“Sh” is a digraph because when “s” and “h” are together
they make one new sound of /sh/.
It always makes me giggle and burst with pride when one of my kiddos becomes so confident in their skills that they become the teacher. It’s such a good feeling, for them, for me and certainly for their parents.
Silent Elephant “e”™ is THE program that teaches reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, and comprehension), writing and spelling in a precisely organized, systematic, complete auditory, visual and kinesthetic way that ALL CHILDREN NEED, especially dyslexic and struggling learners.
It is THE program that makes the teaching and learning to read, write and spell interesting, fun and a sure thing. It engages their whole brain and all their senses every moment of every lesson.
Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is tried and true and that became apparent again when “Kathy”, the proud mom of “Julie”, one of my students, excitedly shared this wonderful story.
At the time, Julie was in second grade and because of Covid was on the computer for her reading class with her teacher and classmates. Her teacher told a child who was struggling to read the word “shade” that “shade” started with the blend “sh”.
Julie raised her hand and her teacher called on her. Julie politely explained to her teacher and classmates that “sh” is not a blend.
“If “sh” was a blend, it would make the Kindergarten sounds of /s/ and /h/ blended together smoothly. Then “shade” would sound like /s/ - /h/ - /long “a”/ - /d/.
“So, “sh” is a digraph, because when “s” and “h” are together they make one new sound of /sh/.
Julie continued teaching, “My tutor says that the letters in blends sound just the same as the sounds we learned for the letters in Kindergarten.
“But the letters in digraphs make new, different sounds, not at all like the sounds we learned in Kindergarten. Mrs. Jones and I say the digraphs are magical, because the letters magically change their sounds to become digraphs.”
Julie’s teacher was amazed, “Wow Julie, you explained that very well, very clearly. We’ll never get blends and digraphs mixed up again! Good job!”
Kathy beamed with pride and shared, “I was so impressed by how politely and meticulously Julie taught her teacher and her classmates!
“Everything she’s learned from you completely makes sense to her.” (Julie often said during a lesson, “Oh, that makes sense.” 😊)
Kathy smiled with pride and continued, “Julie teaches Silent Elephant “e” to anyone who will listen: me, her dad, her little sister, her grandma, her friends—everyone! Maybe she’ll grow up to be a teacher.”
I, too, felt so much pride!
Julie is a completely different girl than the one who began Silent Elephant “e”™. She is severely dyslexic and had already been placed in special education in the early part of first grade.
But there she was completely successful in her reading class, even on the computer. What Julie needed to become confident in her reading, writing and spelling was a precisely organized, systematic, complete auditory, visual and kinesthetic program, aka, Silent Elephant “e”™.
Students becoming a teacher is a common theme when you teach with Silent Elephant “e”™. It teaches them the way they learn, so reading, writing and spelling “makes sense” and it is easy for them to explain to others what they understand, even if they are severely dyslexic. Explaining why they know what they know is an integral part of the program.
Being severely dyslexic did not stop Julie from learning to read, write and spell. She is a confident student, never looking back, thanks to being taught the way her dyslexic brain learns. Thanks to Silent Elephant “e”™. Within 3.5 years, Julie, as a first grader, went from frustrated at a Kindergarten level to an instructional 11th grade reading level at the end of her fourth-grade year of school! She is at the top of her class instead of the bottom of her class. She used to struggle with anxiety and depression. Today my heart is filled with joy seeing how proud and confident she is of herself!
Contact me here to explore how you can teach your kiddos with Silent Elephant “e”™ to give them the freedom of a solid reading, writing and spelling foundation that will set them up for life.