From sounds to words
- Beginning sounds. Hear the first sound of a word and match it to its letter.
- Ending sounds. Listen to the end of the word, which is harder to hear.
- Short vowels. The middle sound: c _ t, p _ g, s _ n.
- Build the word. Write all three sounds, one in each box.
- Rhymes. Hear that cat and hat end the same way.
- Word families. Change the first sound: cat, hat, bat.
- Digraphs and blends. Two letters, one sound (sh, ch) or two quick sounds (fr, st).
Pictures first
Phonics practice works when children say the word out loud. A picture gives them the word without needing to read it, so they can focus on the sounds. Each picture is chosen to have one obvious name, and the letters use simple shapes children learn first, like the single-story a.
Keep going
Pair these with spelling worksheets for the words that can’t be sounded out, and withpicture puzzles for spelling whole words with pictures.
CAPS links
- Grade RHears rhyming words in songs and rhymes, and that words begin with a sound, such as the first sound of their own name.
- Grade 1Learns the sound of every single letter, then builds word families such as -at, -en and -ug.
- Grade 1 (T3)Uses r and l blends and the digraphs sh, ch and th to build and break down words.
- Grade 2Revises those digraphs and adds vowel digraphs such as oo in moon and ee in tree.
CAPS paces Grade 1 phonics at one or two new sounds a week: at least eight by the end of term 1, and all the single letters by the end of term 2. Schools may choose their own phonics programme, and CAPS asks them to stay with it, so match the vowels you tick to your programme’s order.
CAPS also encourages invented spelling while children are still learning sounds. A child who writes “stashun” has heard every sound, which is the aim of the build-the-word page.
Summarised in our own words from the DBE’s CAPS for English Home Language, Foundation Phase Grades R–3 (2011).
