"Sounding it Out"

Does the term, "sounding it out" seem familiar to you?

This term has been overly used and passed on for generations. In "Sounding Out": A Pervasive Cultural Model of Reading, Catherine Compton-Lilly proclaims that parents and children buy into the mainstream belief that literacy is simply just "sounding it out," but..

there is so much more to "sounding it out!"

How does anyone go about solving unknown words and becoming better readers? When a child faces this challenge, adults are often quick to suggest "sounding it out," but what does that really mean to a child? Such a phrase is simply a way to simplify the complexities of what it means to become a better reader. There are a variety of strategies that are involved!

Meaning, structure, and visual cueing systems aid in success:

Meaning (Semantics): accessing the background, illustrations, and words around can help.

Structure: grammatical patterns

Visual (Graphophonic): using the visual features of words and letters and how they sound

Thus, using meaning and structure cues in conjunction with visual cuing are all involved in "sounding it out."

It is important to keep in mind that reading comes in developmental stages just as the physical growth of a child comes in various developmental stages. We cannot expect a child to go from crawling to running; they must learn to walk before the run. Similarly, we cannot expect a child to instantly know how to read or write. It's okay if your child does not spell correctly or read with all of the conventions at first! These elements of success take time. Talk to your teacher about what stage of literacy development your child is at.

You are bound to be impressed.