{"id":8369,"date":"2017-04-10T07:32:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T07:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/?p=8369"},"modified":"2026-03-30T08:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T08:54:25","slug":"teach-child-read-using-phonics-46-sounds-english-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/teach-child-read-using-phonics-46-sounds-english-language\/","title":{"rendered":"How to teach your child to read using phonics and the 46 sounds of the English language"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/girl.jpg\" style=\"display:none;\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 140%; color: #31849b; font-family: Trebuchet MS;\">Hi everyone, it\u2019s Liz Dunoon here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 140%; color: #31849b; font-family: Trebuchet MS;\">Today I\u2019m going to show how to teach your child using phonics and the 46 sounds of the English language. Phonics is one of the most effective \u2018free&#8217; tools for teaching a child how to read from home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><strong><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Watch the video or read more below<\/span><\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TvZkwU4Jb9A?rel=0\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">As youngsters, my three children all experienced learning difficulties and I helped them to catch up at school and have great success. As a qualified teacher who specialises in learning difficulties and literacy, I have since helped 100\u2019s of children to learn to read and spell from home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Firstly, what is phonics\u2026 and what are the 46 sounds? Well the English language has 26 letters, but there are 46 sounds that those letters can make in words.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">The 46 sounds never change, but the way that we spell them does.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8552\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1200.jpg\" alt=\"1200\" width=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1200.jpg 948w, https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1200-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1200-150x68.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 948px) 100vw, 948px\" \/><\/center><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\"><strong>There are more than 1200 different ways to spell the 46 sounds<\/strong> and that\u2019s what makes the English language so confusing for beginning readers and to those people who are learning English as a second language.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Let me give you some examples. Here is the consonant sound \u201c<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">puh<\/span>\u201d. In the word &#8216;<span style=\"color: #333333;\">pen<\/span>&#8216;, \u201c<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">puh<\/span>\u201d is represented by the single letter \u2018<strong>P<\/strong>\u2019, but in the word \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>pepper<\/strong><\/span>\u2019 it is represented by a double \u2018<strong>pp<\/strong>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Let\u2019s look at the consonant sound \u201c<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">guh<\/span>\u201d. In the word \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>gate<\/strong><\/span>\u2019, \u201c<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">guh<\/span>\u201d is represented by a single \u2018<strong>g<\/strong>\u2019. In the word \u2018<strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\">egg<\/span><\/strong>\u2019, \u201c<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">guh<\/span>\u201d is represented by a double \u2018<strong>gg<\/strong>\u2019. In the word \u2018<strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\">ghost<\/span><\/strong>\u2019 it is represented by \u2018<strong>gh<\/strong>\u2019 and in the word \u2018<strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\">disguise<\/span><\/strong>\u2019 it is represented by the letters \u2018<strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\">gu<\/span><\/strong>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Even trickier for struggling readers are the vowel sounds. There are multiple ways to spell them.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Let\u2019s take the short vowel sound \u201c<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">e-<\/span>\u201c. In \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>egg<\/strong><\/span>\u2019, it is a simple \u2018<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">e<\/span>\u2019. In \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>feather<\/strong><\/span>\u2019, \u201c<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">e-<\/span>\u201c, is represented by the letters \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>ea<\/strong><\/span>\u2019. In the word \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\">many<\/span>\u2019, the single \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\">a<\/span>\u2019 is now saying \u201c<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">e-<\/span>\u201c. In the word \u2018<strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\">said<\/span><\/strong>\u2019, the \u2018<strong><span style=\"color: #333333;\">ai<\/span>\u2019<\/strong> is now saying \u201c<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">e-<\/span>\u201c and in the word \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>leopard<\/strong><\/span>\u2019 it is the \u2018<span style=\"color: #333333;\"><strong>eo<\/strong><\/span>\u2019 that is saying \u2018<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">e-<\/span>\u2018. There are even more spelling combinations for the short vowel sound \u201c<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">e-<\/span>\u201c, but I think you are starting to get the idea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Why are there so many variations in how we spell the 46 sounds? Why does it have to be so confusing? Well, there are many reasons and nearly all of them relate to the history of the English language which has developed over many centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">There are many language influences like; <strong>Old English<\/strong>, <strong>Middle English<\/strong>, <strong>Latin<\/strong> and <strong>Germanic words<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Then there are spelling variations for <strong>homophones<\/strong> like <strong>be<\/strong>\/<strong>bee<\/strong> and <strong>to<\/strong>\/<strong>two<\/strong> and <strong>too<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Then we have even more spelling variations with words from other languages becoming common place, like \u2018<strong>tsunami<\/strong>\u2019 from the Japanese and \u2018<strong>champagne<\/strong>\u2019 from the French.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-8380 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/xmas-1897315_1920.jpg\" alt=\"xmas-1897315_1920\" width=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/xmas-1897315_1920.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/xmas-1897315_1920-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/xmas-1897315_1920-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/xmas-1897315_1920-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/>Then there is also marketing and advertising gurus who make up new words all the time that break the spelling rules like \u2018<strong>Qantas<\/strong>\u2019 without a \u2018<strong>u<\/strong>\u2019 and &#8216;<strong>Weet-bix<\/strong>&#8216; with an \u2018<strong>x<\/strong>\u2019 instead of \u2018<strong>cks<\/strong>\u2019\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\"> And don\u2019t forget texting \u2018<strong>LOL<\/strong>\u2019, \u2018<strong>CU<\/strong> <strong>soon<\/strong>\u2019 and our teenagers are constantly making up new words with new meanings, like \u201c<strong>sic<\/strong>&#8221;\u00a0meaning \u2018<strong>great<\/strong>\u2019\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">And every day you have a complete melting pot that is the English language.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">For now all you need to know is that there are 26 letters in the English language, that make 46 sounds and more than 1200 different ways, (and growing) to spell them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">If you like this video and post, please subscribe to my <strong>YouTube channel<\/strong> here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC5OEgpDyHGRYn34aB5ii17A\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/17761321_120300002931073370_764033946_o.png\" alt=\"17761321_120300002931073370_764033946_o\" width=\"1000\" \/><\/a><\/center><center><strong><span style=\"font-size: 130%; line-height: 1.5 !important;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC5OEgpDyHGRYn34aB5ii17A\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #fe0000;\">Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">If you want more information on how to teach your child to read and spell and to help your child catch up at school fast\u2026. Join me on my free webinar by clicking here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/webinar\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/banner-dark.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" \/><\/a><\/center><center><span style=\"font-size: 130%; line-height: 1.5 !important;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/webinar\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #fe0000;\"><strong>Click here to register for the FREE webinar<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/center><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%; line-height: 1.5 !important;\">Now I want to ask you a question. Can you give me another word which English speakers use regularly that comes from another language? List your word in the comments below and tell us which language it comes from. Let\u2019s see how many we can get.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 130%; line-height: 1.5 !important;\">Kind Regards,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 130%; line-height: 1.5 !important;\">Liz Dunoon<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi everyone, it\u2019s Liz Dunoon here. Today I\u2019m going to show how to teach your child using phonics and the 46 sounds of the English language. Phonics is one of the most effective \u2018free&#8217; tools for teaching a child how to read from home. Watch the video or read more... <br \/><a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/teach-child-read-using-phonics-46-sounds-english-language\/\">Continue reading...<\/a>","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":15596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading-spelling"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8369"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8583,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8369\/revisions\/8583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dyslexiadaily.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}