Need help with long versus short vowels

[Hot Lava Mama]

I have used Saxon Phonics and AAS with both my ds and dd. The problem that they both have is remembering which sounds are "long" and which are "short". It becomes a problem because so many other rules are based on knowing this rule. For example, the floss rule, the "k" sounds at the end, etc. etc.

We go over the vowels sounds DAILY! And they still don't get it. My ds is 9, and dd is 7. Are there any good "tricks" out there to help them remember?

One thing I tried (which I thought was working but now it doesn't seem to be) is to have them say their "names" (both of my kids have REALLY long names) and then tell them to remember that just like "their names", the "long" vowels will also say their names, not their sounds. Ugh. It's not working. Any experienced people with helpful suggestions?

Thanks!
Hot Lava Mama
Hot Lava Mama

[MerryAtHope]

Yeah, "long" and "short" don't have much meaning except to linguists!

You could try using the "first" and "second" sounds for awhile instead. When they do the yellow cards in AAS that have them say the sounds, the short sound is always first, the long sound is always 2nd, and then any alternate sounds are next.

Do they review the blue card that has them say the short sounds & the long sounds daily? We just do that rote--I said it with my kids for awhile until they could do it quickly, /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, and then the same with the long sounds.

Hang in there! Merry :-)

[Penelope]

Hmmm, I don't know if this would work for you, but with my 6 yo I would do something silly like make the long sound, long when I say it. Like "the long sound of o is ooooooooooooooooooooh" said really long and drawn out and drawing my arms wide apart and probably making a goofy face or rolling my eyes while I was doing it. And then similarly, say the "short" sounds very short and staccato. And then repeat ad nauseum.

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

The long vowel sound says it's name.....is that the type of cue you are looking for? That way, when you see "a", you think 'name' = 'aaay' not 'aaaaah'

Also in AAS, you'll notice that the second sound the children learn is the long sound. So, you can cue them to run through the sounds for each vowel and select the second sound.

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for. If not, just disregard!:)