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Phonics
Dyslexia
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how to help a child struggling with spelling
How to help a child with reading difficulties
Long A words with silent E with free printable
My 7 year old struggles with reading
Sounding Out Words Phonetically
CVCe Words (Beginner’s Guide to Magic E)
Sounding Out Letters
Short U Sound Words
Short O Sound Words
Short i Sound Words
Short e Sound Words
Short a sound words

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The real goal 📚 The goal of first grade readin

The real goal 📚

The goal of first grade reading is really to master basic phonics so we can sound out words like:

✅ rabbit
✅ cupcake
✅ jogging
✅tossed

Being able to sound all those out by the end of first grade is the main goal.

We don’t need to worry about getting children into chapter books quite yet.

In fact, unless your child is significantly above average, I wouldn’t recommend it.

WHY?

Any chapter book you find is going to have a bunch of phonics patterns your child has not yet been taught.

Bad habits like:
❌ guessing
❌skipping over words
❌relying on context

are likely to emerge.

These are the three steps I recommend instead:

1️⃣ focus on reading just words and sentences.

If your child seems to be guessing at all or is struggling, this is where you’re going to want to spend the bulk of your time.

2️⃣ reading decodable books

These books have phonics patterns your child already knows or is currently practicing.

I love the @chargemommybooks for this and use them with my own sons and my clients.

Comment CHARGE and I’ll DM you the link and a coupon code.

3️⃣ read aloud from chapter books to your child.

You want to read to them from something that’s one or two grade levels above their reading level.

I like classics like Little House on the Prairie, Charlotte‘s Web, Trumpet of the Swan, and Mouse on a Motorcycle for this but follow their interests.

When children sound out words, it becomes a lot easier when they can match it to a word already in their oral vocabulary. So don’t stop the bedtime stories.

❓ So when should you start chapter books?

Second grade is when I want to see children move into chapter books, and when I start to become concerned if they are avoiding them.

Have any more chapter book questions? Drop them here⬇️

#learntoread #firstgradereading #chapterbooks #readingspecialist

It’s not that you’re disappointed 💔 It’s

It’s not that you’re disappointed 💔

It’s that the progress report is making clear what you already knew about your child learning letters and sounds.

🩷You just love your child so much and you don’t know how to help.

Then you find my account. And you can feel like you can breathe.

👋Hi, I’m Anne, a reading specialist who truly gets this because I walked this journey with my own child…

and we’re on the other side. Where her birthday list is full of books.

On this page, you’ll find:

🧠 Tips grounded in the Science of Reading
🧩 Simple, doable activities for home
📚 Support without shame
🤝 A reminder that you are not alone

✨ To make it even easier, I’ve created a one-page Kindergarten Reading Skills Checklist.

This way you’ll know exactly what skills to focus on.

👇 Just comment KINDER and I’ll send it your way!

You’re doing better than you think. And I’ve got you 🩷

#KindergartenReading #StrugglingReaderSupport #ReadingProgressReport #ParentingKindergarten #ReadingHelpForParents #ScienceOfReading #ReadingSpecialist #EarlyLiteracyMatters #POVParenting

No one taught you this⬇️ Written language is

No one taught you this⬇️

Written language is a code.

🗣️Speech came first.

🔡 Then letters were introduced to represent those speech sounds.

Reading is code breaking because we even have times when letter combinations represent sounds:

✅ igh
✅ tch
✅ dge

So it seems a little backwards, but you as the parent want to make sure you know the 44 speech sounds…

That makes it easier to figure out all the ways they are spelled.

Comment LIST and I’ll DM you a one page printable list. Make sure you hit follow so the link lands in your inbox.

#phonicssounds #phonicsforkids #learntoread #sounditout #dyslexiasupport

You start following a reading specialist on Instag

You start following a reading specialist on Instagram and suddenly…

your kid is making progress, you’re making moves, and your credit card is begging you to stop buying books 😅📚💳

Here are 5 things you actually started doing with your struggling reader that made a difference for my dyslexic child 👇

1️⃣Play phonics tic tac toe 🎯

Turn sounding out into a game! This low-pressure activity builds confidence while sneaking in repetition (and fun).

Comment SAMPLE for five free games from my pack of over 500! I’ll DM you think link.

2️⃣Just work for a focused 5 minutes ⏱️

No marathon sessions here. Short bursts of focused attention are better than long sessions filled with frustration ….for both of you!

