Singing songs with your child is a great way to teach them the early literacy skill of phonological awareness. When we sing, we are focusing on the sounds each part of a word makes rather than what the word means. Pop in a CD such as Carole Peterson’s Dancing Feet and children can dance and sing their way to reading!
–Tip by Carol C., Youth Programming Assistant
Part of phonological awareness is recognizing sounds and breaking words apart into the smaller sounds in them. Onomatopoeia is a great way to help children hear different sounds in words. The sound words in stories like Boom Bah! by Phil Cummings help build phonological awareness. After you finish reading the story, you could make your own band and play with the different sounds you can make. Not only will your child have fun making music, he or she will build early literacy skills!
–Tip by Keary B., Youth Collection Specialist
In the story Dog’s Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting by Emma Dodd, each time dog gets another spot of color it is accompanied by a sound like “Swish” or “Splurt.” Have your child make these sounds with you as you read. Having children hear and make different sounds like this helps them to be able to play with the different sounds of the English language and will help them later when they are trying to sound out words to read. This is part of the skill of phonological awareness.
–Tip by Erin E., Youth Programming Coordinator
Phonological awareness means learning about sounds in words. Even though young children do not understand the meanings of rhymes, it is important for them to hear them. By six months babies are already able to recognize the sounds of the languages they hear. They also are losing those sounds they don’t hear even though they were born able to learn to make them. Remember to talk to your children, read with them, and sing songs. All of these activities contribute to preparing children for school and reading later on.
–Tip by Claire B., Youth Outreach Coordinator
Take advantage of every opportunity to play with rhyme and the sounds of words. Research shows that children who play with sounds of words in their preschool years are better prepared to read when they get to school. This is called phonological awareness. Share a good rhyming book with your child, such as Down by the Cool of the Pool by Tony Mitton.
–Tip by Barb M., Youth Programming and Outreach Assistant
Splish-splash, drip-drop, kaboom… Rain makes all sorts of fun sounds! Letters put together make fun sounds and words too! The early literacy skill of phonological awareness is being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. So on the next rainy day, make some rain sounds of your own using your hands, a drum, and especially your voice!
–Tip by Carol C., Youth Programming Assistant
Clapping words helps children hear them divided into parts. This fun activity helps develop their phonological awareness, the ability to break words into parts. This is one of the skills researchers say is important for children to have before learning to read. Talk about the word “winter”—sound out the different parts of the word (win – ter). Say them separately and then together again, first slowly and then faster. Clap once for each syllable of the word. You can also try the same thing with other words, such as season, snowman, icicle, snowball, and snowflake.
–Tip by Keary B., Youth Collection Specialist
As children learn to read, they use many of the skills we practice in storytime. One of these skills is phonological awareness, which is the ability to play with parts of words. An easy and enjoyable way for children to practice this skill is by listening to and singing songs. So sing with your children, even if you don’t have perfect pitch! In songs, each syllable has a different note, so children are hearing words being broken down into parts. These are some of the artists you may hear in storytime: Wiggleworms, Jim Gill, Miss Carole, Laurie Berkner, Raffi, and more!
–Tip by Claire B., Youth Outreach Coordinator
Phonological awareness means learning about sounds in words. Hearing and learning animal sounds helps children hear different kinds of sounds. Show your child pictures of different animals in books and demonstrate what sound they make. Can You Growl Like a Bear? by John Butler and Who Hoots? by Katie Davis are two great titles that will inspire you and your little one to play with animal noises. Or take a trip to a local farm or zoo to have them hear the animal sounds in person!
–Tip by Julie D., Elementary School Liaison
Rhyming is one way that children learn to hear that words are made up of smaller parts. Reading books like Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas and sharing rhymes helps children hear the smaller parts that make up words. This skill—phonological awareness—helps them when they later try to sound out words to read. It’s fun too!
–Tip by Brad J., Youth Technology Librarian
