There are six component areas (or building blocks) to reading
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear words in sentences, hear and join in rhymes and hear letter-sounds.
Like oral language, phonological awareness is one of those building blocks that start to develop early in a child’s life, even before school starts.
Specifically, children develop the skills to hear individual sounds (or phonemes) in words and learn how to manipulate those sounds. Ask your child: What sound can you hear first in a word? What sound can you hear last?
Try getting them to blend sounds to make simple words (c-a-t = cat) and also to pull sounds apart (dog = d-o-g). This is called phonemic awareness.
Supporting your child’s phonological awareness can be lots of fun!
· Read books and share rhymes
· Sing nursery rhymes and poems (Jack and Jill went up the…)
· Make up rhyming words (they don’t have to real- din, pin, sim)
· Clap along to rhymes and even beat out syllables in words (ta/ble, el/e/phant)
