Guide · tricky words
What Are Heart Words?
A heart word is a common word with a part that doesn't match its usual sound, so that part has to be learned by heart. In said, the s and d are regular and only the ai is odd. You draw a heart over the tricky letters and learn just that part.
Most of the word is regular
Children can feel that words like said or was are completely random. They aren't. Usually only one or two letters break the pattern. In have, only the e is odd, and in they, only the ey. Showing a child this makes the word far less scary, and it means they still use their letter sounds.
How to teach one
Say the word, and tap its sounds on your fingers. Write a line for each sound, and fill in the letters together. When you reach the odd part, say so, and draw a heart above it. Then read the word and write it from memory. Each word page on this site names the tricky part where a word has one.
Some examples
said: ai sounds like short e. was: a sounds like "uh", s sounds like z. one: a w sound with no w in sight. of: f sounds like v. you: ou sounds like "oo". two: silent w. come: o sounds like "uh", and the e is silent. their: eir sounds like "air".
How to do it with Wordburrow
- Pick two or three heart words from your child's list.
- Make flash cards and draw the hearts together.
- Practice with Seed Sow and Burrow Door, which build the word letter by letter.
- Find the words in a book, and read them aloud.
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Questions people ask
Are all sight words heart words?
No. Plenty of sight words, like big and run, follow the rules. Some heart words become regular later, once a child has learned that spelling pattern.
Who invented heart words?
The idea is used widely in structured literacy teaching, and teachers apply it in slightly different ways.
An app is on the way
We're building a Wordburrow app for iPhone. The plan is everything you can play here, plus offline play and a parent view of the words that have stuck. It isn't out yet. The whole game is free here in the meantime.
Coming soon on theApp Store