ing sl ow
st ore sl ack bl ow
tr ack dw arf gl ow

The teacher must pronounce the syllables that the children have, as yet,
no power to master, e.g., with the word "grow", (1) the children will
blend g and r, gr; (2) teacher pronounces "ow"; (3) children blend "gr"
and "ow" until they recognise "grow."

Teach also the digraphs sh, ch, th, wh, as they are met in the common
words in use: when, they, chick, etc.

sh eep ch ick wh at th at
sh ell ch ild wh en th is
sh y ch air wh y th ese
sh ore ch ill wh ere th ose
sh ine ch erry wh ich th ere
sh ow ch ildren th en th eir
sh e ch urch th ey th ey
sh all ch ase
sh ould ch est

III. _Teach the Short Vowels._

Since more than 60 per cent of the vowels are short, and since short
vowels outnumber long vowels by about four to one, they are taught
first. Teach one vowel at a time by combining with the known consonants.
And what fun it is, when short "a" is introduced, to blend it with the
consonants and listen to discover "word sounds." Henceforth the children
will take delight in "unlocking" new words, without the teacher's help.
She will see to it, of course, that the words are simple and purely
phonetic at first; as:

c-a-n, can h-a-d, had
c-a-p, cap m-a-t, mat
c-a-t, cat m-a-n, man
r-a-t, rat f-a-n, fan
h-a-t, hat s-a-t, sat

Whole "families" are discovered by placing the vowel with the initial or
the final consonants, thus:

ca n r at f an
ca p h at an d
ca t c at s an d
ca b b at st an d
ma t f at l an d
ma n s at b an d

The children will enjoy forming all the families possible with the known
sounds.

_Short "a" Families or Phonograms._

at an ap ad ack ag and r ang b ank
b at c an c ap h ad b ack b ag b and s ang r ank
c at m an g ap l ad h ack f ag h and b ang s ank
f at p an l ap m ad J ack j ag l and h ang t ank
m at t an m ap g ad l ack l ag s and f ang bl ank
p at r an n ap b ad p ack n ag st and cl ang cr ank
N at f an r ap c ad r