- Knowing the sound for each consonant
- Knowing the short vowel sound for each vowel
- Knowing that a capital and lower case version of a letter means the same thing.
Introduction and Instructions:
Each entry below is a weekly ‘lesson’ (at the moment, while I am still building this site, it more of a partial lesson). I start out by giving a weekly summary, listing the new words introduced that week. Then I offer 5 sentences each day that use the words presented (along with previously introduced words). Note that due to this 'only build on previously learned information' cumulative approach, the sentences at the beginning will be stilted and awkward until a large enough vocabulary is developed. Finally, I also give several suggestions for 'activities' to reinforce learning the vocabulary.
The 5 sentences given each day can be used with multiple levels of reading/spelling fluency. Start by teaching the child the lesson (for example, in Lesson 1, show your child how to sound out words with a short vowel ‘a’ sound), then work with the child on reading each sentence. Feel free to add sentences of your own devising if you wish! I’d recommend creating sentences using only the new (and previously learned) words & concepts.
After reading the sentences, move on to handwriting/spelling. Depending on the child’s ability, either give them the opportunity to trace, copy, or memorize the material.
Tracing – Using a highlighter, the parent should write out the words/sentences onto large, lined paper. Print the letters as you want the child to learn to form them. Work with the child to use the correct hand movements. The goal is to learn to form the letters properly, not to memorize the spelling of every word at this juncture.
Copywork – If your child knows how to form a letter, but still needs practice with handwriting, you can use the sentences for this purpose. At this point you do not need to hand print out the sentences - you can copy and paste them into a Word Processing program of your choice and then print them out (make sure the letters are relatively large). Be sure you copy and paste them into a program that has an appropriate font. Note that with the font I am using now the 'a' is not presented how I'd ask a child for form that letter, but the 'g' is alright. Look over every letter (upper and lower case) to make sure the font you choose is acceptable before printing. The child can copy the words/sentences one or more times and the simple repetitive practice familiarizes the child with the material. This method is a step beyond tracing, but still not focusing on true memorization of spelling words.
Memory – If you wish to move onto actual spelling (I do not recommend this for the preschool level!), there are multiple ways to approach this. One method is to give your child the list of new weekly words on Monday. Have the child read them, write them down, define them, use them in their own sentences, etc., as desired throughout the week, giving a spelling test on Friday. You can use the sentences I provide as a way of quizzing the children or for copywork. Another method might be to do pre-quizzing to see if the child already knows the words ahead of time and is able to skip the lesson (or most of it), moving onto the next batch of words. In this case, have the child try to write out the sentence, sight unseen, on Monday, and just focus on learning the words misspelled the rest of the week, re-quizzing on Friday.
For the first several weeks (until we've covered all the short-vowel sounds), each new phonetic concept is given over the course of two weeks. In addition to a phonetic concept, there is a daily sight word (for most days), which is a word the child must know, but which doesn't follow the phonetic concepts yet known. After that point, it is a single week per concept (plus sight words). So each weekly lesson focuses on one phonetic concept and 5 new sight words. Please go at your own pace, lingering or speeding up as appropriate for your child!
Note that each lesson is meant to be used in conjuncture with separate Grammar lessons.