Blending
Blending is the
to truly independent reading, which in
turn, supports spelling. It is the reason we learned
letter-sounds and letter combinations (th, ch, ai, ea,
ew, igh etc.). Once we know the sounds we can blend
them to hear the word - m u d = mud / r ai n = rain /
ch ea p = cheap.
As we also build up a knowledge base of alternative sounds ( each head heart) and alternative representations (see sea field receive here) we are increasingly empowered to use reference books such as a dictionary or a thesaurus with confidence.
As short-term memory store is limited we move on to sounding syllables - con stant ly = constantly / dis em bark = disembark / re la tion = relation. Note that knowledge such as "A vowel at the end of a syllable says its name." helps the student to make sense of the structure of the word re la tion. Information that makes sense is better accepted into memory. Knowledge that is useful across a great number of words is invaluable as it greatly reduces the quantity of information that needs to be learned. It makes no sense to learn words individually when we have a powerful alphabetic code to make life easier and might I say a lot more interesting.
Learning phonic skills, spelling rules, grammar rules and punctuation rules results in a great spin off in terms of increasing the learner's cognitive abilities, which in turn has spin offs for problem solving and creative endeavour.
An inability to blend sounds into words is experienced by a small percentage of students. The student is said to have a 'phonological coding deficit'. Can this be overcome? I have to say "Yes, in most cases it can but it requires a tutor who knows the nature of the problem."
For example such a tutor has to know the importance of steering clear of explosive letter sounds in the initial learning stages. Explosives when they are first introduced must be the last sound in a word only. Apart from the technical aspects tutors must be aware of the compounding factors of long term failure and the fear and stress that it engenders. Take great care in selecting a tutor in such cases.
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