The Secret to Early Reading Success is Phonemic Awareness
A phoneme is a sound of language. English has around 44 phonemes (sounds) that are used to make hundreds of thousands if not millions of words.
Spoken words are made up of a series of discrete (individual sounds). For example: cat /k/ /a/ /t/ has three phonemes. Understanding this is called phonemic awareness.
Phonemic awareness is not phonics. Phonics deals with letter sound relationships and is associated with print.
Before a child begins school they need to be able to do five types of phonemic awareness tasks.
They are:
1. Hearing rhymes and alliteration (the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of the next or nearby words). Nursery Rhymes are a great way to develop this skill.
2. Choosing a different sound at the beginning of words. For example sun, stick, fish
3. The ability to orally blend words and split syllables. Say the first sound in a word and then the rest of the word and see if your child can blend them and tell you the word. (say f - at. Ask your child to say the word)
4. The ability to hear the individual sounds in words. For example ask: What sounds do you hear in fish?
5. The ability to change sounds to form new words. For example if I replace the s in sat with m what is the new word?
Why is Phonemic Awareness important?
Without this ability to hear the sounds in words learning to read, write and spell can be a real struggle.
Most phonemic awareness activities should be oral. No writing needs to be involved. You are developing your child’s listening skills.
If you notice any difficulty your child has with these exercises seek professional help as soon as possible.
Keep in Mind
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· Phonemic awareness is not related to print. Since phonemic awareness activities are oral it is not advisable to make written words or letters part of the activities until your child can identify the letters of the alphabet.
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· Most poor readers have poor phonemic awareness skills.
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· To ensure you have a print rich environment for your child. Read to them daily making sure they have plenty of language experiences.
Because the ability to read and write is more important than ever and a must for citizens of modern societies a lot of research has been conducted over the past twenty five years.
Research indicates as many as 20% of children are affected by lack of phonemic awareness.
No t providing early preventive measures for such children can cause them to end up being labelled
learning disabled or dyslexic and they continue to fall behind in school.
Phonemic awareness can be taught and it is never too late but much better if it is taught early.
If you would like information about phonics (letter sound relationships) I have written an eBook outlining a systematic approach. This book outlines step by step the phonics knowledge your child needs to understand and provides downloadable activities that make learning fun.
Please go to www.superlearner.com.au to find out more.
I welcome any queries and questions you may have.
