ck consonant blend

Will our two little duckings grow up to be big ducks?  

Help your child see the letter team ck at the end of words like back, sick, and duck.

Ask your child to point to each word as you read this list. Reread the list letting your child read with you. 

Now, ask your child to point to the ck in each word. Tell him it will be easy for him to know this sound since c and k both say the k sound.

Next, let your child point to each word and use it in a sentence.

back              crack           Jack          sack                tack              rack

black             pack            stack         smack             track            quack

Ask your child if he knows why Jack has a capital J as its 1st letter. Ask your child if his name has a capital letter as the 1st letter? Yes, because all names start with a capital letter. 

Let's try:
deck           peck   Do ducks peck at seeds in the dirt?  yes  no 

neck           wreck

Let's try:
Dick       Mick       pick         Rick       slick       tick         Vic

click       Nick       prick        sick        stick       trick       wick  as in candle wick

After you read this list once, ask your child why he thinks Dick, Mick, Nick, Rick, and Vic have capital letters? Answer: they are names of people. Next, take turns reading these words and telling each other sentences using them.

Let's look at how being able to see ck in short words can help your child as he begins to encounter longer words. Ask your child to point to the ck in each word. Give your child a chance to try the word before you tell him. Have fun with this, avoid frustration. The goal is to help your child see ck within words:

tack  > tackle       The duck can tackle the bug.

crack > crackle    If I step on paper, the paper can crackle.

buck > buckle      I have a buckle on my belt.

trick > trickle        The water in the sink was stuck, only a trickle would come out. 

A rule having to do with adding suffixes to words ending in c is why the k is needed (because ce, ci always stand for the s sound. Look: pac > paced > pacing. (pac is not the word pack)

This why our ancient scribes chose to use ck. Look: track > tracked > tracking and pack > packed > packing > unpackable.

But, look:  trace > traced > tracing and untraceable and notice > noticed > noticing > unnoticeable. (unnoticeable has two letters n because prefixes are added without change to prefix or base word).

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All my books blend phonics, sight words, and a special comprehension method to provide lessons through stories and skills pages. Lots of color pictures and tools for your child that you will find nowhere else.     Have a great day reading with your child, Mary Maisner