”
Charades. Hold the flashcards away from you so you can’t see the word but your child can. Then tell your child that he or she must act out the word and you will have to guess it. You can make a rule that words can’t be used but sounds can. And of course they can use props from around the house or even draw a picture!
Point out words while reading. The best way to teach children how to memorize words is by reading quality literature. You’ll notice that your child may have favorite words that you can point out while reading. Feel free to make your own set up flashcards based on your child’s individual favorite words.

Additional Resources

Children will memorize words that they see over and over and over again. This is best done through repeated reading. Here are some of the books I have enjoyed reading repeatedly with my little ones. I like making reading part of my routines like going to bed, morning reading, and reading before rest time.

Ophelia LOVES Reading!

Words Books

Baby’s First Words – I LOVE how this book is thick, has a sturdy puffy cover, and has simple images surrounded by white with one word below to describe it. This is great for building vocabulary and teaching children new words. The Hinkler company is amazing and everything they make is great.
First 100 Words – This book has an array of boxes on a page with many pictures with a word underneath falling into a variety of different categories. It’s a great tool for teaching the names of things.
Let’s Talk – Children will love pressing the buttons that make sounds for the corresponding pictures. It’s a great way to bring these basic words to life.
Tails – This is one of my favorite books of all time. It is SUPER sturdy and every page is brightly colored, flashy, and has some sort of movement you can facilitate. What a great way to teach words! There’s also a similar book called Heads that is equally amazing.
Bard’s Rhyme Time – Finding books with a rhyming pattern makes figuring out the last word super easy. I love the flaps in this book and pausing before the last word to give my little one a chance to say it.

Bedtime/Morning Time Books

Pajama Time – Anything by Sandra Boynton is great for babies. I love turning this book into a little song. All of our kids have LOVED this as part of their bedtime routine.
The Going to Bed Book – This is another Boynton book and another family favorite.
Maisy Goes to Bed – This book is interactive and very cute. There is also a Maisy cartoon show which helps little ones to become even more familiar with the books.
Bedtime Peekaboo! – This board book is very short and simple with pages that fold out. I love reading it at night with my little ones.
10 Minutes till Bedtime – This is another all time favorite book. There is minimal text, but so many details to point out in the pictures that make it a different experience every time we read it.
Hey! Wake Up! – This Sandra Boynton book makes a great morning routine with it’s cute characters and rhyming text.

Sight Word Videos

I love how these videos personify each word by making it come to life and act out the meaning of the word, which is the most important part. Get the entire collection of Preschool Prep videos here (I can’t recommend these enough!).

In Conclusion

Memorizing words is a very important part in the first stages of reading because children need to see that letters are used to make words and that words convey meaning. In addition, memorizing words is a much bigger part of reading than people think. Once children memorize the first set of words from my flashcards and video, they will be ready to memorize additional words and “read them” in the context of quality literature.

If you read rhyming text, do repeated reading with the same books over and over, point to words occasionally as you’re reading with your child, pause to let them fill in the words they know while pointing to them, and make reading fun and part of your daily routines – your child will memorize words and be on their way to independent reading!

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read at my teachers pay teachers store which includes flashcards, videos, posters, and more.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and complex consonant sounds.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.

Teach Your Child to Read Blog Series (Digging Deeper)

February 17, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

#6-Teaching Phonics with Three Letter Word Families

General, Teach Your Child to Read, Teaching

Teaching Phonics with Three Letter Words (Part 6 in a Teach Your Child to Read Series)

Phonics is a crucial part of learning how to read and involves using letter sounds to form words. I have found that using rhyming word families (words that have the same ending and ending sound) is a great way to do this because it’s pattern driven and predictable. Before children start sounding out words, it’s best that they be really really familiar with letter names and sounds (short vowels and one sound for each letter to begin with).

Age to Start

After children have a solid understanding of letter names and letter sounds, know that words are made up of letters that carry meaning, and have a good vocabulary, it’s a good time to start teaching them how to sound out three letter words using word families. Some children are ready to start this as young as 2-2.5, and others won’t be ready until they are 3-4. The important thing is to make sure they have a solid understanding of the previous skills and show an interest.

How to Teach

To teach three letter words, it’s very important for children to see the difference between the NAMES of the letters and the SOUNDS of the letters. (*Please review my ABC video and ABC flashcards often to make sure this is really understood.)

As children start to sound out words, it’s important to have the focus be on the SOUNDS that the letters are making.

