Reading for Kids

STEP 4: Remember this is not a sight word approach to reading; we are teaching children to decode unknown words. I have been doing this for 40 + years. Trust the process. Do not add new sounds unless previous ones are learned.

Now add letters m and g. G should make the sound as in goat. Again ask your child to say the sounds with you several times, trace it, write it. Add g and m to the other letters.

Lay out all the sound cards. You say a sound; your child points to the correct sound. Be creative. They can hit it with a flyswatter or toss a bean bag on the card and say the sound.

Make 2 copies on index cards of all the sounds so far to play memory: a,s,t,c,p,n,d,m,g.

As in the previous step, write these words (one at a time) on cards, paper or dry erase board. Do not give them a list - it will be overwhelm most children.
sag, tag, nag, gag, Sam, Pam, mat, map, gap, lap.

It typically will still be a struggle at this point of sounding out the words. You will still have to help some. They need to sound the word out a couple of times to be able to blend the sounds together into the word. If they are unable to blend it, help them. Point to each letter saying the sounds with them. Tell them to push the sounds together.

Play a game with the words. typically any board game is good to use: CandyLand, Sorry, etc. Every time they take a turn, ask them to sound out a word. Keep it short. There is no need to finish the game. You are trying to give them practice blending words in a fun way.

If they are beginning to be able to blend words, you can write short sentences using their name. Write only one sentence on blank piece of paper.
Example:
Adam can pat.
Adam can tag.
Adam can nap.
Adam can tap.
Adam can nag.
Adam can gag.
Now you have a short book. Ask them to illustrate it.

STEP 3: Now your child should know the sounds of a,s, t, c (use the k sound for c) and p. Now you need to add the letters - n and d. Remember to review the sounds several times. Eventually you want them to be able to say the sounds fast and automatically. Ask them to write the letters as you say the sound. Remember to start at the top when they write the letters. Always help if they need it.

Do the following activities. It might be difficult for them, but continue to try.

Write the word cat in lowercase letters on a white board or piece of paper. Write the letters in lowercase but in large print.

Ask your child to sound out the word. You point to each sound as they say the individual sounds. Ask them to do it at least twice. Ask them to blend the sounds into a word. If they cannot blend the sounds into the word cat, you sound it out with them.

Repeat the above with these words: sat, pat, tap, cap, pan, tan, can.

Play a board game with them. On every turn ask your child to sound out the word. Help them if they need it. Give them an example. This is difficult for many children. You can also review the sounds learned and the ask them to rhyme with the words they are working on.

We are not trying to memorize the words. We want your child to be able to sound out the words.

If they are unable to blend the sounds into words, ask them to do it orally as in step 2. You say the word leaving pauses between each sound. Your child tries to blend it into the word. Tell them all of these words would be things in a school.
3 individual sounds- Pen, fan, bag, cup, hat, box, food, hall,
book,
2 individual sounds- t oy, ch air,

STEP 2: Teaching your child to read.

Do not add letters unless your child has learned the first 3 letters. After they have learned a, s, and t, add the 2 letters p and c. Repeat the activities in Step 2. If your child seems bored with the games, change them. Keep the learning time short and positive. 10 to 15 minutes max.

You need to also add this phonemic activity. Say words slowly to your child, separating each sound and leaving a pause between each sound. Explain to your child that all of the words you say will be animals. Use the following words: dog, goat, mouse, cat, pig, bird, lion, fox, duck, fly, bug, ant, hen, bat. Your child should be able to blend the sounds you say into the word.

If your child is struggling, reduce it to 2 sounds. Example: d og. Continue with the words listed above. The next session ask your child to try and blend the 3 sounds again. If you need more words, text me for a list. This is a critical skill they must be able to do.

To practice the sounds of the letters, write the lower case letters on index cards. Play simple board games or more physical games with your child. Show them a card with every turn. Ask them to say the sound each time they take a turn. Do this for several days. They may not remember them from one day to the next. That is fine. Continue to review the sounds of the letters ( a,s,t).

Also ask your child to write the letter when you say the sound. Prompt them if needed by giving an example, showing the card or writing it so they can trace it. Make it fun. They can write it in sand, salt, pudding etc. make sure they start at the top.

STEP 1: How to teach your child to read.

How to teach letter sounds

Start with lower case letters because that is what a child needs to learn to read. I start with a, s, and t because they look and sound very different. Try to teach the sound and written form at the same time. Write the letter a, and say the short a sound at the same time. Ask the child to copy what you did. Continue to demonstrate the other letters- s and t in the same manner. When writing the letters make sure you start at the top. The next post will give ideas on activities with these 3 letters.

Dr. C. Helberg Ed.D.

Even though we have closed the building, I still have tutors I can refer you to. Text me at 918 632-0058 for their information.

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After speaking to thousands of parents over the last 22 years, they tell me they are tired of sight words. Schools give them list after list for their child to memorize. This is not a good method for struggling readers.

Your brain does not have enough visual memory to memorize how the words look. That is what the schools are asking the students to do before they have a strong foundation in our language’s sound symbol relationship (phonics). At Reading for Kids we do not do sight words until a student is reading close to a 2nd grade level. At that point, we only do them in phrases for fluency purposes.

These are pairs of tricky word pairs in our language that we use at Reading for Kids. We have thousands of these. This is why trying to memorize sight words is so difficult.

who
how

could
cloud

on
no

thing
think

every
very

brought
bought

own
won

Another reason schools continue to do this sight word approach is because teachers do not have the time to sit down with struggling readers and work with them on sight words. It is painful and defeating. There is nothing to give a struggling reader a hint or a brain connection.

We let the phonics take care of the sight words. There are only about 25 sight words that don’t follow the phonics rule. We address those if we need to when the student is able to read grade level material.

Reading research using MRI’s has demonstrated that the brain needs to repeatedly sound out the words in order to learn them and read them automatically.

Warmest regards,
Dr. C. Helberg Ed.D.

After 40+ years in education I have some pretty strong opinions- not from my doctorate, but from lessons students have taught me. The first being how you teach a child to read. Strong educational research has demonstrated over and over again that phonics is the best way to teach students to read. It has been proven so many times that professional education journals will not accept any more phonics research; it is proven science!

It has also been proven that students with dyslexia need a strong systematic phonics approach. Be aware there are many “fixes” out there that will gladly take your money. More on dyslexia later.

In this part of Oklahoma almost every class of preschool, kindergarten through third grade will give lists upon lists of sight words. This absolutely does not work for a struggling reader! Using sight words for a struggling reader is horrible and very painful. I have tried.

When you introduce a strong systematic phonics approach to a struggling reader, it gives them automatic success. After students learn the sounds of the letters, they start with sounding out very simple 3 letter words. We do one vowel at a time. Some students can soon start adding blends (cl, sm, gr, sl etc.) and consonant digraphs (ch, sh, etc.) very quickly.

When I evaluate a struggling reader and they have memorized some or many sight words, I know a parent has put in a huge amount of time with little results.

Stay tuned for more information.

Warmest regards,
Dr. C. Helberg Ed. D.

Is your child still behind in reading? Come and see us! We have helped thousands of students in the Tulsa area for 22 years.
Text or call 918 632-0058
readingforkids.org

Is your child still behind in reading? Come see us! We have served the Tulsa area for 22 years. Call or text 918 632-0058.
readingforkids.org

Reading for Kids Reading for Kids is a reading tutoring center in Tulsa that is focused on helping kids succeed.