Are you interested in supporting your child as a reader but not sure where to start beyond reading out loud to them? I recommend trying short games and activities that support their phonological awareness! You might be wondering, what is phonological awareness?
"Phonological awareness, or the awareness of and ability to work with sounds in spoken language, sets the stage for decoding and ultimately, word reading. Phonological awareness begins developing before the beginning of formal schooling and continues through third grade and beyond." (Source: Mass Dept. of Education)
Phonological awareness includes:
- Rhyming
- initial sounds
- final sounds
- syllables
- breaking up words into individual sounds
- blending sounds into a word
Learning to work with sounds is different than working with letters. You can practice these skills without using printed text. You don't need to wait until the child has learned all of their letters to work on developing phonological awareness. We practice these skills verbally several times/week. The curriculum we use in the Spanish Immersion program is called Heggerty. You can read more about it here.
For parents in our program who do not speak Spanish, it may feel hard to rhyme or segment words into syllables in Spanish. Practicing these skills in English is great too! I practice with my daughter throughout the day. When I hand her a cup I say c-u-p and she learns to blend the sounds together and repeat back cup. Or I might just draw her attention to the initial sounds by saying d-d-dog.
Phonological awareness is one strand that helps a student recognize and read words. There are many other strands that support their comprehension. I love the way this visual depicts everything that goes into reading!
Here are some things you can try at home (keeping it short and fun to avoid frustration):
- Make up silly sentences with words that begin with the same sound, "Sam sang silly songs on the swing." See who can use the sound the most times in one sentence!
- Practice tongue twisters.
- Read books with rhymes. Teach your child rhymes, songs, and poems.
- Play I spy with the initial sound, "I spy something that starts with /s/.”
- Many more ideas can be found here.
