Enjoy Rip's alphabet jokes as you practice correct letter formation.

Knowing about "silent e" unlocks another secret to being a good speller. When silent e is added to many short vowel words, the vowel becomes long. Long vowels say their names.

As children become better readers and spellers they learn that a letter or group of letters can have different sounds in different words. The y at the end of cry says /eye/ and the y at the end of sunny says /ee/.

Your child may need help reading the words on the word list but encourage him or her to find the picture matches independently. Children use context clues, such as pictures, when they read to develop their vocabulary.

A word family is a group of words that rhyme and have the same spelling pattern. For instance dog, hog and log are in the _og word family. Children who understand word families have an easier time learning to spell and decode words.Young children find the _at family the easiest, so begin there if the other word families seem difficult. If your child needs help coming up with a song, start with a song or rhyme you already know, like Hickory Dickory Dock, and substitute your rhyming words.

Distinguishing between individual sounds in a word develops your child's phonemic awareness, the ability to hear individual sounds within words and manipulate them. Identifying the letter that makes that sound develops your child's understanding of phonics, or how sounds and symbols are related. Forming letters by hand helps your child develop automatic letter recognition. These skills are cornerstones of learning to read.

Distinguishing between individual sounds in a word develops your child's phonemic awareness, the ability to hear individual sounds within words and manipulate them. Identifying the letter that makes that sound develops your child's understanding of phonics, or how sounds and symbols are related. Forming letters by hand helps your child develop automatic letter recognition. These skills are cornerstones of learning to read.

Distinguishing between individual sounds in a word develops your child's phonemic awareness, the ability to hear individual sounds within words and manipulate them. Identifying the letter that makes that sound develops your child's understanding of phonics, or how sounds and symbols are related. Forming letters by hand helps your child develop automatic letter recognition. These skills are cornerstones of learning to read.

Distinguishing between individual sounds in a word develops your child's phonemic awareness, the ability to hear individual sounds within words and manipulate them. Identifying the letter that makes that sound develops your child's understanding of phonics, or how sounds and symbols are related. Forming letters by hand helps your child develop automatic letter recognition. These skills are cornerstones of learning to read.

Distinguishing between individual sounds in a word develops your child's phonemic awareness, the ability to hear individual sounds within words and manipulate them. Identifying the letter that makes that sound develops your child's understanding of phonics, or how sounds and symbols are related. Forming letters by hand helps your child develop automatic letter recognition. These skills are cornerstones of learning to read.

Distinguishing between individual sounds in a word develops your child's phonemic awareness, the ability to hear individual sounds within words and manipulate them. Identifying the letter that makes that sound develops your child's understanding of phonics, or how sounds and symbols are related. Forming letters by hand helps your child develop automatic letter recognition. These skills are cornerstones of learning to read.