Why “Sounding It Out” Isn’t Enough Without These 2 Skills
You tell your child:
“Sound it out.”
They try.
They get the sounds right.
They blend the word…
…and then say:
😕 “What’s that word again?”
If your student is doing all the right things but still isn’t reading smoothly, here’s what’s going on:
👉 “Sounding it out” is just one piece of the puzzle.
To truly decode, remember, and understand words, kids need two invisible-but-critical skills that often get overlooked.
🧩 What Does “Sounding It Out” Actually Mean?
When a child sounds out the word “snap,” they are:
Looking at each letter
Saying the sounds: /s/ /n/ /a/ /p/
Blending those sounds together
That’s decoding.
But decoding alone doesn’t guarantee they’ll remember the word later—or even know what it means in the sentence.
For that, they need two powerful mental tools:
🧠 Skill #1: Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words—without looking at letters.
It’s not phonics.
It’s what happens in the brain before phonics can work.
For example:
Can your child break “cat” into /k/ /a/ /t/?
Can they change /m/ in “mat” to /s/ and say “sat”?
Can they blend /f/ /l/ /a/ /t/ into “flat”?
These are mental sound games—and if a child struggles with them, sounding out won’t stick.
Why it matters:
Phonemic awareness helps kids:
Hold the sounds in working memory
Blend more efficiently
Notice subtle differences in words
Self-correct errors
🧠 It’s the foundation of word recognition.
🔁 Skill #2: Orthographic Mapping
You’ve covered this in a recent post—but here’s a quick refresher.
Orthographic mapping is how kids store words in long-term memory for quick recognition later.
It’s how snap becomes a known word instead of a new puzzle every time.
To map a word, the brain needs to:
Hear the individual sounds (phonemic awareness again!)
Connect those sounds to the letters (phonics)
Understand the word and see it in context
If your student can decode but not remember?
This step is missing.
🚫 What Happens When These Skills Are Missing
You might see a child who:
Can read a word one day but forgets it the next
Decodes slowly, even familiar words
Can’t tell if a word “sounds right” or not
Struggles with spelling
Can’t read fluently, despite tons of practice
They’re doing the work…
…but their brain hasn’t made the permanent connections yet.
✅ What You Can Do to Help
Here’s how to support both skills alongside decoding:
🔹 Build Phonemic Awareness Daily
Play sound games out loud
Do oral segmenting and blending (no letters!)
Use manipulatives or fingers to “feel” each sound
🗣️ Even 5 minutes a day helps.
🔹 Teach with Decodable Texts
Use stories that only include letter-sound patterns your child has learned
Avoid books that rely on guessing or memorization
Re-read for fluency and automaticity
🔹 Say the Word After They Decode It
Sometimes kids blend the word… but don’t recognize it.
Help them make the jump:
“You said /s/ /n/ /a/ /p/… that’s snap!”
Then use it in a sentence:
“Let’s snap our fingers!”
This helps lock in meaning and sound together. 💥
🔹 Pair Reading and Spelling
Spelling helps reinforce orthographic mapping.
If your child can write the word using sounds—they’re much more likely to read it automatically later.
Final Thoughts
“Sound it out” is helpful.
But it’s only effective when paired with sound awareness and mapping practice.
If your child is doing all the “right things” but still struggling, they’re not broken.
They just need help building the bridges inside their brain.
At BrainySheets, our stories, teaching guides, and phonics routines are all built to support these skills—clearly, confidently, and without overwhelm.
Because real reading success isn’t just about decoding—it’s about connecting the dots. 🧠📘✨
