F▪am▪i▪ly Phonics

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All these words are members of the -at family.  They are like bothers and sisters.  (See the 'a, t' at the end of each?) Let's practice saying these words. 

at

That's the family name, and it's a word you'll use a bunch too--like: "I'm at home"!

cat

fat

bat

sat

mat

rat

pat

hat

The next word is someone's name, so it starts with a capital/big letter:

Nat

This is short for Nathan (which means "gift") or Nathanael ("gift from God").  Nathanael was one of Jesus' first disciples (John 1.47-49).

And here's another name.  You see those last 2 t's?  They go together:

• they only make one /t/ sound
• don't try to say /t/ twice
• the 2nd 't' is just a helper

Matt

This name is short for Matthew, another of Jesus' disciples (Matt 9.9).  We spell this with 2 t's, but it sounds just like the other members of the -at family.  Names (and nicknames) often have special spellings.

Here's a name that can be a boy's or a girl's name, and can also be a short nickname for several names:

Pat

The final word contains a digraph--2 letters that make 1 sound.  These 2 letters are underlined to help you see that they go together.  This is a very important word:

that