Steps to Developing Language Fluency in Young Children

It is a good idea to introduce words with ending clusters to kids around first or second grade, or when you believe that they are developmentally ready for this challenge. Examining the ending clusters for a whole group of words is a big step towards fluency. This step should be approached with patience and care. Take a word, for example, like light. The ending cluster here is “ight”. Remove the letter “l” and substitute the letter “s” instead. Now you have the word sight. Continue in this manner until your child begins to recognize and pronounce words on his own such as might, fight, fright and bright. Introduce other ending clusters to him and help him become familiar with manipulating words.

• Does Your Child have the Ability to Link Letters and Sounds Together?
• Is Your Child Familiar with Words that Form Opposites?
• Can Your Child Build New Words from a Single Core Word?
• Can Your Child Sound Out Rhyming Words?
• Has Your Child Learned about Compound Words?
• Can Your Child Build Words using Ending Clusters?
• Is Your Child Familiar with Beginning Blends?
• Have You Encouraged Independent Reading?
• Do You Read Books Yourself?