Phonemic Awareness

Phoneme blending is the ability to blend individual sounds into a word.

For example: Say the sounds /b/-/a/-/t/ aloud to your child. Ask them, "What word do these sounds blend to make?" They would respond with bat.

Phoneme segmentation is the ability to break words down into individual sounds. For example, a child may break the word “sand” into its individual sounds – /s/, /a/, /n/, /d/.

WHY ARE PHONEME SEGMENTATION SKILLS IMPORTANT? Children who have strong phonemic awareness skills become better, more confident readers.

Phoneme deletion involves having children manipulate spoken words by deleting specific sounds.

For example, say the word cat aloud to your child. Have your child repeat the word. Now, ask your child what the new word would be if you deleted the sound /c/. He/she would respond with the word at.