Goal
Show your child that the same sound can wear many different outfits — and that spotting the pattern is half the fun.
You'll need
- Alternative Spellings Flashcards
- Alternative Spellings Picture Flashcards
How to do it
Pick a sound — the ai sound in "rain" is a good one to start with. Show the flashcards and point out: "rain" has ai, "reign" has ei, "lane" has the split digraph a-e. Same sound, totally different spelling.
Now go hunting. Flick through a book or scan things around the house. Every new example is a little win. Keep it exploratory rather than testing — "Oh look, we found another one!" works much better than a quiz.
This one's brilliant for older readers getting ready for trickier words. English is weird, but at least it's consistently weird.
Grab our resources
Print our alternative spellings flashcards and alternative spellings picture flashcards to get started.
