Phonics Investigation #3: Why C is My Favorite Letter!

The letter c can be a very tricky letter for little learners.  With many consonants in English, the name of the letter gives a good clue as to how to pronounce it.  t is called "tee" and says /t/.  b is called "bee" and is pronounced /b/.  But c is pronounced "see" and yet it often says /k/.  Except when it says /s/!  I have read that the two letters that can be completely omitted from the English alphabet are the letter c (which could be replaced by either s or k, depending on the sound needed) and q, which could be replaced by kw.

As fascinating as it is to contemplate two letters that do not make any unique sounds, I would be very sorry to lose the letter c, because it is my favorite letter in the whole alphabet.  Let me take you on a journey all about the fascinating properties of the letter c!



Sometimes we use two consonants together to make what we call a "blend", like this ...

snap
play and
twin

The letter c can be a part of some of these combinations, like ...

scat and
crow

However, when we see double consonants (the same letter repeated twice), we pronounce them as one sound, like in the words ...

buzz
fill and
glass

The same is true of the letter c in words like this ...

account

We might be inclined to describe this by saying that when the same letter is repeated, it counts as one sound.  But a more accurate description would be to say that when the same sound is repeated, we count it as one sound!  Check out this word ...

duck

Both the c and the k say /k/ and so they are counted as one sound: /k/!  But hold onto your hat because this is where it gets really fun.  You may have noticed that there is a pattern to when a c will make the /s/ sound.  Generally, c says /s/ when it is followed by an e, i or y, as in the words:

ccertain
city and
cycle

So, c can pair with k to make a single sound (like in "duck") but c can also pair with "s" to make a single sound, like in the words ...

scene
science and
scissors

So c can be a double letter making a /k/ sound, or it can partner with either k or s to make a single sound.  But here, by far, is my favorite phenomena.  Sometimes, two c's can appear side-by-side ... and yet the are not working as a team to make the same sound!!  Check out this word ...

access

The first c makes a /k/ sound because it is not followed by an e, i or y (it is followed by another c!).  But the second c is followed by an e, so it makes an /s/ sound!  I am willing to be corrected, but I cannot think of any other English consonant which can be written as a double letter ... and the letters do not work as a team to make a single sound!!

So, here is the challenge for the week:

1. Can you find examples of c making a team with a k and examples of c making a team with s?
2. Can you find other examples of words with a double c in which each c is making a different sound?
3. Can you think of any other example in English of the same consonant repeated twice in a row (a "double consonant") where each of the letters makes a different sound?  (Note: There may not be an answer to this challenge, but if there is, I would be fascinated to know!!)

-s and -ed Phonics Investigation - Answers!

Last week we talked about the different sounds that are made by the endings -s and -ed when they are added onto a base word.  The challenge has come to and end and it's time for answers and shout-outs!

Last week's challenge questions:

1. Can you figure out what the relationship between the /s/ and /z/ sounds of the -s or the /t/ and /d/ sounds of the -ed is?
2. Can you notice any patterns in the base word (the word that you add endings to) that will give you an idea about whether the -s will say /s/ or /z/ or whether the -ed will say /ed/, /t/ or /d/?
3. Bonus: One of these endings is more complicated to pronounce today than it was a hundred or two hundred years ago.  Do you know which one and how it has changed?

Answers:

1. /s/ is the unvoiced version of /z/ and /t/ is the unvoiced version of /d/.
2. The sound that -s or -ed make when added on to a base word depend on whether the base word ends with a voiced or an unvoiced sound.  For example...
   
   "cat" ends with an unvoiced sound (/t/) and so the -s added to the end makes an unvoiced sound (/s/) also, whereas "dog" ends with a voiced sound (/g/) so the -s also makes a voiced sound (/z/)
   
   "stay" ends with a voiced sound (/ā/ - vowels are always voiced) so when you add -ed it also makes a voiced sound (/d/).  "pack" ends with an unvoiced sound (/k/) so the -ed also makes an unvoiced sound (/t/).  Words that end with a /t/ or /d/ sound, however, cannot be pronounced by adding on an additional /t/ or /d/ sound, so instead an extra syllable is added, as in the word "braided".
3. It used to be the case that the -ed ending was always pronounced as an extra syllable.  If you sing old hymns or listen to someone reading the Psalms, for example, you may observe one word that is still mid-transition in our language: blessed.  Some people pronounce it "bless-ed" and some people pronounce it "blest"!

This week's shout-out goes to my daughter, Ruth!  The entirety of #2 above was something she discovered completely independently!  We had already learned that base words that end in -t or -d cause the -ed to make it's own syllable.  But we wanted to investigate if there was anything about the base word that would predict whether the -ed would say /t/ or /d/ in other situations.

As we read through our chapter of the Bible, we made a chart of all of the -ed words we came across and whether the -ed ending made an /ed/, /t/ or /d/.  When we were done, Ruth eagerly pointed out that all of the /t/ words were unvoiced at the end of the base word, while all of the /d/ words were voiced!  We called this "Ruth's Theory" and continued to "test" it as we read.  We haven't found anything to disprove it yet.  Can you?

Voiced and Unvoiced - Answers!

