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This resource is good for parents to understand why reading to children is important to help get them started on reading. Parents should be role models to children and a parent who reads will inspire children to read as well. This links to phonological awareness where children has to listen before starting to read themselves. Children who are engage in reading and writing play at home performed better on recognizing and naming letters, handling book and writing(Wigfield & Guthrie, 2013).

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This resource offers insights on how parents can help their children with phonics written by the senior principal of EtonHouse International Pre-School. It also explain why parents should not be worried when their child is not able to read at the age of 4. In Stage 0 (from birth to about age 6) the child learns some simple concepts of reading and writing, giving the names of the letters, writing one's name, and pretending  to read (Indrisano & Chall, 1995). Therefore, parents can support their child in developing their phonemic awareness at home before they can start learning to read.

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Photo: EtonHouse International Pre-School Sentosa

Question: My son is four and he isn't doing too well in his phonics. We read to him every day but he's still having a tough time blending his words. Should I be worried? How else can I help him?

Answer: Phonics does not need to be mastered at four, just as writing.

At EtonHouse, we start to introduce the four-year-old children to the basic sounds of the letters through songs. Thereafter, we explore words and emphasise on the beginning sounds by playing games. For example, you can play the Sound Game by asking your child to identify the beginning sound of common words or words which are meaningful or related to a favourite topic. Say, "What sound can you hear when I say, /b/all?" etc.

Once your child is able to identify all the beginning sounds, you can then move on to the ending sounds. That is when you emphasise on the beginning and ending sounds, for example, "What sounds can you hear when I say, /b/al/l/"?

We should not be expecting the four-year-old children to blend letters. Please give your child enough time to internalise the basic sounds and have fun learning these sounds. You may start playing simple blending games when your child has a good knowledge and foundation in basic sounds, beginning and ending sounds. You can make it fun by first 'revising' the two letters that you want your child to blend, especially letters that maintain their original sounds when blended. For example, the sounds /a/ and /t/. Once you are sure that your child is able to recite these two sounds confidently, you will then "put them into a mixing bowl and mix them together". When you take them out, they make the /at/ sound as they are now the /at/ family! Tell your son that you can now make words that belong to the same family! /c/ /at/, /m/ /at/, /f/ /at/, etc. all belong to the same family!

When your child is older, you can start to introduce the more 'complex' blending like digraphs (two sounds when blended make a different sound, for example, /o/ and /o/ make a new sound which is the /oo/ sound, as in 'book', 'look, etc. During this time, you may proceed to short and long vowel sounds.

Please remember that learning phonics is a long process and it is a useful tool in learning how to read. However, there is really no need to rush through the process. Remember, slow down and make phonics fun!
Originally published in Motherhood magazine November 2016 issue.
Learn more about EtonHouse Pre-School Mountbatten 223 and its bilingual inquiry-based programme here.

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Parenting Tips: Helping your child with phonics

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Photo: EtonHouse International Pre-School Sentosa Question: My son is four and he isn't doing too well in his phonics. We read to him every day but he's still having a tough time blending his words. Should I be worried? How else can I help him?

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This resource is good for parents and teachers to create fun activities that help children to recognise and identify alphabets. For children to be able to develop their phonological awareness, they need to be able to know the letters names and letter sounds which will help them in reading. Being able to name the letters of the alphabet quickly and correctly helps children in learning to read and write (Ministry of Education, 2013).

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Here are 15 fun, active, hands-on alphabet letter identification activities for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten.

You can find many more Alphabet Activities here.

Letter Basketball

This is one of my prekinders favorite letter identification activities every year. To prepare this game, I cut copy paper or newsprint paper in half, and write letters on several pieces. I make enough papers for each child, plus one or two extra. I make a line with masking tape on the floor and place the trash can about 4 feet away. As each child has a turn, I tell them which letter to find. They pick up the letter, crumble the paper into a ball, and stand on the tape to toss it into the trash can. If they miss, they get as many chances as needed to get the "ball" in the basket and can move closer if needed. We always cheer when they make it in the basket! This game could also be played with alphabet bean bags if you have them.

Candy Letter Match

Write pairs of letters on sticker dots and place them on the bottom of several Hershey's Kisses. For my Pre-K kids, I usually put out about 5-10 pairs of letters at a time. Children take turns lifting two Kisses at a time. If the letters match, they keep those Kisses. If they do not match, they have to put them back. At the end of the game, all of the Kisses are put in the middle of the table, and children can choose about 3 pieces to eat. We use this game to practice matching uppercase to uppercase letters, lowercase to lowercase, or uppercase to lowercase, depending on what we are working on.

