The "th" Sound

Welcome back to Read Not Guess. Today we’re going to work on the “th” sound.

Remember that we’re going to focus on the sounds the letters make. Both parent and child will need to be able to see the screen.

Let’s get started.

Today’s Letter Sound

As we've discussed, some letters can work together to make new sounds. The "th" combination sounds like the beginning of the word “this” or the end of the word “with.” (Here's a short, silly YouTube video to hear it out loud.)

Have your kids read the "th" sound as they point to the letters:

th

th

th

Ask your child which of these words does NOT have the "th" sound:

them

wish

with

Because it’s such an important word in the English language, take a moment to have them read the word “the” three times:

the

the

the

Word Practice

Now we’re going to work on “blending” letter sounds into words. Your child can start slowly by saying each sound individually, but each time, they should try to say it just a bit faster.

Ask your child to say the correct sounds as they point to the letters:

th at

that

And:

th i s

this

And:

th em

them

And:

th u d

thud

Now try a few with “th” at the end:

w i th

w ith

with

And:

b a th

b ath

bath

And:

m a th

m ath

math

How about this sequence?

th ick

thick

And:

th ick ly

thickly

Silly Sentence Challenge

This might be hard, but see if your child can sound this out:

If the sloth has a bath now, she will get this brush wet.

If they read it smoothly, great! If they stumble, have them sound it out another time or two to get it right.

That’s it for today. We’ll see you next time.