Phonemic Awareness

2 of the best predictors of your child’s success in reading are letter knowledge and phonemic awareness. Here are some ways to help improve your child's phonemic awareness. 

2. Phonemic Awareness 

Phonemic Awareness is being able to hear the individual sounds in the words we say. Children need this skill for learning to read (by blending the sounds of a word together) and when learning to spell (by breaking the word down into its individual letters). 

To introduce your child to the basics of phonemic awareness, begin with rhyming and alliteration activities. Most children can successfully complete these by the age of 5, and some as early as 3. 

Here are some to try: 

• Read books that focus on rhyme and alliteration. Some great ones are: 

Each Peach Pear Plum by J. and A. Ahlberg

A Giraffe and a half by S. Silverstein

• Say 3 rhyming words aloud, such as, cat, mat, and hat. Have your child think of other words that rhyme with those words.

• Create a Rhyming Poem. Have your child suggest words to fill in each blank:
  
  Once I Saw 
  Once I saw a cat, 
  And it wore a funny little _________ . 
  Tra-la-la, la-la-la-la-la
  Silly little cat. 
  Once I saw a goat, 
  And it wore a funny little _________ . 
  Tra-la-la, la-la-la-la-la
  Silly little goat. 

If your child has mastered the rhyming tasks, then try phoneme counting activities. Most children have mastered phoneme counting by the end of the 1st grade. 

Here are some to try:

• 
  Ask your child to tell you what the first sound is in fun, fly, and friend. Have them tell you other words that begin with /f/. 
  

• Write two words on a piece of paper, such as pat and cat, and have your child to tell you which letter is different in each word. If they are really good at this, have them listen for the last sound in each word. For instance, “What’s the last sound in foot, bat, pet?” 
  

• Say your child’s name in individual phonemes. Have them repeat it for you.