Alpha-Band

Label each rhythm instrument with a letter. An easy way to make instruments is to put rice inside a plastic Easter egg, and hot glue it closed. We sing the traditional Alphabet Song, or another alphabet song, such as Dr. Jean's "The Alphabet's in My Mouth" or "Who Let the Letters Out", or Jack Hartmann's "Animal Alphabet Cheer". Children shake their letter shakers only when they hear their letter called out in the song.

Letter Hunt

Children choose any 10 letters from the letter manipulatives (use foam letters, magnetic letters, letter tiles or other letter manipulatives). Go through a stack of shuffled letter cards, calling out each letter to the children. As the letters are called out, children look to see if they have that letter, and if they do, the letter is put back in the letter basket. We see who is first to clear all of their letters. It's very similar to a bingo game. In Pre-K, we play until everyone has cleared all of their letters because our goal is learning letters, not competition with the little ones.
*To teach letter sounds: Call out a word and have children identify the first letter of the word.

ABC Sorting Tray

I found this divided tray in a kitchen store. I labeled each section by writing a letter on a sticker dot and placing the matching foam letters in each section of the tray. I placed the letters in a bowl and children sorted and matched the letters into the sections of the tray. When I want to change out the letters in the tray, I just remove the sticker dots and add new ones. I usually try to use letters that are similar, so that children are challenged and use visual discrimination skills to find the differences in the letters. For example, I might use Q, O, D, C, and G since those letters are similar in shape, or I, T, J, or W, V, U.

ABC Sorting Box

Label a craft storage box with letter stickers. Children sort letter manipulatives into the sections of the box. These are magnetic letter tiles in the picture.

Letter Matching Uppercase to Uppercase

For this activity, each child chooses a colored letter box. Children work in pairs to match the letters that are the same. These letters came from a set of foam letters that are sadly no longer available from Lakeshore (bring them back, Lakeshore!) However, you could do the same activity by using handmade cards with the letters written in two different colors. You might also consider using paint chips (paint sample cards) in two different colors and making A-Z sets in the two different colors by writing on the cards with a black marker.

Letter Matching Uppercase to Lowercase

Children work in pairs to match the uppercase and lowercase foam or magnetic letters that are the same. You could also use purchased or handmade letter tiles.

Stamping Game

Write about ten letters on a piece of paper for each child. Put the same ten letters in a bowl or bag, and pass it around the table. Each child has a turn to pull a letter out of the bowl or bag, and announce the letter to the group. Children find the letter on their paper and stamp it out with a rubber stamp.
Other ways we play this game:

I put every letter of the alphabet in the bowl or bag and children determine if the letter is on their paper or not.

I place small objects in the bowl and children identify the beginning letter (e.g. B for ball).

Alphabet Bingo

Each child looks for the letter the teacher calls out on their bingo card. If they have it, they cover it. Play until a card is full.

Alphabet Soup

Children take turns scooping up a letter from a bowl with a spoon or soup ladle. The child identifies the letter, and walks around the room searching for the letter somewhere in the classroom.
*To teach letter sounds: Children search for an object in the room that begins with that letter.

Letter Clips

Children squeeze the clothespins and clip them to the sides of the box. I wrote letters on dot stickers and placed the dot stickers around the sides of the boxes. I wrote letters on the clothespins so the children would match the letters on the clothespins to the letters on the boxes. This is similar to activities where children clip clothespins to a paper plate or cardstock circle; however, in my experience, those were flimsy and awkward to use, which is why I like the box better. Any sturdy box could be used (shoe box, postal box). The boxes in this picture were stacking gift boxes that held chocolate covered nuts (a Christmas gift), and they worked out perfectly. (By the way, Sam's Club has these chocolate covered nuts in the same stacking boxes every year, and they are awesome!)

Memory Game

Place about three letter manipulatives on a tray, cover them with a cloth, and take one away. When the letters are uncovered, children guess which letter is missing. Children find the letter that is missing among their own set of letter manipulatives. If the children are very interested in writing, they can write the letter that is missing on a dry erase lap board. To increase the difficulty of this game, try using 4 or 5 letters. Another options is to place three letters on the tray, cover them, and ask the children to recall all three letters that were on the tray.

Alphabet Path Games

I made these path games using stickers bought in a craft store (scrapbooking section), and I made individual mats with about 10 letters on them. Each child gets a mat, a game piece, and some plastic chips to cover the letters on their mat. They roll the dice and count out the spaces to move their game piece. If their game piece lands on a letter that is on the mat, they cover that letter with a chip. Play continues until they have covered every letter.
Other ways we use the path games:

Children identify the letter they land on, then find that letter somewhere in the classroom.

Children find an object in the classroom that begins with that letter's sound.

