How to Teach Digraphs in Orton-Gillingham

If your child can read simple words like cat and hop but stumbles on ship, chat, or thin, digraphs may be the missing step.

This is a common moment for parents. A child seems to know letter sounds, but then two letters show up together and the whole word falls apart. They may sound each letter separately, guess, or freeze because they are not sure what to do next.

This guide will show you how to teach digraphs in Orton-Gillingham in a way that feels clear, calm, and manageable at home.

What are digraphs in Orton-Gillingham?

A digraph is two letters that work together to make one sound. Common early digraphs include:

• sh as in ship
• ch as in chat
• th as in thin
• wh as in whip
• ck as in duck

For many struggling readers, digraphs are tricky because the child sees two letters and tries to say two sounds. That makes sense from their point of view. They are trying to use what they already know.

The goal is to help your child notice that some letter pairs need to be read as a team.

When should you teach digraphs?

In most cases, digraphs make sense after your child has some comfort with:

• single consonant sounds
• short vowel sounds
• simple consonant-vowel-consonant words

If your child can read words like sat, mop, and lip, but gets stuck when sh or ch appears, digraphs are likely a good next step.

You do not need to teach every digraph at once. In fact, it usually works better to introduce one digraph at a time and practice it until it feels familiar.

How do you teach digraphs without overwhelm?

The simplest way to teach digraphs in Orton-Gillingham is to keep the lesson direct and repetitive.

1. Teach one digraph explicitly

Start with just one, such as sh.

Show the letters and say something simple like:

These two letters work together to make one sound: /sh/.

Have your child:

• look at the digraph
• say the sound
• trace or write it
• read it again

Keep the explanation short. The power comes from repeated practice, not a long lesson.

2. Practice it in isolation first

Before putting the digraph into full words, let your child get used to seeing the pattern by itself.

You might show:

• sh
• sh
• sh

Then mix in a few known consonants:

• m
• sh
• t
• sh

Ask your child to say the sound for each card. This helps them spot the digraph quickly instead of treating it like two separate letters.

3. Move into simple words

Once the digraph feels more automatic, practice reading words with that pattern:

• ship
• shop
• shut
• fish
• dash

Choose words with patterns your child already knows aside from the new digraph. That way, only one part of the word is new.

4. Read short decodable phrases or sentences

After word reading, move into short connected text such as:

• The fish is big.
• Shut the shop.
• The ship is in the bay.

This is where you find out whether the pattern holds up in real reading.

What if your child keeps reading the two letters separately?

This is very common.

If your child reads ship as /s/ /h/ /i/ /p/, pause and bring attention back to the team.

You can say:

Try that again. These two letters work together. What sound does sh make?

Then have them read the whole word again.

Try to avoid turning the correction into a lecture. A short reminder is usually enough.

If the same mistake keeps happening, it often means your child needs more practice at the pattern level, not just the word level. Go back to quick drills with the digraph by itself, then return to words.

Digraphs vs blends: why children get confused

A lot of children mix up blends and digraphs.

In a blend, each letter keeps its own sound, like st in stop or bl in black.

In a digraph, two letters work together to make one sound, like sh in ship.

If your child learned blends recently, they may assume every consonant pair should be read sound by sound. That is why digraphs need direct teaching.

You might also find this helpful: How to Teach Blends in Orton-Gillingham

A real-world example

Imagine a fourth grader named Maya. She can read map, sit, and hot without much trouble. But when she gets to shop, she says /s/ /h/ /o/ /p/ and then guesses soap.

Her parent may think she is being careless, but really she has not yet learned that sh is a sound team.

Once Maya practices sh by itself, then in words like shop, ship, and dish, her reading starts to smooth out. She no longer has to solve the same problem from scratch every time she sees the pattern.

That is often what progress looks like in Orton-Gillingham. It is not magic. It is clear teaching plus enough repetition.

Simple ways to practice digraphs at home

If you want to teach digraphs in Orton-Gillingham at home, keep practice short and focused.

Here are a few realistic ideas:

• Use sound cards for one digraph and review them for two or three minutes a day.
• Read five target words with the same digraph instead of a long mixed list.
• Sort words by pattern, such as sh words in one pile and ch words in another.
• Dictate one or two short words so your child connects the sound to spelling too.

Short practice done consistently usually works better than one long session.

Should you teach more than one digraph at a time?

Usually, no.

If your child is already struggling, introducing sh, ch, th, and wh all at once can create unnecessary confusion. It is often better to teach one, practice it until it feels steady, and then add another.

This does not mean you need to wait for perfection. It just means your child should show enough comfort with one pattern before carrying a big new load.

Conclusion

When a child gets stuck on words with sh, ch, or th, it does not mean they are not trying. Often, it means they need direct teaching on how those letters work together.

When you teach digraphs in Orton-Gillingham step by step, reading becomes less guessy and more secure. Start small, keep practice simple, and let repetition do its job.

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