decodable - The OG Toolkit: 5 Terms Every Parent Should Know
December 19, 2025
If you have ever sat in a meeting and heard words like "phoneme" and "grapheme" fly by, you are not alone. Parents are handed Orton-Gillingham (OG) recommendations and a glossary in the same breath, and it can feel like a second language. But here is the good news: the OG toolkit is small, logical, and absolutely learnable. These five terms will let you understand what your child's tutor is doing - and practice it at home.
1. Phoneme. The smallest unit of sound. The word "cat" has three phonemes: /c/, /a/, /t/. English has 44 phonemes but only 26 letters, which is why reading is tricky.
2. Grapheme. The letter or letters that spell a sound. In "cat," each phoneme is spelled by one grapheme. In "sh," two letters make one grapheme for one sound.
3. Blending. Putting sounds together to read a word: /c/ /a/ /t/ becomes "cat." Blending is reading.
4. Segmenting. Pulling a word apart into its sounds to spell it: "cat" becomes /c/ /a/ /t/. Segmenting is spelling.
5. Morpheme. The smallest unit of meaning. "Un" + "happy" = "unhappy." Understanding morphemes helps readers crack big words later on.
TRY THIS
This week, try the sound sandwich. Zero prep, five minutes.
- Pick a three-sound word like "sun" or "mat."
- Say the sounds slowly and stretch your arms out wide: /s/... /u/... /n/.
- Snap them together as you bring your hands back to center: "sun!"
Your child sees that sounds can be blended (reading) and separated (spelling) - the two core OG moves, practiced as a game.
MICRO-TIPS
- Sounds before letters. A child can blend sounds before they know all their letters; that is fine and good.
- One sound, one motion. Pair each phoneme with a movement to make it stick.
- Say it, then write it. Reading and spelling use different pathways; practice both.
- Multisensory is the point. See it, say it, move it - OG is built on this trio.
- Keep it playful. Five minutes of a game beats thirty minutes of a worksheet.
A NOTE FOR YOU
Learning a new vocabulary while your child is struggling can feel like one more thing to carry. But these five terms are a gift, not a burden: they give you a common language with tutors, teachers, and specialists, and they turn you into an active partner instead of a confused bystander. You do not need to master every detail of OG - you need the toolkit, and now you have it. Give yourself permission to take a breath. Every term you learn is a handhold your child can climb with.
Warmly,
- The Decodable Team
Sources & Further Reading