Phonemic awareness
As parents and educators, we need to help children become acquainted with the names of the letters in the alphabet, the sounds that those names or those letters represent, and the simple syllable sounds that incorporate the letter names and their phonemic sounds as essential building blocks for every word in our language.
The goal is to make them aware of letters and that each letter spells a spoken sound. It is also important to help kids become aware of simple syllable sounds, which are the most basic--and foundational--combinations of vowel and consonant sounds. Phonemic and syllable sounds are the precursors or foundations for learning to read. When kids think of syllables as sounds, then they can begin considering the various ways to spell those sounds. The key is always to help students think of letters as ways to spell spoken sounds. Next, students should learn to think of spoken words as logically assembled groups of sounds and printed words as logically sequenced ways to spell those sounds with symbols. We want students to develop a mental reference library of strings of familiar sounds that they have already mapped to sequences of letter symbols. This store of familiar sounds and their spellings will help students recognize those letter-sound sequences aurally and visually, enabling them to analyze and decode printed and spoken words quickly and accurately.
To help students decode printed words rapidly and accurately, we must first help them become aware that words are made up of phonemes, which are the most basic unit of sound in our spoken language. Our goal is to help them distinguish each sound in spoken words. This ability to recognize distinct speech sounds is called phonemic awareness. As students develop greater phonemic awareness, they will grow in their ability to distinguish individual sounds among the sequences of sounds that make up the spoken word.
As we teach them to listen for sounds by the way we speak, or by the way we "stretch out" the sounds in syllables, or by the rhymes we sing, or by the poetry and great works of literature that we read to them, we will focus their attention on sounds in exciting ways. We will also introduce them to the alphabet principle, which means that each sound in our spoken language can be matched to a letter or a combination of letters in our alphabet. This is the foundational reading stage, where we equip them to begin reading with outstanding excellence at an early age.
Our language is alphabetical, meaning the printed word is a symbolic code directly representing the spoken word. So, in this group of courses, we will design our students' minds for early and exceptional literacy by acquainting them with spoken sounds and their connection to symbols called letters. This sound-symbol relationship helps them crack the English writing and reading code. Children who need help matching the vocal sound to the printed letter symbols will also have trouble decoding printed words and converting them back into vocal sounds.
This coursework will help students build "sound foundations" in English by using spelling to help them develop keen and essential abilities to recognize and analyze the distinct phonemic and syllabic sounds that make up each spoken word. When students learn to sound, say, and spell phonemes and syllables, they can rapidly recognize and read them as printed words. The most effective way to get students focused on the internal sound structures of English words is to require them to spell and write phonemic and syllabic sounds (and eventually entire words) from systematically structured aural dictation units. Students who spell well will read well.
Above all, we will introduce children to literacy in exciting, unforgettable, and effective ways. Kids will begin their lifelong journey towards knowledge by sounding, saying, singing, and loving language. This is one of the greatest gifts we can give to them.