short vowel add ed to a short vowel word

Ask your child to say and print the vowels: a, e, i, o, u, y      All the other ABCs are called consonants.

Step 1: Print and say with your child: hope, tape, ride, meat, scare.  In these words, the 1st vowel says its name.

Rule: when a vowel says its name, it is called a long vowel.

Step 2: Short vowels are the same letters but when they are the only vowel in a word, they usually do not say their names.

Print and say with your child:
hop, tap, pet, tip, scar

Ask your child to point to each word as he reads the list 4 times. Be clear that your child hears o differently in hop than in hope. And, the a in tap is not like the long a in tape.

To add ed to a short vowel word, you must double the final letter: hop > hopped; tap > tapped

The explanation which you will need to teach your child, eventually:

Step 3: You say:"The reason vowel o says its long sound in hope is that the 2nd vowel e reaches back to poke the o. When we write: the rabbit hopped in front of me. we print a 2nd p before we add ed. Now there are two consonants between vowel o and vowel e. Vowel e can reach back around one consonant but not two consonants.

When there are two consonants between o and e, we have protected the o from being poked.
This rule works for all short vowel words.

Children needs lots of practice with this skill. I have created the Vowel Power book to help your child master this and many other vowel lessons. It also teaches a special comprehension method. The book is full of color pictures, short and long stories, and fun skills practice. 

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. All books are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.  Be sure your child is ready for any challenge!  Have fun reading with your child. Thank you, Mary Maisner