Segmenting

Segmenting is the opposite of blending. We push sounds together to help read words (blending) and we use segmenting to help with spelling. You can help your child to segment words by saying the word and then breaking it into individual sounds.

We need to say each sound rather than each letter when segmenting. For each sound they hear, they write a grapheme to represent the sound. Some sounds are made using 2 letters (digraph) or 3 letters (trigraphs) e.g. sh-i-p not s-h-i-p. The s and h work together to make one sound sh.

You can help your child develop segmenting skills every day. Say a word then model how to sound it out. Let's brush our teeth, t-ee-th. It's time for bed, b-e-d.

When children begin to spell they may make phonetically plausible attempts at spelling. They will use sounds they have been taught, which might not be the correct spelling e.g. luv for love. This is great and encouraged when children begin to write.

The flashcards in the Reception Set 1 pack with a stripe are decodable. This means that your child can segment the sounds to help spell the word.

Tricky Words

Tricky words can be sounded out but your child needs to remember what letters are needed to spell the tricky part! The black sound buttons show the sounds e.g. s-ai-d. The white letter shows the ticky part that needs to be learnt by heart because it breaks the rules or hasn't been learnt yet e.g. ai.