You may worry that your child is “behind” in reading, wonder why they’re just not getting it, and if it’s your fault. You may have days that are frustrating and even feel hopeless. Regardless of the curriculum and approach you choose to teach your child to read, keep the goal of fun as your number one focus.

Here are 10 tips for teaching the short vowels to your beginning reader that will help you keep the excitement in reading. Here’s an example.Your child’s reading adventure begins with learning the short vowel sounds. Some of the words have two vowels, so there may be more than one way to sort. Sorting these words will be a little trickier. This impacts spelling, and word sorts are critical to helping struggling spellers decipher these short vowels. Often the accent of the local region can influence how the student hears (and pronounces) the vowel. These short vowels are little more difficult for many students. They should also find more words in their readings with short vowels and add to the list. Students should sort the words above based on vowel spellings. They also come from 2nd- and 3rd-grade Dolch sight words: Elementary students see them frequently in reading. You can use the basic short vowel words below. Students in the beginning stages of spelling need to master short vowels, and there are many 3rd- and 4th-graders who continue to develop short vowel spelling skills. Short vowel word sorts with -nt, -nk, and -ndīasic short vowels are commonly taught in grades k-2.This post has two types of short vowel word sorts: Some students will need additional practice to master spelling patterns, and word sorts are a perfect way to help! They are embedded in our word fluency units and the spelling warm-ups. Word sorts are an excellent way to deepen spelling skills.

What are short vowel words