When I was a teacher, there was an amazing reading program called Fundations that would have children tap out each sound using their fingers. So, for example with the word cat, you would tap your thumb to your index finger saying the c sound, then tap your thumb to your middle finger saying the a sound, and finally your thumb to your ring finger saying the t sound. Then you slide your thumb across your three fingers and say the whole word. (See a video demonstration of tapping out sounds here.)

When my daughter Ophelia was 2, I had a little magnet letter station set up and together we discovered that if you flip a 6 cup muffin tin over, it makes a great platform for teaching three letter words. (You could also flip over a regular baking sheet.) I would set some letters aside, and we would build words together. At first, I built the words ahead of time and then tapped out each sound as I read the word to her. Once she had seen me do it over and over again, she started to say the letter sounds with me, and eventually she said them on her own. After that, we would build words together.

Building Words with Muffin Tins and Magnet Letters

If we were going to build the word dog, I would say something like this, “Let’s spell the word dog. Do you know what letter the word dog starts with? That’s right! It starts with the letter d. Now, what vowel makes the short o sound? That’s right, o! Now, what letter makes the g sound? That’s right, g! We spelled dog!” She loved doing this magnet letter muffin tin activity, and we did it often.

Here is a video of my nephew, Tristan, learning his three letter words at age 2.5 with magnet letters and muffin tins.

After Ophelia had mastered three letter words, we found an eight cup muffin tin and spelled four letter words. This was a great time to bring up words with digraphs like shop and chip. We also started talking about long vowel words in addition to some of the trickier sounds like the long and short oo, r controlled vowels, and diphthongs from my phonemic awareness resources. We also enjoyed spelling favorite words like her full name, the names of family members, and so on.

Here is a video of my daughter, Ophelia, learning about three letter words using magnet letters.

My son Julian (2.5 at the time), on the other hand, hasn’t enjoyed the muffin tins and magnet letters as much as he has coloring over my words, or erasing my words, and this has really helped him to learn about sounding out words while he memorizes them. We also enjoy using Starfall’s word machine.

Here is a video of our oldest daughter Ruby (age 9) teaching Julian (age 3.5) three letter words using magnet letters and a muffin tin.

Word Families Flashcards Set #1

I currently have the flashcards you see below as well as a smaller version includes both set #1 and #2. Print out these flashcards and use them to help you teach your child how to sound out three letter words.

Word Families Flashcards Set #1

Word Families Letters Set #1

Print out these letters and use them to teach your child how to build three letter words. I recommend storing each word family in a small baggie and taping a label to the front of each bag for easy storage and use.

Word Families Letters Flashcards Set #1

Word Families Video Set #1

In this video, my son Julian and I use fun hands on manipulatives to put together and read the words in each word family. Find it on YouTube or as a part of my three letter words bundle.

Word Families Video Set #1

Word Families Flashcards Set #2

Print out these flashcards and use them to help you teach your child how to sound out three letter words.

Word Families Flashcards Set #2

Word Families Letters Set #2

Print out these letters and use them to teach your child how to build three letter words. I recommend storing each word family in a small baggie and taping a label to the front of each bag for easy storage and use.

Word Families Letters Flashcards Set #2

Word Families Video Set #2

In this video, my son Julian and I use fun hands on manipulatives to put together and read the words in each word family. Find it on YouTube or as a part of my three letter word families bundle.

Word Families Video Set #2

Materials to Make My Flashcards

You can certainly just print these flashcards out on card stock and use them as is, but babies love to chew on things, and laminating them and putting them together with some rings will ensure their durability. *Before and after laminating, I cut the corners so they are rounded.

Printer – A good basic printer like this will do the job, but if you’re going to be doing a lot of printing, I would recommend something like this.
Card Stock – I like to make sure I always have plenty of this around for all of my flashcards, posters, and other needs.
Laminating Sheets – I like having this in stock at all times because not only is it great for laminating flashcards, but for making favorite things books and saving favorite pieces of art work.
Laminator – I have a basic laminator like this, and it works great for all types of paper and projects. When laminating, you want to leave at least an eighth of an inch of laminate around the edges so it won’t peel.
Paper Cutter – You will LOVE having this around for cutting school pictures and so much more, but it’s great at cutting 4-5 pieces of card stock and 3-4 stacks of laminated card stock.
Three Hole Punch – This hole punch is really sturdy and can handle a whole stack of paper. I like angling my flashcards so I get right in the center of each of the top corners.
1/2 Inch Loose Leaf Rings – When making flashcards, I have found it’s best to use two rings on top to keep everything organized and easy to flip through, and this size is best.

