The Two Big Hurdles to Reading
Hurdle 1
Memorizing Arbitrary Relationships between Random Looking Letters & Random Sounds
Sounds/Phonemes are not obvious
Letter shapes are random
The relationship between a sound and a letter is arbitrary—there is no reason why any letter represents a particular sound
When students forget a sound, teachers must give away the answer
Fig. 1
Hurdle 2
In English, Letters Make Too Many Sounds
English is inconsistent/random
Rules/Exceptions
Sight-Words, Syllables
When students can’t read a word, teachers must give away the answer
Rules Are Meant to Be Broken
The CAPIT Solution
Creating Readers and Expert Phonics Instructors™
Hurdle 1: Visual Mnemonics
Establish an Objective Relationship between Sounds and Letters
The mnemonic helps students hear the sound
Letter shapes are not random—Letters look like Sound
The relationship between a sound and a letter is NOT arbitrary—CAPIT offers a reason why a letter represents a sound
When students forget a sound, ask the magic question:
What does it look like?
Hurdle 2: Sound Chart
Organize the English Alphabetic System
English is logical and consistent
No Rules/Exceptions
No Sight-Words/Syllables
When students can’t read a word, ask the magic question: Did you look it up in the Sound Chart?