Terminology

As you go, your child will create their own glossary of terms, but….

Here is a quick reference if you need one:

Term	Definition
Consonant	Letters that are not vowels.
Consonant Blend	Two graphemes (letters) that blend together, but can be separated if you listen hard. 1 + 1 = 2 eg, <t> + <w> = /t+w/.
Digraph	Two graphemes (letters) that equal 1 phoneme (sound). 1 + 1 = 1 eg, <s> + <h> = /sh/
Grapheme	The written representation of a sound. Shown with <> brackets. Examples of graphemes are <a>, <tch> <ea>
Phoneme	A sound. Phonemes are never written down. In English there are 44 phonemes represented by many more graphemes. When we describe their sound in writing we use /virgules/. For example, if we are referring to the sound that the grapheme <p> represents we would write /p/. This sounds like the first and last sound in ‘pop’.
Syllable	The proper definition of a syllable is that it is a “unit of pronunciation containing a vowel sound”. We like to think of it as the ‘beats of a word’. It is important to note, that syllables are pronounced an NOT spelled. How many syllables does the word ‘every’ have when you say it? – ‘ev-ry’, two. However, if we say it as we spell it it would have three, ‘ev-er-y’. Using syllables to help decode written text and spell is an artificial construct. However, it is a helpful artificial construct so long as we don’t get carried away with it, or put unrealistic expectations on this fabricated way of looking at language. You will find that this program does not take syllables as far as other Orton Gillingham based programs. This is why.
Trigraph	Three graphemes (letters) that equal 1 phoneme (sound). 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 eg, <i> + <g> + <h> = /ī/
Vowel	At a basic level <a, e, i, o , u>. Later we teach that <y> can be a vowel. Later still we teach that <w> can be a vowel. Vowels have two sounds. We describe these sounds as ‘long’ and ‘short’ sounds.
Short Vowel	When we refer to these phonemes in text we use a breve above the letter. /ă/ cat, /ĕ/ egg, /ĭ/ itch, /ŏ / olive/, /ŭ/ up
Long Vowel	When we refer to these phonemes in text we use a macron above the letter. /ā, ē, ī, ō, ū/. Long vowels are also used for the names of the vowels.