Additional Resources

To maximize the use of my word families flashcards, I highly recommend you acquire some of the following teaching tools. Based on your child’s age and his or her interests, you will find different resources that will be appealing. Sometimes the best way to figure this out is through trial and error!

Magnet Letters and Muffin Tin – Using these two resources together will make learning three letter words fun and easy. Using my flashcards as a guide, have your child build three letter words on the bottoms of the muffin tins.
White Board and Dry Erase Markers with Built in Erasers – I recommend attaching this white board to the wall and using dry erase markers to write three letter words for your little one to erase. The board I have recommended is magnetic, so you can put the magnet letters on it too. With these resources, you can write three letter words on the white board and have your child erase them while reading them.
Sidewalk Chalk – Write three letter words on your sidewalk in a hopscotch pattern, and have your little one hop on them and read them.
Change-A-Sound Flip Books – I LOVED using these flip books to teach my children how to sound out words. I like how they have sections where the beginning, middle, and ending sound change in the word. The pictures are also great for building vocabulary.
Phonics Flip Books – These 34 flip books focus on patterns such as long and short vowels, digraphs, and blends.
Starfall Three Letter Words – Starfall is an AMAZING resource for teaching your little one the ABCs, basic math, and how to read. They have an amazing three letter word interactive game that is so fun for kids.
Montessori Crosswords – Fun Phonics Game for Kids – This app is great for teaching three letter words using pictures and boxes for the letters. I like how you can choose between upper and lowercase as well as cursive.

Usborne Books

I LOVE Usborne books! The pages are super durable, the stories are interesting, the vocabulary development is phenomenal, and the people at Usborne GET reading. They know that children should start young…I’m talking babies…and provide PLENTY of resources to get your little ones interested in reading.

Phonics Readers (20 Book Collection) – These phonics books blow anything I have ever seen out of this world! In some phonics readers, they focus so heavily on one certain sound that it overpowers the text. Not so with these! If you flip to the end of the book, there’s a section for parents that explains what the focus is and how to use the books which is great! Every book in this series is so well done. I mean, this is quality literature for sure that your little readers will learn how to decode with repeated reading. The rhyming text makes figuring out the last word very predictable. I like pausing to give my little ones a chance to say the last word as they are learning how to read.
- The series includes: Bug in a Rug, Goat in a Boat, Llamas in Pajamas, Raccoon on the Moon, Cow Takes a Bow, Snail Brings the Mail, Bee Makes Tea, Underpants for Ants, Crock Gets a Shock, Crow in the Snow, Fox on a Box, Ted in a Red Bed, Ted’s Shed, Hen’s Pens, Fat Cat on a Mat, Goose on the Loose, Frog on a Log, Toad Makes a Road, Mouse Moves House, and Big Pig on a Dig
My First Reading Library (50 Book Collection) – This is the best set of books you could ever buy! I have totally used all of these books to teach my children how to read from a young age. I love how each book has two levels of text. One page has minimal text for the child to read, often in the form of a word bubble, and the other page has more text for the parent to read. When your child is ready, he or she can read both pages!

Scott Reading Julian His Favorite Usborne Phonics Book

In Conclusion

Teaching children to sound out three letter words is the beginning of their independent reading journey. With each of my children, once they get to this part after building a strong foundation with letter names and letter sounds, understanding that words have meaning, and building vocabulary, reading seems to take off as if by MAGIC. It’s like they have broken the code and are in the same fervor as Helen Keller’s water scene where she finally understands that the letters Anne Sullivan is putting together in her hand are words that represent things in her world. Help your child break the code for learning how to read…with phonics.

For More Information

You’ll find everything you need to teach your child to read on my teachers pay teachers store which includes flashcards, videos, posters, handwriting, math resources, and more.

How to Teach Your Child to Read in 5 Simple Steps (Keeping it Simple)

Language Rich Environment: Use oral language at the child’s level (Get down on the floor and play together!) and help them memorize vocabulary words. (Tell them the names of things!)
Phonemic Awareness: Teach one sound for each letter of the alphabet. (Start with short vowels.)
Phonics: Tap out sounds in three letter words to teach how sounds come together to make words.
More Complex Phonemic Awareness: Introduce long vowels, digraphs, other vowel sounds, and complex consonants.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Use quality literature to interact with books and ask questions before, during, and after reading to make sure your child is understanding what is being read.