Available in My Shop:

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Here are 15 fun, active, hands-on alphabet letter identification activities for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten. You can find many more Alphabet Activities here. This is one of my prekinders favorite letter identification activities every year. To prepare this game, I cut copy paper or newsprint paper in half, and write letters on several pieces.

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This resource guide parents to teach children phonics. Most older children are not able to read, write and speak because they were not introduced to phonics. Phonics instruction teaches kids to connect letters with sounds, break words into sounds, and blend sounds into words which children use to read and write (Osewalt, 2018).

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How to Teach Kids Phonics -  Phonics For Kids

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Learning to read one syllable words (Letter sounds & blending)

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Learning to read one syllable words (Letter sounds & blending)

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This resource is good for parents to implement at home. It encourage children to listen to the letter sounds and blending the letters to form a one syllable word. Children will be able to learn simple words such as, mat, tap, pat. The characters in the video are interesting and shows actions and objects that relate to the words. Through play-based songs, rhymes and alliteration experiences, it can support children in attending to individual units of sound, e.g. the three sounds in c-a-t (Campbell, 2016).

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One Syllable Words | Phonics for Kids - Learn To Read | Alphablocks

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This resource offers variety of phonics games from preschool to primary level which is free and accessible to parents. Children are able to read at different levels of their development and the text become more challenging as it goes (Indrisano & Chall, 1995). Thus, having a platform where parents could guide and support their child in the different stages of reading will be beneficial for their child.

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Unlock the Magic of Reading with Phonics Games

Understanding the world of words and sounds can be a thrilling journey for young learners. At its core, this journey involves a technique that educators and parents have trusted for decades: phonics. In the realm of phonics, a variety of interactive and enjoyable tools have emerged-phonics games. So, what are these games, and how do they differ from phonetics games? Let's dive in!

Why Choose Phonics Games for Your Child?

Games for Phonics: More Than Just Fun

Games on phonics are not merely about entertainment. They are structured tools designed to make the learning process engaging. These games utilize sounds, letters, and word recognition techniques to build a solid foundation for reading.

The Power of Interaction with Phonics Game

A regular phonics game often involves interaction. Whether it's on a computer, a tablet, or a board game, children have the chance to actively participate, make choices, and receive immediate feedback, making game phonics an effective learning method.

The Difference between Phonics Games and Phonetics Games

At first glance, the terms phonics and phonetics might seem interchangeable. However, there's a distinct difference:

Phonics: This is a method of teaching reading and writing by developing learners' phonemic awareness. Phonics games specifically aim to teach kids the sounds associated with letters and letter combinations.

Phonetics: Phonetics deals with the study of sounds in human speech. Games associated with phonetics are more concerned with understanding and recognizing all speech sounds. So, when we speak of phonics games not phonetic games, we are emphasizing the focus on teaching reading.

The distinction is essential. For children just stepping into the world of reading and writing, phonics games are the more suitable choice.

Features of Effective Phonics Games

Variety in Phonic Games

A wide array of phonic games exists, catering to different learning styles. From digital games to physical board games, the choices are vast. Some games might focus on letter-sound associations, while others may emphasize blending sounds to form words.

Engaging and Rewarding

A successful phonics game captures a child's attention. It provides challenges and rewards that motivate the child to keep playing and, by extension, keep learning.

Progressive Learning

Top-quality games for phonics should offer progressive levels, ensuring that as the child masters one level, they can move on to more challenging tasks.

Relevance to Age

It's crucial for phonic games to be age-appropriate. What captivates a preschooler might not necessarily hold the attention of a second-grader.

Exploring Phonics Games on Kizphonics

For a curated selection of phonics games, visit Kizphonics. They offer a diverse range of games tailored to various age groups, ensuring that your child gets the best tools for their reading journey.

FAQs: All About Phonics Games

1. What are phonics games?

Phonics games are interactive tools designed to teach children the sounds associated with letters and combinations of letters. They help kids build a foundation for reading.

2. How do phonics games differ from phonetics games?

While phonics focuses on teaching reading by developing learners' phonemic awareness, phonetics is about the study of sounds in human speech. Phonetics games are more concerned with understanding all speech sounds.

3. Are digital phonics games better than traditional board games?

Both digital games and traditional board games have their merits. Digital games can offer more interactive features and immediate feedback, while board games can promote social interaction. It's about finding what best suits your child's needs.

4. How often should my child play phonics games?

Regular exposure is beneficial. You could incorporate phonics games into daily or weekly routines, ensuring your child has a mix of playtime and structured learning.

5. Where can I find quality phonics games?

You can explore a vast collection of games tailored for different age groups on Kizphonics.

