Trouble Sounding Out Words? Try This!

Does your child give you a blank stare when you tell them to sound out a word? It may be because they don't know how to sound out the word. Instead of telling them to "sound it out", why not show them how to sound it out.

Aren't kids supposed to sound out words? Isn't that the goal?

Yes, however, it's not as simple as just sounding it out. Many kids don't know what we mean by "sound it out", or they don't know how to sound out a particular word.

Instead of telling kids to sound out words, it is more effective to show them how to sound out words. Here's how:

1. Demonstrate how to use the letter sounds they know and blend letter sounds together to make a word.

2. Ask the child if they know the sounds they would need to sound out. There may be a letter-sound concept that they haven't learned yet, like a vowel team, or magic E. If they don't know the sound, they can't sound out the word.

3. Coach your child to use the sounds they know, and teach them about the sounds they don't know. Work together with your child to put all the sounds together to make the word.

Most importantly, make sure your child is reading text that is appropriate for their reading level. If they are just learning about consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, it is not fair to ask them to read text with more complicated letter sounds. They will not have learned those sounds yet. It will be impossible to read them, and they will get frustrated. This is why decodable readers at the appropriate level are a great choice! Flyleaf Publishing has some great decodable readers that you can access online for free! Click here to check them out.

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