Do your children love to make silly sounds?
Then they will love playing games, singing songs and reciting rhymes. All of this supports the development of phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is a child’s understanding of the sound structures of language. For example, it includes the ability to identify the beginning and ending sounds of words.
This skill is closely related to reading skills and helps children separate sounds within a word so that they can later connect sounds to a specific letter. Connecting sounds to letters is known as phonics.
Children are born ready to learn, play and explore their world. Here are some things to watch for as you see your child developing phonological skills:
Step One:
Your baby will listen as you sing songs and recite traditional rhymes
Step Two:
Your child will repeat the last word after you in a familiar rhyme when prompted
Step Three:
Your child will suggest a missing rhyming words within a poem or song when you pause and encourage him to remember what word comes next.
Step Four:
Your child will identify when two words rhyme or don’t rhyme.
Step Five:
Your child will suggest a series of rhyming words when given a word.
Which step is your child on?
Learn more about language and literacy development.