Conclusion: Games with Phonics - A Launchpad to Literacy

In the end, it's all about nurturing a love for reading in children. Phonics games, with their engaging and interactive nature, serve as a bridge, making the journey of learning to read not just essential but enjoyable. So, as you embark on this adventure with your young one, remember, it's not just about the destination but the joy of the journey. Embrace the world of phonics games and watch your child's literacy skills soar.

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Phonics Games for Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade Reading Games

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Phonics Games by Level, Preschool Reading Games, Kindergarten Reading Games, 1st Grade Reading Games, 2nd Grade Reading Games. Covering, Letters of the Alphabet, Short Vowels, Beginning and Ending Consonants, Long Vowels, Vowel Digraphs, S Blends, R Blends, L Blends, R-controlled Vowels, Special Vowels, Diphthongs and more..

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This resource offers a strategy for teachers to encourage children to recognise the letters and identify things that start with the letter. Teachers could get children to find pictures or words that start with the letter and place it on the word wall. Through playing with sounds in oral language and exploring print through everyday play-based experiences, children can begin to develop early alphabetic literacy (Campbell, 2016).

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Word walls are an important part of early childhood classrooms. I've had one in every classroom I've taught in, both preschool and kindergarten. They're used differently depending on the age of the children, but they're important nonetheless. I use them as a way to get my students learning about letters and words throughout the year.
Are you following my Balanced Literacy Pinterest board?
using word walls in preschool, kindergarten, and home schools

What is a word wall?
Simply put, it's a place to showcase important words in the classroom. These words can include names, sight words, theme words, etc.

Why are word walls important?
Word walls add to a print-rich classroom environment and help children learn words. Kids are able to reference the words when writing, which gives students independence and problem solving skills. The words are also a great reference when reading, allowing children to make connections to the books they read. Word walls help teach the alphabetic principle, as well. All of this culminates in children learning to read words, to write words, and how words work.

How to create a word wall
The basic ingredients for a word wall are letters of the alphabet, picture cues for each letter, and age-appropriate words. Sometimes word walls don't even include the alphabet, just a collection of words children can reference as needed.

Where word walls are located can vary wildly. Some are kept on bulletin boards, in pocket charts, or on a piece of paper taped to the wall. I've seen them located within file folders, in small notebooks, and on the back of classroom furniture. Word walls can be created in small spaces or large spaces. With a little creativity, some kind of word wall can be created in any classroom.

My interactive word wall
Throughout my years of teaching, I've had many different word walls. The one I have this year is definitely my favorite, and it's a format I plan to keep for years to come! The main reason I love it - my students can access, and remove, each of the words on the word wall!

I covered one of my classroom's bulletin boards with butcher paper and a border. From there, I added the letters of the alphabet, each one on its own piece of paper. I used DJ Inkers' "Alphabet Smiles" download (affiliate link) as the basis for each letter page.

To create the words, I simply wrote them on pieces of construction paper and cut them out. When cutting them out, I accentuated the size of the letters by cutting around each carefully. I then laminated each word for sturdiness.

Once all of that was taken care of, I placed a velcro dot on the back of each word and a corresponding velcro dot on the letter page. This is what allows the students to remove and replace the words as they're used.

Words to include on the word wall
For preschool, I usually focus on the children's names and certain sight words they're interested in ('mom', 'dad', 'love', etc.). When I taught kindergarten, I used names and sight words they needed to learn before first grade. For both preschool and kindergarten, I've made separate themed word walls depending on what we're learning about that month.

How to use word walls
Be sure to only use words that are being taught and used. For example, at the beginning of the year I have my students' names on our word wall (as well as the teachers' names). As the year progresses, I add sight words that the children seem to ask about over and over again. I also add words that we've used in our book-making activities. All of the words on the word wall have meaning to the children. They weren't just slapped on without being introduced to the kiddos.

Here are some examples for using a word wall in the classroom. This list isn't exhaustive by any means!

Read the room as a class, or in small groups. Using a fun pointer, help the kiddos say the letters of the alphabet and read the words under the letters.

Show the children how to find, remove, and reattach the words. Encourage the use when drawing pictures for friends, writing in their journals, etc. Help as needed, of course!

Play silly games using the word wall. "I'm thinking of a word that starts with 't' . . .", "Who can find the word under C c cat?", etc.

When reading a book, ask a child to point to a high frequency word on the word wall (that's also in the book).

Have children draw a picture and label it with a word wall word. This is especially useful with thematic words.

Other word walls
As I mentioned earlier, word walls can come in all shapes and sizes! Below are some different variations to check out:

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Word Walls in Preschool and Kindergarten

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Word walls are an important part of early childhood classrooms. I've had one in every classroom I've taught in, both preschool and kindergarten. They're used differently depending on the age of the children, but they're important nonetheless. I use them as a way to get my students learning about letters and words throughout the year.

