W is for Words.
We have an early reader in our house, a gal who just can’t get enough of words to say, words to read. Our phonics flip chart is our friend!
We made it last fall and with the help of that book, my daughter can sound out and read short words like a champ. However, she’s slow when it comes to sounding out words with blends. 
Word Families Book
Time for a new phonics chart! These are so easy to make and to use. They take mere minuets to make and it’s nice to listen to her chant out her “words” while I am doing the dishes or whatever. Our new flip chart focuses on blending (or chunking) words.
How to Make a Word Families Book
- We used a pack of the 3×5 index cards that come on a binder.
- Cut all of the cards so that roughly 2/3rds of the card was on the right and 1/3 on the left.
- Then I used this list of most common word families as discovered through the book, Kid Writing, and added them in the top cover.
- I also wrote the endings on all the cards in the chart.
Then I added the first letters and beginning blends. Some of the blends we added to our chart included: ab, ad, bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, br, cr, dr, fr, gr, tr, th, sh, ch, wh, sch, sk, sn, sm, sp, st, str, sw, kn, etc.
The majority of the words in the English language can be created from the blending of these “word families” and the various “beginning” combinations.
This is a great way to help kiddos understand how to break down and “chunk” their words.
To make this a bit more challenging, ask your kiddos to use the word they created in a sentence. It is fun, not all of the blends “mix” to make real words and it’s cute to hear the definitions and “sentences” Lena uses with her pretend words.
Add a kitchen timer, and my 5 year old is now homeschooling herself! If only math were as easy!
If you are learning sight words, check out our favorite way for kids to independently practice those!
Your Child Can!
Do you have any reading tips or any favorite manipulatives that you have made to help your kiddos learn?
Can’t wait! This week I’m definitely going to get 2 spiral index cards and make this and one for math as well. I figure I’ll start with counting. All the answer #s on 1 side (in order 1-..) & stickers or stamped pics on the other side for counting and then some addition/subtraction problems towards the end of the book. Or maybe that should be a separate book, much to think about!