YES! Phonemic awareness skills deal with the spoken language and are mainly auditory skills. Phonics skills deal with the printed and written language and are both auditory and visual. In phonemic awareness, students are being taught to hear and manipulate the sounds of language. In phonics, students are being taught which letters are associated with the sounds of the language. Both skills are crucial to reading mastery! These skills need to be combined, and it is my experience that this is best done during your word study time and not during your phonemic awareness time.


Andrew Follett

Hi there! I’m the CEO at Heggerty. Prior to joining the team, I was on staff at The Field School where my kids attend, and where I continue to serve on the board. I was also the Founder & CEO at Demo Duck, a video production agency. I live in Oak Park, IL with my wife and 3 children, and enjoy travel, hockey, tennis, and reading (of course).