Six Easy Steps to Reading

1. Learn to recognize the short vowels and their sounds.

2. Learn to recognize the consonants and their sounds.

3. Learn to blend. –Blending the sounds of a consonant and a vowel is the first step to reading words.

4. Learn to sound one-vowel words.–When there is one vowel in a word, that vowel usually says its short sound.

5. Learn the sounds of the long vowels. Learn to sound two-vowel words.–When there are two vowels in a word, the first vowel says its long sound, and the second vowel is silent.

6. Learn the special phonics sounds.–The A Beka Book phonics program contains 132 special sounds (often called phonics rules), such as those listed below:

Additional Skills:

1. Know and use prefixes and suffixes.

2. Divide words into syllables.

3. Use alphabetical order.

4. Recognize and work with rhyming words, opposite words, same meaning words, same sounding words, compounding words, compound words, and contractions.

Materials for Teaching Phonics

A Beka Book offers complete day-by-day lesson plans for phonics and reading from K4 through grade 3. Listed below are teaching aids and readers for the six steps of phonics.

1. Short vowels

   • Miniature Alphabet Flashcards K

   • Large Alphabet Flashcards K-2

   • Large Alphabet Vowel Chart from Phonics Charts and Game Set K

   • Letter Picture Flashcards K

   • Vowel Chart from Basic Phonics Charts 1-3

2. Consonants

   • Miniature Alphabet Flashcards K

   • Large Alphabet Flashcards K-2

   • Consonant Chart from Phonics Charts and Game Set K

   • Letter Picture Flashcards K

   • Consonant Chart from Basic Phonics Charts 1-3

3. Blends

   • Blend Ladders K

   • My Blend and Word Book K

   • Blend Practice Cards Set A K-1

   • Basic Phonics Charts 1-3

4. One–vowel words

   • My Blend and Word Book K

   • Basic Phonics Charts 1-3

   • A Handbook for Reading 1-3

   • Readers:

   K4   Little Books 1-10 (10books), Old MacDonald's Farm, Tip, Gus, Wig on Pig, Matt

   K5   My Blend and Word Book, I Learn to Read Book A, Book B, Book C

   1      Fun with Pets

5. Long vowel and two–vowel words

   • My Blend and Word Book K

   • Basic Phonics Charts 1-3

   • A Handbook for Reading 1-3

   • Readers:

   K4   Pet Pete, Mike's Coat, A Pal

   K5   My Blend and Word Book, I Learn to Read Book D, I Do Read Books 1, 2, 3, 4

   1      Fun with Pets, Tiptoes

6. Basic Phonics Sounds

   • Basic Phonics Flashcards K-3

   • Clue Word Cards K-3

   • Basic Phonics Charts 1-3

   • Large Phonics Teaching Charts 1-3

   • A Handbook forReading 1-3

   • Readers:

   K5   I Can Read Well Books 1, 2, 3, 4, Big Owl Books (4 books)

   1     Tiptoes, Stepping Stones, Secrets and Surprises, The Bridge Book, Kind and Brave, Aesop's Fables, Strong and True

   2     Story Tree, Treasure Chest