Our first Phonics Investigation Challenge has come to an end.  Time for answers and shout-outs!

Here were the three challenge questions:

1. When you read, keep an eye out for the "th" sounds.  Which one do you hear more often - the voiced or the unvoiced "th"?
2. There are several other pairs of sounds just like this: your mouth, lips, teeth and tongue stay in the same position and only the presence or absence of the "buzzing" of the vocal chords makes the difference between sounds.  Some of these pairs can be found among the basic sounds of letters of the alphabet, so start there.  But there are some more complicated versions as well!
3. As you experiment with the sounds of the letters of the alphabet, you may notice that there is one type of letter that is always voiced.  Can you discover what that category might be?

Answers:

1. This answer may vary depending on what you were reading.  The unvoiced "th" occurs in more English words, but the words which use a voiced "th" (like "the", "this", "that", "these" and "those") appear much more frequently in English!
2. Here are some other pairs of voiced and unvoiced sounds.
   /b/ like the b in book and /p/ like the p in pet
   /g/ like the g in gum and /k/ like the k in king or the c in cat
   /d/  like the d in dog and /t/ like the t in ten
   /j/ like the j in jump and /ch/ like the ch in church
   /v/ like the v in van and /f/ like the f in fun
   /z/ like the z in zoo and /s/ like the s in sip or the c in city
   /zh/ like the g in genre or the si in vision and /sh/ like the sh in ship or the ti nation
3. While consonants and consonant "team" sounds can be voiced or unvoiced, vowels (all of the different sounds that they each make) are always voiced!

Congratulations to Doug W. for answering the third part of the challenge correctly!

If you are on Periscope, you can catch our next Challenge live tomorrow afternoon (details at the bottom of this page)!  If not, be sure to check the website tomorrow evening and I'll put a link to the Scope on Katch.  Happy Investigating!

New Directions ...

I originally began this blog as a way to process out loud about our homeschool math experiment.  I will continue to blog about that as interesting things pop up.  But since I've laid out the basics, now I'd like to start a few new threads.  Here's what's been rattling around in my brain ...

Finding Beauty in Phonics

Recently, I listened to Sarah Mackenzie interviewing Andrew Kern.  Andrew Kern was encouraging moms/parents to be about the business of opening the eyes of their children to beauty, to be intentional about regularly putting beautiful things before their children.  Sarah Mackenzie asked "What would you say to a busy mom who says she doesn't have time to put beauty before her children because she has to teach math and phonics?"  Kern's response?  "I would say that math and phonics are beautiful!"

We've already been growing in our understanding of math as something beautiful to engage as a topic of conversation and to enjoy.  Recently, in my efforts to make more one-on-one time with my new reader and with my struggling reader, I've rediscovered the joy of uncovering new and curious things about this language that we read, write and speak.  I'm hoping to share little nuggets of interesting information and also ideas for phonics "investigations" with your kiddos.  I am hoping that this series will be of use to a wide range of folks - mamas of the littlest littles who want to prep for teaching pre-readers to older elementary kids who want the chance to dig deep into why English does what it does!

Math in Real Life: Board Gaming

Call me a snob if you like, but I'm not a super huge fan of "math board games".  In my experience (though I'd be happy to find a counterexample) most math board games put a higher priority on "educational" content and a lower priority on balanced mechanics, gameplay and replayability.  Plus, I'm not convinced that playing "educational board games" really counts as "living math" ... or perhaps it does, but only to the level that word problems count as "living math": something created to resemble real life for the purpose of teaching a math concept.

I'm not against word problems.  And I'm not against educational board games.  But what I really love to do is to play board games - real board games that were made primarily to be fun to play - and to engage with the children about how our understanding of mathematics facilitates our ability to play well and to make good choices in the game.  Our family is somewhat of a board gaming family so this is already a passion of ours and I want to help the children explore how math relates!  Want to join us in this exploration?

Mama as "Marriage Counselor"

Sure, academics and thoughts about academics take up a big portion of a homeschool mom's brain.  But for anyone (homeschool mom or not!) who has more than one kid, sibling interaction is a big part of the day and guiding them is a big part of a mom's job.  Over the last couple of years the Lord has really been re-formatting my thinking on this and my role in helping siblings to navigate disputes has shifted from the role of a "judge" to that of a "marriage counselor" - helping each person to know how best to love another with whom they live side-by-side, share space and possessions, clean up after and to whom they have a life-long commitment!

I certainly don't claim to have any kind of "silver bullet" that will "fix" sibling problems.  In fact, that really isn't my goal in my own home.  Rather, my goal is to use the "sticky spots" that commonly arise to teach my kids lessons that will have broad application throughout the course of their lives - lessons on how to know and understand their own hearts and on how to love others, even when those others are acting like enemies.

And ... Scoping!!

In addition to blogging here, I'm also hoping to start "Scoping" on Periscope soon on each of these three topics.  If you have a smartphone, you can download the Periscope app and follow me @hswotrainingwls (if you're on your phone you can click the link to find my profile).  I'd love to see you there and to have your interaction and input.  (Of course, I'd love to have your interaction and input here, too!)