# data[].attributes.body
For More information on Early Literacy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Power of Early Literacy: Building Strong Foundations for Lifelong Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A focus on early literacy can help build strong foundations for lifelong learning. Here’s how.

# data[].attributes.body
A parent's guide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Language and Literacy Skills From 24-36 Months

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Early language and literacy skills are learned best through everyday moments with your child—reading books, talking, laughing and playing together. Learn more about how you can support your child’s development of language and literacy skills from 24-36 months. The idea of babies and toddlers talking and reading can seem incredible. It is hard to imagine them debating with you about […]

# data[].attributes.body
Phonemic Awareness: Isolate sounds in words

Phonics: Makes the connection between the sound and the letter.

Fluency: Consistently applying phonics to sound out words and read.

# data[].attributes.body
Activities for Phonics Awareness

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Browse Phonics Resources. Award winning educational materials designed to help kids succeed. Start for free now!

# data[].attributes.body
Phonemic Awareness Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
That's a complicated sounding term, but it's meaning is simple: the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the sounds in spoken language. Phonological awareness is really a group of skills that include a child's ability to:

Identify words that rhyme

Count the number of syllables in a name

Recognize alliteration (words with the same beginning sound)

Segment (break) a sentence into words

Identify the syllables in a word

The most sophisticated phonological awareness skill (and the last to develop) is called phonemic awareness - the ability to hear, recognize, and play with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. When playing with the sounds in word, children learn to:

Blend individual sounds to make a word

Stretch out a word into its individual sounds

Swap in a different sound to the beginning, middle, or end of a word to make a new word

Strong phonemic awareness is one of the strongest predictors of later reading success. Children who struggle with reading, including kids with dyslexia, often have trouble with phonemic awareness, but with the right kind of instruction they can be successful. Learn some of the warning signs for dyslexia in this article, Clues to Dyslexia in Early Childhood.

Parents can make a big difference in helping their children become readers by practicing these pre-reading oral skills at home. Try some of the simple rhyming and word sound games described here.

Try these speech sound activities at home

Rhyme time

"I am thinking of an animal that rhymes with big. What's the animal?" Answer: pig. What else rhymes with big? ( dig, fig, wig)

Road trip rhymes

While you're out driving in the car, spot something out the window and ask your child, "what rhymes with tree or car or shop?" Then switch roles and have your child spot something and ask you for a rhyme. This can turn into a game of nonsense rhymes ("What rhymes with tree stump?") but that's great for practicing sounds, too!

Word families

Word families are sets of words that rhyme. Start to build your family by giving your child the first word, for example, cat. Then ask your child to name all the "kids" in the cat family, such as: bat, fat, sat, rat, pat, mat, hat, flat. This will help your child hear patterns in words.

Silly tongue twisters

Sing songs and say silly tongue twisters. These help your child become sensitive to the sounds in words.

Tongue ticklers

Alliteration or "tongue ticklers" - where the sound you're focusing on is repeated over and over again - can be a fun way to provide practice with a speech sound. Try these:

For M: Miss Mouse makes marvelous meatballs!

For S: Silly Sally sings songs about snakes and snails.

For F: Freddy finds fireflies with a flashlight.

Syllable shopping

While at the grocery store, have your child tell you the syllables in different food names. Have them hold up a finger for each word part. Eggplant = egg-plant, two syllables. Pineapple = pine-ap-ple, three syllables. Show your child the sign for each and ask her to say the word.

"I spy" first sounds

Practice beginning sounds with this simple "I spy" game at home, on a walk, or at the grocery store. Choose words with distinctive, easy-to-hear beginning sounds. For example, if you're in the bathroom you can say, "I spy something red that starts with the "s" ssss sound ( soap)."

Sound scavenger hunt

Choose a letter sound, then have your child find things around your house that start with the same sound. "Can you find something in our house that starts with the letter "p" pppppp sound? Picture, pencil, pear "

Which letter sounds do I teach first?

Reading expert Linda Farrell recommends that you begin with teaching the letter names, and then focus on the letter sounds that are closest to their letter names (such as /v/). And here's a great tip for teaching the trickier letter name-letter sound combinations - use arm motions. In this video, Linda demonstrates motions for /x/ and /y/. (From our video series Reading SOS: Expert Answers to Family Questions About Reading.)

Sound games

Practice blending sounds into words. Ask "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.

First sounds

When you're reading together with your child, pick a word from the book and say it with emphasis on the first sound. Pick another word and compare them. "Zzz-zookeeper and rrr-rhinoceros. Can you hear what sound zzz-zookeeper starts with? Is it the same as rrr-rhinoceros?

Jump, skip, hop!

Create simple picture cards that you draw or cut out of magazines. Have your child, identify what's in the picture, and then break that word into its individual sounds. For example dog is d-o-g, three sounds (phonemes). Three sounds? You and your child do three jumping jacks, skips, or hops (followed by a high-five). You can also do this game outdoors without the cards, just call out simple words for your child.

Snail talk

Tell your child you're going to communicate in "snail talk" and they need to figure out what you're saying. Take a simple word and stretch it out very slowly (e.g., /fffffllllaaaag/), then ask your child to tell you the word. Switch roles and have your child stretch out a word for you.

"I spy" blending

Here's an easy phoneme blending game you can play while talking a walk. For blending, you can say, "I see a sign that says s-t-o-p" Then your child has to blend the sounds to guess your word - stop. (Remember to say only the sounds in the word - not the letters.) Keep the words short, moving from two to three to four sounds depending on your child's skill level.

Sound counting

Using LEGO bricks, beads, or pennies, say a word and have your child show you how many sounds the word makes. For example, top = t-o-p = three sounds, so your child would place three objects in a row. Then have them tap each object as they say the sound. Remember, your child is just showing you the sounds they hear. So the word bike would be = b-i-k (silent e) = only three sounds.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: Activities for Your Kindergartener

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Phonological and phonemic awareness are important pre-reading skills, related to the ability to hear, identify, and play with the sounds in spoken language - including rhymes, syllables, and the smallest units of sound (phonemes). Children with strong phonological awareness skills are ready to become readers.

# data[].attributes.body
Activities like this allow for teachers to use peer support, teacher support, visual aids, and more!

Teachers can differentiate and modify as they speak to each individual child. In addition, the teachers can ensure that milestones are being met for her students so they can all fluently read. Activities that are hands-on, engaging, and interactive, allow students to also have a love for reading and literacy.

# data[].attributes.body
Early Learning Literacy

# data[].attributes.body
Vocabulary in early childhood is beneficial for a child's language development, strengthens their literacy foundation, and increases academic success.

Comprehension skills are essential because they build thinking skills, support reading, and enhance communication skills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
National Education Association & Reading Rockets

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reading Tips for Stronger Vocabulary and Comprehension | NEA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Created in partnership with Reading Rockets, this video series invites reading experts to answer actual questions from families about how to support their children's vocabulary and comprehension skills at home.

# data[].attributes.body
The reading brain focuses on the milestones that create a foundation for students to be able to comprehend.

# data[].attributes.body
Implementing these activities can help yiur child comprehension skills, increase their readiness for school, and maximize their literacy skills.

# data[].attributes.body
This link will allow you to see different ways you can help support your child's vocabulary and comprehension skills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Great Early Reading Resources | Common Sense Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Great Early Reading Resources is a list of 27 apps, games, and websites curated by Common Sense Education editors.

# data[].attributes.body
Tips on how to help a child with learning disabilities, adhd, or other factors.

# data[].attributes.body
Vocabulary and Comprehension a key components to reading.