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This resource offers variety of games to help children build phonological awareness in a fun and exciting way. Teachers and parents can sign up for free and allow children to be engage in the educational games. The game encourage children to listen to the letter sounds as they identify the correct letters and complete the words. They also learn how to blend the letters together to make the word. In order for children to learn to read, they need to understand that spoken language consists of sounds that can be broken down into smaller and smaller parts, into words, into the syllables within words and finally into the individual sounds in words (Ministry of Education, 2013).

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Build bridges by building words in this silly game that tests your kindergartener's knowledge of using blends in spelling! As your child comes across each broken bridge in Blending Sounds Spelling, they'll need to spell a word using letter blocks. Each word has a colorful illustration to help, and a narrator sounds out each letter as your child spells, emphasizing letter sound relationships.

Grade

Subject

View aligned standards

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Blending Sounds Spelling Game | Game | Education.com

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Kids build blending and spelling skills to help get the gang to school in time.

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This resources offers an insights of the importance of having a reading corner for preschoolers. This can be done at home and in the classroom. Reading corners offers children a chance to develop very personal relationships with books (Miller, 1990). When children visit the reading corner, they develop good reading habits such as turning the pages correctly, building love of reading and care for books. Teachers and parents can place books that they have read to their children which encourage them to revisit the book by reading it by themselves.

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Excellent reading habits begin in the early years. Introducing children to literature in preschool supports kindergarten readiness, promotes early literacy and supports a love of language and reading. A preschool library corner is a distinct area of the classroom with a variety of board books, picture books, early readers and comfortable seating. Create a preschool library corner in order to promote critical thinking skills and to enhance creative and social development.

Early Literacy Skills

Provide a variety of educational books in a preschool library corner to promote early literacy skills. Alphabet books in a preschool library corner help children learn the names of the letters and the sounds that each letter represents. Counting books help children learn how to count and to recognize numbers. Provide poetry or rhyming books to teach children phonological awareness. Stock the preschool library with oversized books as a tool to teach preschoolers how to handle books and to point out letters, words and other features of the book.

Critical and Creative Thinking Skills

A library corner helps the preschool teacher foster critical and creative thinking skills. Read both fiction and nonfiction books to preschool children and then allow both free and focused discussion. Ask questions that help children relate the story to their own lives. Help them compare the book with familiar books. Encourage children to predict what might happen next. These activities also help children use words to express themselves and their preferences.

Social Development

Having a preschool library corner provides a place for exposure to group reading activities. This helps preschoolers acquire social skills. Read books to groups of preschool children to help them learn to pay attention in a large group. Group reading activities also help children learn to share and take turns with peers. Encourage children to share books and take turns reading stories to each other.

Kindergarten Readiness

A preschool library corner supports school readiness by improving literacy and listening skills. When children enter kindergarten they should know concepts related to books such as how to hold and turn the pages of a book and that the pictures are related to the story. They should know some nursery rhymes which are found in preschool books. Preschoolers entering kindergarten should also have the ability to identify letters visually. Exposure to books in a preschool library corner enhances these skills.

About the Author

Carla Snuggs has worked as a freelance writer since 2005. She has written for PlanningFamily.com, HolidaysCentral.com, Eduguide.com and OwnADaycare.com. She has a B.A. in early childhood education from Long Beach State University and a Master of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University.

Photo Credits

SCHUBphoto/iStock/Getty Images

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The Importance of the Preschool Library Corner | Synonym

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Excellent reading habits begin in the early years. Introducing children to literature in preschool supports kindergarten readiness, promotes early literacy and supports a love of language and reading. A preschool library corner is a distinct area of the classroom with a variety of board books, picture books, early readers and comfortable seating.

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This resource offers a strategy for teachers to encourage children to recognise letters and their names in class. At this age, children feel proud and happy when they see or hear their name. Through this activity, children will feel excited to guess the name of the child whom will be the leader for the day. Name serve as an important criterion in developing new understandings about  sound matches, letters and words (Tsavasman, 2003).

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Phonological (Sound) Awareness Development Chart

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Phonological (Sound) Awareness Development Chart

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This resource is good for parents and teachers to get a sense of the child's phonological awareness development. It states the milestones the child should achieve at different age. Parents and teachers can monitor children's development and seek help or intervention if they needed to. This relates to the focus area of phonological awareness where parents can do developmental screening with the help of the milestone chart.

Parents, grandparents, early childhood providers, and other caregivers can participate in developmental monitoring, which observes how your child grows and changes over time and whether your child meets the typical developmental milestones in playing, learning, speaking, behaving, and moving.
Developmental screening takes a closer look at how your child is developing. A missed milestone could be a sign of a problem (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018).

