How many little sounds?
Listen to the word. Pick a basket for its sounds.
Count sounds, not letters.
Counting sounds in a spoken word
Listen to the whole word, then count the sounds you hear. Ship is three sounds, not four letters. Moon is three sounds. The tap checks the count only.
Grown-up guide
Practice spoken sounds together. No reading is needed. Start with Little steps, then try Growing sounds or the Big adventure. Say consonants cleanly; avoid adding an extra “uh.” Accents can change a vowel sound without changing the number of sounds.
Speak this prompt for your learner
Say the whole word: see.
Using this helper records grown-up support separately from independent matches.
Grown-up answer and choice key
Answer: see — /s/ · /i/ — 2 sounds.
Listen to sounds, not letters
“Ship” has three sounds: /sh/ /i/ /p/. “Moon” also has three; its long vowel is one sound. “Clap” has four because /k/ and /l/ are separate. “Box” has four because its final letter represents /k/ and /s/. Praise careful listening and spoken attempts; use a hint or reveal together when needed.
Sound Train practices oral segmentation, the skill measured by DIBELS Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF). This original game does not use official test forms, cut scores, or diagnostic scoring. For formal administration and scoring, use the University of Oregon guide and official PSF scoring practice.