3 Benefits of Teaching Kids to Divide Words Into Syllables
(Photo Credit: Renato Ganoza)
A syllable is a word part and all word are made up of syllables. Knowing this will help kids learn how to read and write. What are the benefits of learning to split words into syllables?
-
Syllables have a significant role in spoken English, because they greatly affect the rhythm of the language, its poetic meter and its stress patterns. As the basic units of speech sounds, syllables are often considered the phonological building blocks of words. For example, the word "educational" is composed of five syllables: e + du + ca + tion + al and "redundancy" is composed of four syllables: re + dun + dan + cy.
-
Understanding syllables and learning to segment words not only helps children master phonics, but these skills also play a vital role in learning to spell, read and pronounce words correctly. When children are faced with a very long word, breaking it up into bits can help them overcome that classic long-word-fatigue.
-
Breaking words into syllables can also help children remember the silent letters in a word such as Wednesday. We say “wens day” but spell it Wed-nes-day. By exaggerating the pronunciation of words and the syllables in words, it is easier to remember how they are spelled.
Do you want to read more about the benefits of dividing syllables? Check out Phonics on the Web.