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< Back to Child Development Charts
Phonological Awareness is the knowledge of sounds (i.e. the sounds that letters make) and how they go together to make words.

Note: Each stage of development assumes that the preceding stages have been successfully achieved.

How to use this chart: Review the skills demonstrated by the child up to their current age. If you notice skills that have not been met below their current age contact Kid Sense Child Development on 1800 KIDSENSE (1800 543 736).

Age Developmental milestones Possible implications if milestones not achieved

2-3 years

Rhyme awareness emerges at 24-30 months

3-4 years

Ability to produce rhyme emerges at 30-36 months

The child may struggle with recognising similarities in letter patterns in words (e.g. cat, hat, mat, bat)

4-5 years

Clapping/counting syllables in words (e.g. computer- com-pu-ter). [Note: 50% of children achieve this by age 4]

Recognises/produces words with the same beginning sound (e.g. -

Segments/blends words by onset/rime (e.g. s+un= sun) OR given sounds, can blend them into a word

Counts sounds in words [Note: 50% of children achieve this by age 5]

The child may struggle with spelling longer words accurately as they will be unable to chunk them into smaller more manageable parts

The child may have difficulty articulating longer words and recognising similar word patterns

The child may have difficulty with spelling words accurately

5-6 years

Able to recognise words that rhyme and determine the odd word out (e.g. cat - hat - big)

Identifies first sound in a word (e.g. What's the sound at the start of 'dog'? d)

Identifies last sound in a word (e.g. What's the sound at the end of 'dog'? g)

Lists words that start with the same sound (e.g. pet, pin)

Tells which of three words is different (e.g. sit, sit, sat)

Blends 3 - 4 sounds to make a word (e.g. h - a - n - d = hand)

Segments sounds in words that have 3 - 4 sounds (e.g. hand= h - a - n - d:4 sounds)

The child may have trouble spelling words correctly if they are unable to hear the individual sounds in different positions within words

The child may struggle with recognising that joining sounds together creates whole words and with reading words smoothly

6-7 years

Delete syllables from words (e.g. Say 'cupcake'. Take away 'cup' and what is left? cake)

Substitute syllables in words

Delete sounds from words (e.g. Say feet. Take away the 'f' sound from 'feet'? eat)

Substitute sounds in words (e.g. Say hat. Change the 'h' to a 'c' - cat)

If a child struggles with manipulating sounds in words, they may not be able to recognise similar letter/sound patterns within words

The child may struggle with creating a visual representation of a word and to hold onto that image in their mind as they manipulate (change) sounds to create new words

7-8 years

Uses phonological awareness skills when spelling

The child may have difficulty with spelling words correctly

The child may struggle with reading words accurately and fluently

This chart was designed to serve as a functional screening of developmental skills per age group. It does not constitute an assessment nor reflect strictly standardised research.

The information in this chart was compiled over many years from a variety of sources. This information was then further shaped by years of clinical practice as well as therapeutic consultation with child care, pre-school and school teachers in South Australia about the developmental skills necessary for children to meet the demands of these educational environments. In more recent years, it has been further modified by the need for children and their teachers to meet the functional A ustralian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority ( ACARA) requirements that are not always congruent with standardised research.

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Phonological (Sound) Awareness Development Chart - Kid Sense Child Development

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Back to Child Development Charts Phonological Awareness is the knowledge of sounds (i.e. the sounds that letters make) and how they go together to make words. Note: Each stage of development assumes that the preceding stages have been successfully achieved. How to use this chart: Review the skills demonstrated by the child up to their ...

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This resource is good for parents to have some idea on how they can set up a reading corner. The environment would motivate them to want to go to the reading corner.

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If you have been following along on the blog for a while now, I’d like to say a great big THANK YOU!! I am so very appreciative for your support over the last e

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This book is written by Dr Seuss who is famous for his rhyming books. This resource (book) is good for children to practice reading a listening to the rhymes in the book. It related to the focus area of phonological awareness. Parents can read this book to their children at home. In a journal article titled "Family Literacy: Perspective and practices", it states that children's learning in school begins with parents reading to them at home. Such practices in the home as shared reading, reading aloud, making a variety of print materials available and promoting positive attitudes towards literacy have been found to have a significant impact on children's literacy learning (Morrow, Paratore, Gaber, Harrison, & Tracey, 1993)

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This resource is good for teachers and parents to engage children in learning phonological awareness. This resource offers interesting activity that can help children learn through the use of technology. Technology is a big part of the world now and we can make use of it to help children learn better. This is supported by a book titled "

Using Technology to Enhance Reading: Innovative Approaches to Literacy" which states that early literacy and technology are enhanced with the use of tablets and very young students can touch a word or letter and get immediate feedback (Rasinski & Pytash, 2015).

