This is the ability to hear and process differences in the way words sound. Children with phonological awareness can do things like identify initial (beginning) sounds in words, count syllables in words, and identify words that rhyme. There is no print involved in phonological awareness, it is all about hearing and processing the sounds.

• Play the “Listening Game” by identifying sounds you hear at home

• Rhyming words in books, conversations, songs, or nursery rhymes

  • Rhyming Scavenger Hunt

• Alliteration (similar word beginnings)

  • Say tongue twisters and ask your child what sound is at the beginning of most words.

  • Using a letter cube (similar to Scattegories), roll a letter and see how many words you can think of in one minute that begin with that letter.

• Syllable, Word, and Sentence Segmentation (taking everything apart)

  • Clap, Tap, Jump, or Stomp the Syllables

    • Blazer Fresh from GoNoodle

  • Have the child count the number of syllables after clapping them out.

  • Syllable Move.” Create a “Room-Sized” game board by placing sheets of paper across the floor. The child stands across the room from you. Say a word, the child claps the syllables, if correct, the child moves that many spaces forward.

• Onset and Rime Recognition (beginning sound and ending chunk of words) In the word dog, the /d/ sound is the onset and the /og/ is the rime.

  • Onset/Rime Resource with cards

  • Practice blending the onset and rime

    • Jack Hartmann Blending Onset and Rime

    • Write words on cards and cut in half dividing the onset and rime (d/og). Lay cards out on the table and have your child make matches.

• Phonemic Awareness - the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in words Hint: * Think about the individual sounds, not the spelling as you work with your child. For instance the word “chat” has 4 letters, but only 3 sounds /ch/ /a/ /t/

  • Identify words with the same beginning and ending sounds

  • “See It and Say It”- (To help your child isolate the beginning sound in a word) “I see a ball in your room, what other thing do you see that begin with the sound /b/ (same beginning sound?)”

  • Slide and Say Phonemes Game - This game asks for chips or counters, but you can use beans, beads, or any other small object that can be easily moved into the boxes.