Zara sees a sunflower in the garden. Sun and flower joined to make one word. That is a compound word. Rain and bow make rainbow.
bookshelf
The parts give clues
The small words help you know what the big word means. A bookshelf is a shelf for books. A snowman is a man made of snow.
bath + tubreal wordsba + thtubnot real words
Split it the right way
To find the two words, look for real words inside. Bathtub is bath and tub. It is not ba and thtub. Both parts must be real words.
orangeone wordpancakepan + cake
Not every long word
Some long words are not compound words. Orange cannot split into two real words. Player is play and er, and er is not a word. Pancake is pan and cake, so it is compound.
Try this
Look at the word doorbell. What two words do you see? Door and bell. A doorbell is a bell by the door. Now try sunlight.
For parents
Goal: Your child learns that a compound word is two small words joined together, and uses the parts to work out the meaning.
Ask your child to clap once for each small word: sun, flower.
If a word splits into parts that are not real words, it is not a compound word.
Away from the screen: Hunt for compound words around the house: toothbrush, bathtub, bedroom, cupcake, doorbell. Write the two parts on cards and join them.