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‎Phonics Awareness, 1st Grade on the App Store

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‎Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots and learn more about Phonics Awareness, 1st Grade. Download Phonics Awareness, 1st Grade and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

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Phonological awareness assessment task sheet. 

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Phonological awareness assessment task sheet. 

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This resource is good to access children's level of phonological awareness. Teachers and parents can use this as a guide to assess children's skills. A book written by Gavin T. L. Brown titled "Assessment of student achievement" states that assessment shows whether students are achieving what is expected of them, judges the quality of their performance and awards grades or certificates accordingly .

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National Council for Special Education - Working to deliver a better special education service - Working to deliver a better special education service

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15/04/2024 Changes to the AON Process The Assessment of Education Needs(AON) process, as part of the Health Service Executive (HSE) AON process, has changed. Click the button below for more details.

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This resource serves as an example of how parents or teachers can assess children's phonemic awareness. This is supported by a book titled "Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How". It states that assessment activity benefits children by providing information that can be used to inform their caregivers and teachers, to improve the quality of their care and educational environment and to identify child risk factors that can be remedied (National Research Council, 2008).

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This book is written by Jan Thomas. These dust bunnies love to rhyme. Well, except for Bob. Much to the other bunnies’ frustration, Bob can never get the rhythm right. This resource is good for children to listen and identify rhymes. As Bob could not rhyme, while reading the book, the teachers or parents can be interactive and get children to think of the rhymes to "help" Bob. Rhymes are a part of phonological awareness. The book titled "Comprehensive literacy resource for kindergarten teachers" states that "Good readers look for familiar “letter patterns” as one strategy when attempting to decode or spell unfamiliar words—they use familiar sound chunks from known words, not just individual sounds.  These letter patterns are based on familiar syllable or rhyme patterns as well as sound clusters and individual sounds" (Trehearne, 2003)

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Listening as part of phonological awareness

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Listening as part of phonological awareness

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This resource is good for parents and teachers to implement at home or in school. It offers listening activities and this relates to their development of phonological awareness.  For children to be able to develop phonological awareness, they need to listen to the sounds of the letters. Thus, children need to build on their listening and attention skills. This is supported by a research on the relationship between music and reading in beginning readers. It states that basic to the hearing of sounds in words is an awareness of pitch difference. Being able to discriminate difference in pitch is more highly associated both with reading and with the ability to discriminate speech sounds than is the ability to discriminate different qualities of sounds (Lamb & Gregory, 1993).

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This resource/song offers a fun way for children to learn about syllable that related to the focus area "Phonological awareness". Phonological awareness has different parts of it like rhymes, syllable and sounds. For children to be able to read, they have to know the sounds and the number of syllable in a word. This is supported by a book titled "Comprehensive literacy resource for kindergarten teachers". It states that " This ability to look inside words for syllables, rhymes, and individual sounds when reading and spelling is based on the student’s phonological awareness. Students have to be able to segment, blend, and manipulate syllables, onset and rime, and sounds if they are going to be successful in using letter-sound knowledge effectively for reading" (Trehearne, 2003).

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Learn Syllables | Syllable Song for Kids | Clap, Stomp and Chomp | Jack Hartmann

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Reading and storytelling helps to promote language and literacy

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Reading and storytelling helps to promote language and literacy

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This resource offers an insight about how reading and storytelling with children could help them develop literacy, reading habits and gets children ready to start reading. Parents and teachers are a role model for children in using language and books. Children learn how we hold the book and turn the pages by watching adults doing it. They will learn words and develop language skills from the songs, stories and conversations that we share together. Based on research, there is an evidence that participation in storytelling and story acting can promote children's literacy development (Cremin, Flewitt, Mardell & Swann, 2017).

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did you know

Sharing books with your child plays a big part in your child successfully learning to read.

Why reading is important for babies and young children

Sharing stories, talking and singing every day helps your child's development in lots of ways.

Reading and sharing stories can:

help your child become familiar with sounds, words, language and the value of books

spark your child's imagination, stimulate curiosity and help his brain development

help your child learn the difference between 'real' and 'make-believe'

help your child understand change and new or frightening events, and also the strong emotions that can go along with them

help your child develop early literacy skills like the ability to listen to and understand words.

Sharing stories with your child doesn't mean you have to read.

Just by looking at books with your child, you can be a great storyteller and a good model for using language and books. Your child will learn by watching you hold a book the right way and seeing how you move through the book by gently turning the pages.

Reading stories with children has benefits for grown-ups too. The special time you spend reading together promotes bonding and helps to build your relationship. This is important for your child's developing social and communication skills.

