How To Teach Your Child Irregularly Spelled Words

One question I’ve been asked is: How do I teach my child how to read irregularly spelled words? There’s a common misconception that irregularly spelled words can’t be sounded out and instead must be memorized. Nope! That’s not true at all. Words like “said” and “what” need to be mapped just like CVC words do. That’s how kids’ brains learn to read! 

But how? After all, we call them “irregularly spelled words” for a reason. Can we really sound out words that aren't spelled the way they sound? Yes, we can! Let's take a look at how we can do this effectively.

Map the Word

Start by mapping the word based on its sounds. You can use sound boxes (like the ones pictured here). Start by teaching your child to segment the individual sounds in the word. 

For example, maybe you are mapping the word “said.” Start by using the sound boxes to tap each box with your finger as you say each individual sound in the word: /s/e/d/. At this point, you aren’t even dealing with the letters or the spelling; you’re just focusing on the sounds. You could have your child push counters or pom poms into the boxes as they are saying the sounds to give a multi-sensory component to the activity.

Spell the Word

Now that you’ve sounded out the word, you can go back through the word and ask your child what letter or group of letters make each sound. Have your child write the letters for each sound in the sound boxes (remember that each box is for one sound; you can have multiple letters in a box that represent one sound). 

In the example “said,” your child would start out by writing “s” in the first box. Phonetically, the “ai” sounds like short /e/. You would explicitly teach this to your child, explaining that here the “ai” makes the short /e/ sound, which is not how it normally sounds. You could have your child switch colors to write this part of the word, or they could use the “heart word” method (explained next!) 

Heart the Irregular Spelling ❤

When you get to the part of the word that is irregularly spelled, draw attention to the fact that the word sounds differently from how it’s spelled. Talk with your child about it, and invite them to share what they think. Direct your child to draw a small heart above the irregular spelling to remind them that it is spelled differently than you would expect. 

After mapping irregularly spelled words like these, you will want to revisit these words over and over again until your child is able to remember how to read and spell these words independently. Remember that continued practice will help your child store these words in long-term memory! 

🎉If you’d like a free word mapping activity to download so that you can start teaching your child how to read and spell irregular words, click here: https://payhip.com/b/rsj3f

Happy learning! 😊📝