sound-letter links

Auditory Processing Disorders.

Jj is for Jottings 137.  Auditory Processing Disorders.

Following on from auditory skills and developing auditory processing skills, we now turn our attention to auditory processing disorders.  There are so many conflicting ideas in the literature as to exactly what constitutes auditory skills. One could really become bogged down by this and therefore any resulting disorders.  There is even disagreement as to whether it should be “auditory processing disorders” or “central auditory processing disorders.”  I’ve decided to go with the thinking that “central” implies problems only at the brain level and consequently limits the definition.

Picture of woman reading "Aa is for Alpacas" book to a group of children, with baby alpacas in the background, and the caption: "Auditory processing disorders - attempting to prevent them is a good policy."

Auditory processing disorders – attempting to prevent them is a good policy.

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Hard and Soft ‘C’ and ‘G’.

Jj is for Jottings 128.  Hard and Soft ‘C’ and ‘G’.

The great thing about spelling rules – such as the bossy ‘e’ rule – is that, once you learn a particular rule, you can read (and hopefully spell) many different words.  In other words, rules give you lots of bang for your buck.  When dealing with hard and soft ‘c’ and ‘g’, we teach the hard sound first as part of basic sound-letter links, and introduce the soft sounds a little later. Continue reading →

8 Types of Intelligence.

Jj is for Jottings 109.  8 Types of Intelligence.

Most people know about the IQ (Intelligence Quotient) test, and you may have taken an IQ test at some stage.  Some scientists argue that tests like these favour people with logical and mathematical abilities, and ignore other areas like artistic, linguistic, musical or interpersonal skills.

Harvard scientist, Howard Gardner finally discovered, after many years of research, that there are 8 types of intelligence.  Continue reading →

Strategies for Listening to Sounds in Words.

Jj is for Jottings 106.  Strategies to Encourage Listening to Sounds in Words.

 

In the previous article I said that I would discuss general strategies to encourage listening to sounds in words, rather than visualising them.  As I said, I have found no hard and fast rules, but these types of activities are helpful.

Picture of a cat coming towards us on a roof with the caption: Shanti is coming to tell us all about strategies to encourage listening to sounds in words.

Shanti is coming to tell us all about strategies to encourage listening to sounds in words.

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Phonics: Visualising versus Listening.

Jj is for Jottings 105.  Phonics: Visualising Versus Listening.

 

We have another major problem with phonics: visualising versus listening, in addition to the problems created when children don’t know their sound letter links,  This is a problem I encounter frequently when working with children, but I have never heard anybody else mention it in those terms.  I am referring to the fact that children often use their visual modality when they need to be using their auditory modality. Continue reading →

Sound-Letter Links and Less Regular Words.

Jj is for Jottings 104.  Sound-Letter Links and Less Regular Words.

 

Once children know their sound-letter links thoroughly, they are then able to sound out any 100% regular word.  These could be real words or nonsense words of any length, as long as one letter equals one sound (with the basic exceptions here).  But what of sound-letter links and words which are less regular?

Photo of adult reading a print book to 2 children and 2 alpacas, with caption: Learning the basics before moving on to sound-letter links and less regular words. Baby alpacas like to learn their sound-letter links, too, it seems. (From the Border Mail, 2014. Photo by Tara Goonan.)

Learning the basics before moving on to sound-letter links and less regular words. Baby alpacas like to learn their sound-letter links, too, it seems. (From the Border Mail, 2014. Photo by Tara Goonan.)

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Effect of Vowel Shapes on Consonant Sounds.

Jj is for Jottings 102.  Effect of Vowel Shapes on Consonant Sounds.

Following on from the previous article on Vowel Shapes, we will talk about the effect of vowel shapes on consonant sounds.  This is especially important in sound production for speech therapy and also useful when learning sound-letter links.  If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you read the previous article first, to make sense of what follows.

Picture of alpaca with mouth half open and the caption: This vowel shape is /ah/. It doesn't have much effect on any consonant sounds.

Effects of vowel shapes on consonant sounds.  This vowel is /ah/. It doesn’t have much effect on any consonant sounds because it is quite neutral in shape.

Here are some common examples of how the vowel shape can influence the production of a consonant.  This is not an exhaustive list, but these are major examples which crop up all the time. Continue reading →

Vowel Shapes.

Jj is for Jottings 101.  Vowel Shapes.

 

When I say “vowel shapes”, I am referring to the shape made by the mouth when saying a particular vowel.  We have talked earlier about discriminating between vowels and vowel discrimination activities, but I didn’t mention vowel shapes because we were talking about auditory discrimination.  The visual aspects were not necessary in that context.

VOWEL SHAPES ARE NOT SET IN CONCRETE.

In point of fact, there are no hard and fast vowel shapes, but there are general trends which are useful to know about. Continue reading →

Reading Difficult Words.

Jj is for Jottings 98.  Reading Difficult Words.

Picture of a man reading "Aa is for Alpacas", with the caption: Reading difficult words is not an issue with this book!

Reading difficult words is not an issue with this book!

When your child starts to read aloud to you, they will often have problems with reading difficult words.  These words may be just long, or tricky in other ways, such as having several consonants together.  (See consonant clusters).  Or they could have vowel patterns which are unfamiliar, the rules for which they don’t yet know.  It is important to give children time to try to work out the word for themselves.  This helps develop reading skills.  However, when they get really stuck you will need to help them out. Continue reading →

Reading-Aloud Games.

Jj is for Jottings 97.  Reading-Aloud Games.

Following on from interactive reading with children, here are some ideas for “reading-aloud games” which you can play with children while reading stories with them.  The idea is to be spontaneous, just playfully engaging in banter whilst actually providing wonderful learning opportunities as a bonus.  It may sound strange, saying to be spontaneous and then making suggestions as to what to do.  But it is helpful to see the types of games you can play and, once you have the idea, you can invent your own activities in the moment. Continue reading →