The other day, I had a six year old guest for the morning. We don’t have many snow days around here, so when it was time for Rosie’s reading lesson, our little guest wanted to join in, too. I handed her the book opened to the page just before Rosie’s because it had a simple list of short-i words. I just wanted to see where she was at. She had no trouble with any of the consonant sounds, except for the very confusing b and d. But then she made me laugh when she read “pin”.
“P-I-N. PIN,” she sounded out. “Like, ‘I write with a pin.’”
I tried correcting her, but she’s a Kentucky girl, and PIN and PEN sound exactly alike to her. My question for you Southern homeschoolers and teachers is: How do you teach a child the difference between words like “pin” and “pen”, or “sit” and “set”, when she doesn’t speak the difference and very likely doesn’t even hear the difference? Just for curiosity’s sake. 
Same way as you would teach the difference between write, right, right, and rite. Really, to a Kentucky girl, the words ARE homonyms, even though they aren’t in every place.
((Not even a parent, but just chiming in on something that made sense to me. I talk like her, or did at one point in my life!))
LOL – I’ve wondered this. Teach them like they’re homophones?
Great ideas…I was stumped until I read the comments.
You mean there’s really a difference in pronunciation?? I always thought they were homophones? (well, not sit and set, but pin and pen? Yes?) I just teach them as homophones, which coincidentally we just covered with my 6 yr old recently.
I agree- just teach them as homophones. I taught my daughter that pIn with an i – the “i” looks like a straight pin, to help her remember.
heh – where I ran into problems was convincing one of the kids “washer” wasn’t spelled WORSHER.
Yikes! Cam, I mean no disrespect, but are you serious? I don’t see how an adult (who must have heard the difference between pin and pen pronounced on national TV many times) can think that they are homophones. Surely you don’t pronounce “lit” and “let” the same way, do you? Well, the same “short i” and “short e” difference exists with regard to “pin” and “pen.” It’s necessary to keep repeating (and ask a Southerner to keep repeating) the two separate sounds until he/she can perceive and imitate the difference.
My daughter sounded out “p-e-n”, and had no clue what the word was. Haha. Soooo we just talked about how in the South, we just say things a wee bit differently. We may not be doing phonics much longer, haha.
But, in the NE, they add r’s where there are none, and drop r’s in other places. I’ve always wondered if they drop the r in car, so as to be able to say warsh. ;-p
So, in addition to what Elizabeth said- context, context, context. You teach read and read by using them in a sentence. You do the same thing for pen and pin. And, no, I had never realized that some people said them differently until I met my husband. Oh, and I’m from Oklahoma. Poor hubby had no idea what we were saying when we said “see-ment.” These northerners just don’t know how to pronounce cement.
Yes, after growing up in the north and then living and teaching in the south, I have heard many different variations of words.
You really do have to teach the words in context. People speak differently all across our country – it is part of what makes us unique! I love to hear different accents, even if I have to do a double take every now and then. I had never heard of a “hose pipe” before moving to South Carolina – I am not sure why you have to add “pipe” to a regular old hose!
Wow, I have no idea. I’m from the deep south, and I have a southern accent (so I’m told), but pen and pin sound completely different to me. I pronounce my I’s and E’s correctly, so I haven’t had an issue teaching my daughter this either when it comes to reading. I really have no idea how one would go about that when they, themselves, do not hear a difference in the sounds.
Hehehehe… too cute… Btw have something for you @ my blog…
Miguel occasionally tries to teach me Spanish words and though I swear I’m pronouncing them exactly as he does, he will continue to correct my pronunciation for minutes on end before giving up. We lose the ability to hear and reproduce sounds early in our lives, and once it’s gone, you can’t get it back. That’s why the recommend teaching languages to young children, so that they can hear and reproduce the sounds accurately.