What is phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, recognize and manipulative phonemes or spoken sounds. Phonemes are small units of sounds that when combined form syllables and words. For example the word cat has three phonemes /c/ /a/ /t/. Mastering phonemic awareness is very important skill to master as a young learner because it is the foundation for spelling and word recognition skills. Phonemic awareness is a good predictor on how well a child will develop as a reader.

Examples of Phonemic Awareness Skills

• Sound and Word discrimination: What word doesn't belong with the others: "cat", "mat", "bat", "ran"? "ran"

• Rhyming: What word rhymes with "cat"? bat

• Syllable splitting: The onset of "cat" is /k/, the rime is /at/

• Blending: What word is made up of the sounds /k/ /a/ /t/? "cat"

• Phonemic segmentation: What are the sounds in "cat"? /k/ /a/ /t/

• Phoneme deletion: What is "cat" without the /k/? "at"

• Phoneme manipulation: What word would you have if you changed the /t/ in cat to an /n/? "can"

How can I help at home to develop these skills with my child?

• Help your child think of a number of words that start with the /m/ or /ch/ sound, or other beginning sounds.

  • Make up silly sentences with words that begin with the same sound, such as "Nobody was nice to Nancy's neighbor".

  • Play simple rhyming or blending games with your child, such as taking turns coming up with words that rhyme (go – no) or blending simple words (/d/, /o/, /g/ = dog).

• Read books with rhymes. Teach your child rhymes, short poems, and songs.

• Practice the alphabet by pointing out letters wherever you see them and by reading alphabet books.