Heart Words School to Home Connection Freebie

This Heart Words School to Home Connection freebie helps families better understand how heart words are taught within Science of Reading aligned classrooms. The parent friendly letter explains what heart words are, why they are important, and how students learn to read and spell them.

The resource explains that heart words are high frequency words containing one or more unexpected spelling patterns students must learn “by heart.” Families are guided through how students sound out the decodable parts of a word while identifying the tricky or irregular sound that must be remembered.

The letter also explains the difference between temporary heart words and permanent heart words using clear examples students and families can understand. Parents learn how heart word instruction supports phonics development, orthographic mapping, and automatic word recognition.

What’s Included:
• Heart words parent letter
• Science of Reading explanation for families
• Temporary vs permanent heart word examples
• At home phonics support resource
• Editable version access

Ideas for use:
• Family communication
• Curriculum night handouts
• Parent conferences
• At home phonics support
• Science of Reading family education

Skills covered include:
• Heart words
• High frequency words
• Orthographic mapping
• Decoding
• Phonics routines
• Automatic word recognition

This freebie helps strengthen school to home connections by giving families simple explanations and examples that support consistent phonics learning outside the classroom.