I am in the process of making flash cards to go along with our phonics textbook, The Handbook for Reading by Abeka.

Now, I realize that I could have picked up a set of phonics flashcards from any number of stores, but I really wanted our flashcards to coordinate with our Abeka phonics program.

And, I looked into purchasing the set that's made to go with Norah's handbook. That would have been the easiest thing to do, of course. But, the matching set is nearly thirty dollars, even the used ones. And that price doesn't include shipping. I couldn't justify spending that much for flashcards, no matter how much I argued with myself, no matter how much we needed them.

So, I designed my own.

I used markers and blank index cards that we already have. I am coloring a triangle on the top, right corner of each card to match the section of the book where the special sound is found. And, I am using a different color for the special sound itself within the word.


You can see here how the special sound "sn" is in red, while the rest of the word is black. And, the top, right-hand corner of the card is blue to match the edge of the pages of the section where this sound is found in the handbook.

We will probably go through these a few times a week. I doubt they'll be part of our lessons, officially. I might just throw them in my bag to keep us busy in waiting rooms and that kind of thing. But, they will definitely help Norah see those special sounds "pop" off the page.