Storytime Kids — a blog for parents about books and more

Before a child can learn to read, he or she needs to understand that there is a connection between the sounds they hear and the letters they see on a page.  Of course, the first step is this process is learning to say and write the alphabet.  But letter awareness is not enough, a child also needs to hear how letters sound and connect those sounds to the written symbols.  Here are some activities that may help your child begin to associate the letter sounds they hear with the written language they see.

• Make the alphabet a tactile experience.  Construct letters from sand paper, macaroni, clay, or even pennies.  Say the letter sound with your child as they touch and feel each letter.
• Make the letters of the alphabet a constant topic of conversation with your child.  Point out and sound out letters and words on signs, toys, in stores and restaurants, on cereal boxes.
• Have a set of letters, magnetic or otherwise, available for your child to play with around the house.  Match up letters with objects (t for table, c for cat), and be sure to say the word and its beginning sound aloud.  Use the letters to make words, and encourage your child to make words as well.  Nonsense words are fine here, you are concentrating on combining the written word with the appropriate sounds.  Just be sure to read the words you make aloud.
• Read to your child.  Every so often, place your finger under the words as you are reading, to show the child that you are not reading the pictures, but the written symbols on the page.

Have fun helping your child learn to read!

For a basic review of early literacy, click here.

The early literacy concept of Print Awareness includes learning that reading and writing follow basic rules such as moving from top-to-bottom and left-to-right, and that written language is related to oral language.   An example of print awareness is a child’s ability to point to the words on the page of a book.  Print Awareness is a reliable predictor of future reading achievement.

Your child’s print awareness can be encouraged by pointing out and reading words everywhere you see them – on signs, labels, at the grocery store and post office.  Also, as you read to your child, occasionally point to the words on the page–this will show your child that the story that you are reading comes from the words on the page and not just the pictures.

For a basic review of early, or emergent, literacy, click here.

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the smaller sounds
in words, for example the ability to say whether or not two words rhyme or the ability to put two word chunks together to make a word.  There are many games that parents can play with their children to help develop a child’s phonological sensitivity.

One game would be to categorize words by their beginning sound.  A fun way to do this is to have a scavenger hunt through the house finding everything that begins with a certain letter.  Go on a “D” hunt and find a desk, a doll, a dinosaur and anything else you can find that starts with the letter “D” sound.

Another fun activity is to make new words together by rhyming.  These words don’t even have to be real words, it’s the sound that’s most important in this game.  Start with the word “dog” and change the beginning sound to get “fog”, “log”, “sog”, “pog”…

Have fun with these games!  For more information on phonological awareness, click here.