What is phonemic awareness?
Phonemic awareness is the process by which children learn how to distinguish the distinct sounds that we use to create all the spoken words in our language.
When should kids start developing phonemic awareness?
Kids are born with amazing phonemic abilities. Every child can distinguish among the 800 sounds that comprise all the languages in the world—at birth!!!
So, the key is to begin focusing their attention on the distinct sounds that make up English. That process begins in the womb and continues immediately after the children are born. When parents speak to their children in the womb, they are helping them become aware of distinct speech sounds, and when parents speak and sing to their kids after they are born, they are continuing to facilitate phonemic awareness.
How can parents help kids develop greater phonemic awareness?
Kids learn to recognize these 44 spoken sounds or phonemes by listening interactively to stimulating poems, rhymes, stories, and conversations. So parents should read, speak, and sing to their kids early and often.
Why is phonemic awareness so important?
Phonemic awareness is the foundation for all subsequent reading instruction. Kids who have developed phonemic awareness find it much easier to understand formal phonetic instruction and are likely to become adept at reading earlier than their peers. Phonemic awareness can also help prevent the most devastating effects of hereditary dyslexia. When kids learn about sound structure, it helps to fortify their brains against reading disorders.
How does ScholarSkills help parents foster phonemic awareness?
We show parents how to use a variety of multisensory tools to promote phonemic awareness.