How to Teach Your Child Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is a listening and oral language skill that does not involve print. It is the ability to hear and produce the individual sounds heard within words. The early stages of phonological awareness emerge when babies and toddlers mimic sounds heard to say their first words. It is an essential skill because it sets the foundation for phonics - the ability to match sounds to their correct letter or letter patterns to read words. The skill increases in difficulty with the addition of letter patterns. For example: the words - cat, cake, team, and sheep all have three sounds. Fortunately, there are fun activities that you can do with your child to promote phonological awareness!