●First Sound Fluency- When given a word, students will say the first sound in the word (not the letter name).  Saying the first sound in a word is the first phonological skill we work on.  Simply ask your child, “What is the first sound in ______?”  While driving in the car you might say, “I see a store what is the first sound in the word “store”?  They should respond, “/ssssss/” or “There is a cow! What’s the first sound in cow?”, etc.  Later in the year, we will work on isolating middle and ending sounds.

●Sound Segmentation- When given a word, students will tell you all the sounds in a word.  If you say the word “sun”, they would respond “/sss/ /u/ /n/”.  You could also have them count out the sounds using their fingers.  How many sounds are in the word club?  /k/ /l/ /u/ /b/, 4 sounds.  How many sounds in fish?  /f/ /i/ /sh/, 3 sounds.  

●Blending Sounds- Blending sounds is the opposite of segmenting.  You would say a word slowly (saying each sound), and the child would say the whole word quickly (how we talk).  Drag out a word without stopping between the sounds.  For example, you would say /mmmmmaaaaaannnnn/  for “man” and /cuuuuuut/ for “cut”.  You can do a game to have your child figure out names, food or activities.  For example, “After dinner we are having /iiiissscrrrrreeeemmm/.  What are we having?  Ice Cream!”

●Rhyming- Rhyming words sound like each other on the ending part of a word.  Rhyming is a great way to build understanding of word parts and sounds as well as build skills for spelling later on.  When reading a story or singing a song with rhyming words, point out the rhymes. For example, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star.  How I wonder what you are.  Hey, star… are; Those words rhyme!  What else rhymes with star?”  Find things around the house and say 3 rhyming words for each item.