3️⃣Read aloud from the chapter book to your child 📖

Yes, you read it and they just listen. This builds vocabulary, comprehension, and keeps them engaged with richer stories (without the decoding struggle). This will make sounding out easier in the long run.

4️⃣Listen to audiobooks in the car 🚗🎧

Even if they can’t read fluently yet, they can still enjoy stories and build language and vocabulary skills on the go.

Bonus: it keeps everyone quiet during errands.

5️⃣Expect the tantrums at first 😤➡️🙂

Change is hard. If your child resists at first, it doesn’t mean it’s not working. Instead, it means you’re stretching a skill that’s been hard for them. Hang in there 💪

Which of these have you tried, or want to try? 👇 Tell me in the comments!

#StrugglingReaderSupport #ReadingTipsForParents #ScienceOfReading #ParentingWin #BookishKids #ReadingSpecialist #POVparenting #RaisingReaders #AudiobookLife

🛑Do this first For children in second grade or

🛑Do this first

For children in second grade or older….

1️⃣ Grab a chapter book you see other kids in their age range reading

2️⃣ Check to make sure your child can actually read the words on one page effortlessly.

3️⃣ Write down any words they struggle with. They should be able to read one and only need help with a couple of words.

✅ if your child is spending a lot of energy sounding out words, you know why they’re not into chapter books yet.

Comment GUIDE and I’ll DM you the link to my free 16 page pdf guide for struggling readers.

✅ if your child can sound at all the words without any effort, then you need to be a little bit more of a detective.

- Do they have access to books that interest them?
- Is screen time available too often making reading less appealing?
- Is concentrating hard for your child?

All of these have different solutions.

And truly it’s a different level of concern for me when a child can read but just …. doesn’t want to.

These children are fewer in number than the ones who can’t sound out words.

In the meantime, start listening to audiobooks with your child and keep up your nightly story times. They still benefit from those!

Drop your chapter book questions ⤵️

#learntoread #chapterbooksforkids

🙈I used to get it wrong. Like many other teach

🙈I used to get it wrong.

Like many other teachers, I used to tell my 2nd grade students’ parents:

“Your child needs to memorize these 220 words. You can’t sound out sight words.”

But then I remember feeling confused as my students read words like:
✅and
✅is
✅see
✅then
✅ by

Once my daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, I started learning more.

Did you know 68% of words in the sight word lists can be sounded out using basic phonics?

Once your child learns more advanced phonics, even words like “you” and “mother” make sense.

(Hint: ou can be /oo/ like soup, youth, group and o is /u/ a lot like oven, month, love, from)

So if you have to work on memorizing sight words for your child’s school, I recommend sorting your child’s list by sounds.

I already did that work for you for free on my website. You can grab the 220 Dolch Sight Words sorted by phonics sounds and teach them to your child that way! Comment SIGHT WORD and I’ll DM you the link to get the free list.

#sightwords #sightwordskindergarten #learntoread #kindergartenmom #dyslexia

Books over iPad⤵️ Teaching my daughter to rea

Books over iPad⤵️

Teaching my daughter to read at home means she turns down screen time to finish her book.

In second grade, when she was struggling with reading, her special education teacher, “She just doesn’t want to because it’s hard.”

🤬 <— actual image of me

So I DIYed reading class at home.

We didn’t dive straight into Harry Potter. We started much more basic and it snowballed over time.

Here’s exactly what I did:

💾Make sure to save because this one simple tool can change everything.

You can teach your child to sound out words in 6 simple steps:

1️⃣You need a pack of white index cards and colored index cards.

Grab a black marker.

2️⃣On the white index cards write all the basic alphabet consonants b, c, d, and so on.

3️⃣On the colored index cards write all the short vowels: a, e, i, o, u

4️⃣Practice by showing your child the card and saying the sound the letter spells.

Show the b and say, “This letter spells /b/.” Make the /b/ sound.

5️⃣Lay out three cards. One white, one colored, one white. You’ve made a CVC word.

6️⃣Show your child how to blend it.

🤔Why does this work?

For many struggling readers, they need to explicitly make the connection that those letters in words represent sounds.

Want my free 16 page PDF gain for helping struggling readers at home? Comment GUIDE.

#learntoread #strugglingreaders #dyslexia #dyslexiamom #ogtutor

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