A word like sunflower looks long and intimidating — until a child realises it's just two words they already know, stuck together. Compound words are some of the easiest "long words" to decode. Here's the method and 100+ examples to practise with.
The split-and-blend method
- Cover the second half of the word with a finger.
- Read the first word alone — it's always a word your child already knows.
- Cover the first half instead, read the second word alone.
- Say both words together, faster each time, until they blend into one.
Compound words by theme
Not all compounds are spelled as one word
Closed compounds (sunflower) are best for early decoding practice — one continuous word to split and blend. Hyphenated (well-known) and open compounds (ice cream) follow the same joining-of-meaning idea but don't need the same decoding technique, since the words are already visually separated.
Compound words are one specific case of the broader skill covered in our guide to decoding long words — the same split-it-up principle scales up to any multisyllable word.
Compound words are one piece of decoding longer words — suffix spelling rules and syllable division cover the other two common ways multisyllable words trip kids up.