It is very important when children are beginning to read and spell that the phonemes (sounds) are said correctly.
This is a list of the phonemes in the order that they are taught.
(Don’t forget to avoid saying an ‘uh’ sound after some letter sounds – this might be how you remember the sounds, but it’s not helpful to spell a word like ‘dog’ with each letter pronounced ‘duh-o-guh’ – instead, try to just say the very initial, pure sound: ‘d-o-g’.)
- s Weave your hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss
- a Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants are crawling on you and say a, a, a
- t Turn your head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t
- i Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling your fingers at the end of your nose and squeak i, i, i
- p Pretend to puff out candles on a cake and say p, p, p
- n Make a noise as if you are a plane. Hold your arms out and say nnnnnn
- e Pretend to tap an egg on the side of a pan and crack it into the pan, saying eh, eh, eh
- h Hold your hand in front of your mouth and pant as if you are out of breath and say h, h, h
- r Pretend to be a puppy holding a piece of rag. Shake your head from side to side and say rrrrrr
- m Rub your tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm
- d Beat your hands up and down as if playing a drum and say d, d, d
- g Spiral your hand down as if water is going down the drain and say g, g, g
- o Pretend to turn a light switch on and off and say o, o, o
- c k Raise your hands and snap your fingers as if playing castanets and say ck, ck, ck
- u Pretend you are putting up an umbrella and say u, u, u
- l Pretend to lick a lollipop and say lllllll
- f Let hands gently come together as if toy fish deflating, and say fffff
- b Pretend to hit a ball with a bat and say b, b, b
- j Pretend to wobble on a plate and say j, j, j
- w Blow on to your open hand as if you are the wind and say wh, wh, wh
- v Pretend to be holding the steering wheel of a van and say vvvvvv
- z Put your arms out at your sides and pretend to be a bee saying zzzzzz
- y Pretend to be eating a yogurt and say y, y, y
- x Pretend to take an x-ray of someone and say ks, ks, ks
- ch Move arms at sides as if you are a train and say ch, ch, ch
- sh Place index finger over lips and say sh, sh, sh
- th th Pretend to be naughty clowns and stick out tongue a little for the th and further for the th sound (this and thumb)
- qu Make a duck’s beak with your hands and say qu, qu, qu
- ng Imagine you are a weightlifter and pretend to lift a heavy weight above your head saying ng…
- ai Cup hand over ear and say ai, ai, ai
- ee or Put your hands on your head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore
- oa Bring your hand over your mouth as if you have done something wrong and say oh!
- ie Stand to attention and salute, saying ie ie
- oo oo Move head back and forth as if it is the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock saying u, oo,u, oo (little and long oo.)
- ou Pretend your finger is a needle and prick thumb saying ou, ou, ou
- oi Cup hands around mouth and shout to another boat saying oi, oi ship ahoy!
- ue Point to people around you and say you, you, you
- er Roll hands over each other like a mixer and say er,er,er
- ar Open mouth wide and say ah. Flap hands as if a seal and say ar, ar, ar