6. Put sounds together to begin to read and write simple words.

This is an ongoing process that will naturally begin to happen as you sound out words together. There is no need to rush it. As your child becomes comfortable recognizing letters and saying their sounds, begin helping them put those sounds together to read and write simple words.

This can happen naturally during your writing time as your child sounds out the words you ask them to write. It can also happen as you practice your phonics charts together.

I also suggest having a few sentence strips or index cards available. Use them to make simple short-vowel words that your child can practice sounding out and reading. Begin with short-a words, because they are often the easiest place for children to experience success.

Spend Time with Short A

Spend as much time as you need to with sounding out short vowel A words. Don't be in a hurry to move on to the other vowels. If your child needs more time with short a, stay there. With short vowel letter A you are learning the process, once letter A is masters the others will follow rather quickly. Your goal isn't to see how quickly you can get through the vowels. Your goal is to help your child become confident in the process of sounding out words.

I have included some short-vowel word charts you can use to make simple flash cards for additional practice. You may also want to add some of these words to your daily phonics-chart practice once your child is becoming comfortable with sounding out words.

We don't want these words to be memorized.

A Suggested Order

After your child is comfortable with short a, move on to short o. Then work with short e or short i — either one is fine.

I recommend working on short u between e and i. These two vowel sounds can sound very similar for young children, and giving them some time with another vowel in between e and i can make it easier to hear the difference.

The goal is not memorization.

The goal is to discover the sounding our process…

If your child is ready ..you might introduce Blends. Blends are two consonants blended together to make one sound. like dr, fl, fr .