What is the best way to help my child decode words?
When your child comes to a word they do not know have them stretch out the sounds of the letters starting from left to right. By blending the sounds together they should be able to decode the word. Focus on letter sounds and letter patterns. Practicing word families is a great way for an early reader to hear and see word patterns.
Decoding is one of the hardest skills for early readers to learn. It takes patience and time for students to be able to decode unknown words. I would recommend to keep reinforcing the word patterns and vowel teams to teach this skill. Interactive games are also great ways to practice.
My child will decode a word but isn't able to read it correctly in a sentence....any suggestions?
It's always difficult to decode a word in text then on it's own. Continued practice will help this skill as we don't want you child to become discouraged. Tapping the sounds on your fingers or covering the word and moving your finger as they are sounding the word out is helpful too.