Years 3-4 Statutory Words Set 2

CIRCLE contains two letter Cs, and they make two completely different sounds — the first soft, the second hard. It is a neat illustration of the single most useful rule in this whole set: the letter C changes its mind depending on what comes next.

This second set of Years 3-4 statutory words from the DfE is unusually teachable, because so much of it turns on one reliable rule about the letter C. Several words also belong to a small EAR family where the letters say “er”, and the set ends with the EIGHT pattern. The word search gathers all fifteen so children practise spotting these recurring features rather than memorising each word in isolation.

CENTURY · CERTAIN · CIRCLE · COMPLETE · CONSIDER · CONTINUE · DECIDE · DESCRIBE · DIFFERENT · DIFFICULT · DISAPPEAR · EARLY · EARTH · EIGHT · EIGHTH

The soft-C rule, made visible

The single most useful rule in this set: the letter C makes two sounds, and which one it makes is decided by the very next letter. Before E, I or Y, C says “s” (soft). Before A, O, U or any consonant, C says “k” (hard). CENTURY says “sentury” because the C is followed by E. CIRCLE has both: the first C is followed by I (soft, “s”), and the second is followed by L (hard, “k”). CERTAIN is soft (C+E). COMPLETE is hard (C+O). DECIDE is soft (C+I). DIFFICULT is hard (C+U). The rule holds across thousands of English words and is one of the few pieces of phonics that genuinely never breaks.

The EAR family is the other treat in this set. EARLY, EARTH, HEARD (from B11), LEARN (B12) all spell the “er” sound with EAR. There is no rule about which words use EAR rather than ER, IR or UR (the three spellings from S25), but at least the EAR words form a small cluster children can learn together. And EIGHT/EIGHTH preview a small AIGH/EIGHT family (NEIGHBOUR, WEIGH, EIGHTEEN) that will turn up across the rest of the list.

Five to examine while solving

1. CIRCLE shows the rule on the same letter. Find it. Look at both Cs. First C followed by I — soft. Second C followed by L — hard. Same letter, two voices, dictated by what comes next. There is no clearer demonstration of the rule in the entire list.
2. CENTURY is hundred-related. Ask your child what a century is (a hundred years — the same CENT in CENTIPEDE from S60). The C is soft because of the E. Year 3 vocabulary still using S60’s Latin root toolkit.
3. DECIDE is two soft Cs in disguise. Actually one C, soft because followed by I. Then the noun DECISION (from S48) was an early relative — DECIDE + ION, where the soft C contributes to the “shun” sound. Old learning, new costume.
4. EARLY and EARTH rhyme. Find both. Then say them aloud. Same EAR saying “er” in both. Add HEARD (next puzzle) and LEARN (B12) and you have a small EAR-says-er family: four words, one spelling, one sound.
5. EIGHT and EIGHTH share a horror story. EIGHT has EIGH spelling a long A (with a silent GH). EIGHTH adds a TH to that — and how do you say it? “Aytth”, a sound mouth can barely make. Get your child to try. The discomfort is part of the lesson; some English spellings exist because nothing better fits.

Bringing it into lessons

As a soft-or-hard C starter. Write twelve C words on the board (some from the grid, some new): CAT, CITY, CYCLE, CUP, CELL, CENT, CAKE, CIRCLE, ACCIDENT, DECIDE, COULD, CIRCUS. The class calls each one soft or hard, using the next-letter check. Then a twist — CIRCUS has both, side by side. The starter teaches the rule, then immediately stress-tests it on a word that proves the rule’s reach.

As an EAR-family hunt in pairs. Pairs find every EAR word in the grid where EAR says “er” (EARLY, EARTH — two), then add others they can think of (HEARD, LEARN, RESEARCH, REHEARSE, PEARL, SEARCH). The EAR-says-er family is closed enough to be memorisable, big enough to be useful. Pairs who find five own the family.

One-to-one at home. For home educators, take the soft-C rule shopping. On your next supermarket visit, your child looks for every product whose name contains a soft C: CEREAL, CELERY, MINCE (in beef mince), CINNAMON, RICE, ICE, JUICE. Real labels saturated with the rule — and one trip turns a phonics rule into evidence about how supermarkets are written. Most children find at least ten.

What comes next

• Years 3-4 Statutory Words Set 3 — the words children misspell most often
• Years 3-4 Statutory Words Set 1 — the previous set
• All spelling word searches — the full Series A, B and C collection

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