You can start reading aloud to your baby as early as you like - the earlier the better. Your baby will love being held in your arms, listening to your voice, hearing rhyme and rhythm, and looking at pictures.

Storytelling and songs

Reading isn't the only way to help with your child's language and literacy development.

Telling stories, singing songs and saying rhymes together are also great activities for early literacy skills - and your child will probably have a lot of fun at the same time. Sometimes your child might enjoy these activities more than reading.

You might like to make up your own stories or share family stories. Your child will learn words and develop language skills from the songs, stories and conversations you share together.

Reading to your child in other languages

You can read, sing and tell stories with your child in whatever language you feel most comfortable speaking.

Using a language you're comfortable with helps you to communicate more easily and helps to make reading, singing and storytelling more fun for you both. Your child will still learn that words are made up of different letters, syllables and sounds, and that words usually link to the pictures on the page.

Don't worry if English isn't your child's first language. Knowing another language will actually help your child learn English when she starts playgroup, kindergarten or school.

Dual-language books are a great resource, and many children's books are published in two languages. If you speak a language other than English at home, reading dual-language books with your child might also help you become more familiar with English.

Another option is to read a book aloud in English and talk about it with your child in whatever language feels most comfortable to both of you.

If you like, you can talk about the pictures in the book instead of reading the words. Could you and your child make up a story together? Do what you can and as much as you're comfortable with.

When to read, sing and tell stories with your child

Bedtime, bath time, potty time, on the train, on the bus, in the car, in the park, in the pram, in the cot, when you're in the GP's waiting room ... any time is a good time for a story! You can make books part of your daily routine - take them with you to share and enjoy everywhere.

Knowing when to stop can be just as important as finding the time to share a story in the first place. Pay attention to your child's reaction to the story, and stop if he's not enjoying it this time. You can always try a book, song or story at another time.

If you don't have a book or can't make up a story on the spot, don't worry. There are many other ways you and your child can share letters, words and pictures. For example, you can look at:

packages at home or in the supermarket, especially food packaging

clothing - what does it say on the t-shirt? What colour is it?

letters and notes - what do they say? Who sent them?

signs or posters in shops, or on buses and trains - point out signs that have the same letters as your child's name

menus - these can be fun for older children to look at and work out what they want to eat.

Tips for sharing books with babies and young children

Make a routine and try to share at least one book every day. A reading chair where you're both comfortable can become part of your reading routine.

Turn off the TV or radio, and find a quiet place to read so your child can hear your voice.

Hold your child close or on your knee while you read, so she can see your face and the book.

Try out funny noises and sounds - play and have fun!

Involve your child by encouraging talk about the pictures, and by repeating familiar words and phrases.

Let your toddler choose the books when he's old enough to start asking - and be prepared to read his favourite books over and over again!

If you have older children, they can share books with your younger children, or you can all read together. Taking turns, asking questions and listening to the answers are all important skills that will help your child when she starts learning to read.

Even reading for a few minutes at a time is effective - you don't always have to finish the book. As children grow, they're typically able to listen for longer.

What sort of books to read with your child

There are so many books to choose from that it can be hard to know where to start. As a broad rule, young children often enjoy books, songs and stories that have good rhyme, rhythm and repetition. In fact, one of the ways that children learn is through repetition and rhyme.

Choose books that are the right length for your child and that match your child's changing interests.

For a guide to what might suit your child, you might like to look at the following articles:

You can also vary the books you read. Picture books, magazines, instruction manuals, TV guides and letters can all be interesting and engaging for your child. Arranging book swaps with friends, or at your parent group or early childhood centre, can be a good way to try new books without much expense.

Using your local library

Libraries have a lot to offer. Getting to know your local library can be a part of learning about and loving books.

You can borrow great children's books for free from your local library. This means you can have lots of books in your home for your child to explore - and it won't cost you a cent.

Taking your child to the library and letting him choose his own books can be a fun adventure. You can talk about and plan your trip to the library with your child, and get excited together. You could ask your child, for example:

How many books will you choose?

How many books can you find by your favourite author?

Will you borrow books that have animals in them?

Do you have a favourite book you'd like to borrow again?

How many days will it be before we go to the library again?

Libraries also offer story times and activities for young children. Going along to these sessions is a way to help your child get familiar with the library, have fun and enjoy books and stories.

Libraries often stock audio books and dual-language books. You can listen to audio books in the car or as a family at home together. Many libraries also provide access to e-books through their websites.

Just contact your local library for more information.

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Reading and storytelling with children | Raising Children Network

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Sharing books with your child plays a big part in your child successfully learning to read. Sharing stories, talking and singing every day helps your child's development in lots of ways.