Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA) Practice Test

During the phonetic stage of spelling development, what is true about a child’s understanding of sounds?

1. They have no understanding of sounds

2. The child knows at least one letter represents each sound

3. They spell almost all words correctly

4. They only represent whispered sounds

The correct answer is: The child knows at least one letter represents each sound

In the phonetic stage of spelling development, it is characterized by the child’s increasing awareness that there is a systematic relationship between letters and sounds. At this stage, the child understands that each sound in a word can be represented by a letter or a group of letters. This foundational knowledge allows them to begin to spell words by matching the sounds they hear to the corresponding letters, making "knows at least one letter represents each sound" an accurate description of their understanding. This stage does not mean the child spells almost all words correctly, as they are still developing their spelling skills and often make errors by using incorrect spellings. They also do not have no understanding of sounds at all, as the phonetic stage is defined by their emerging grasp of sound-letter correspondence. The option suggesting that they only represent whispered sounds is inaccurate, as children at this stage engage with all sounds in words, not just whispered or quiet ones.