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Home Resource Supporting Your Child's Reading at Home
Help your child link sounds in speech to letters in print.
Although speaking and listening may not seem related to learning to read, being aware of sounds in words is very important to reading. This awareness allows children to break apart words orally and use sounds to learn to read and write words. Children first need to become aware of sounds in words without relating those sounds to print. They demonstrate their knowledge using their speaking and listening skills.
You can help your child develop an awareness of sounds in spoken words. Singing silly songs and making up silly words or poems are ways to enhance your child's awareness of sounds. These skills are fun to practice because most children love to play with sounds in words. You can make up silly sentences where most of the words begin with the same sound: Leo the lion liked to lick a lot of lollipops!
There are many types of different sounds in words. For example, one skill is being able to separate words into syllables, or parts, like knowing that the word folder has two syllables, or parts: fold-er. And the word computer has three syllables or parts: com-pu-ter. Being able to separate words into syllables will help children break a word into parts in order to read or spell the word.
Clap Word Parts (Syllables)
Help your child identify syllables in spoken words.
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Syllable Sort
Help your child identify the number of syllables in spoken words.
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A list of suggested books that you can read to your child. Select some words from the book and have your child determine how many syllables are in those words.
There are many different types of sounds in words. For example, rhyming words represent a type of sound relationship between words. Children need to have the ability to recognize when words rhyme. Words rhyme when they have the same ending sound. For example, blue and shoe rhyme and moon and spoon rhyme. When children recognize words that rhyme and can say a word that rhymes with a word they are given, they can use known words to read new words—for example, they can use the known word fall to help read the unfamiliar word wall.
Nursery Rhyme Time
Help your child practice rhyming.
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Rhyme Time
Help your child match rhyming words.
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A list of suggested books that you can read to your child to practice listening for words that rhyme.
Although speaking and listening may not seem related to learning to read, being aware of sounds in words is very important to reading. This awareness allows children to break apart words orally and use sounds to learn to read and write words. Children first need to become aware of sounds in words without relating those sounds to print. They demonstrate their knowledge using their speaking and listening skills.
Being able to recognize the individual sounds in words is the most important skill for learning to read that is related to sound awareness. When you see a letter between forward slashes, /s/, say the sound of that letter. If you see a letter without forward slashes, s, say the name of that letter. An example of phonemic awareness is knowing that the word cat has three separate sounds (/k/ /a/ /t/) and that the first sound in cat is /k/ and the last sound in cat is /t/. Recognizing individual sounds in a word that is spoken will eventually help children "sound out" a word when they begin to learn to read simple words. For example, a child who can hear three separate sounds in sat, /s/ /a/ /t/, can then link a letter to each sound, s a t, and read the word sat.
It is also helpful if children can identify beginning and ending sounds in a word. For example, in the word cat, the beginning sound is /k/ and the ending sound is /at/. In school, we may talk about word families. Word families are groups of words that have the same endings. For example, bat, cat, and sat are all in the same word family.
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What's the First Sound? Song
Help your child practice listening for the first sound in a spoken word.
Add a Sound to Make a New Word
Help your child practice adding a sound to a spoken word to create a new word.
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Saying Individual Sounds in Words
Help your child practice identifying the first, middle, and last sound in a word.
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A list of suggested books that you can read to your child. Ask your child to identify the first, last, and middle sound of selected words.
It is important for children to know letter names and letter sounds.
There are many ways to support your child's knowledge of letter names and letter sounds. For example, you can look for a specific letter in a book or in a newspaper and then ask your child the sound that letter represents. You can point out letters on signs while in the car. You can sing the alphabet song while getting ready for school or doing chores at home. You can have your child identify specific letters in a magazine and then practice writing the letters.
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Letter-Name and Letter-Sound Practice
Help your child practice naming letters and saying the sound for each letter.
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Short-Vowel Practice (a, e, i, o, u)
Help your child practice short-vowel sounds.
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Letter-Sound Writing
Help your child practice letter sounds and writing letters.
A list of suggested books that you can read to your child. Point to a letter and ask your child to identify the letter name and the letter sound.
An important step in learning to read is being able to connect how words are separated into individual sounds with knowledge of how letters relate to sounds. For example, being able to hear the individual sounds in the word sat, /s/ /a/ /t/, and knowing that s represents /s/, a represents /a/, and t represents /t/. Word-building activities can be used to support your child's learning to read and spell.
Write Words
Help your child practice saying each sound in a word and writing that word.
Write Words with Silent e
Help your child say each sound in a word, write the word, and determine if the vowel says its name or not.
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Step Up to Writing Words
Help your child practice saying each sound in a word, reading the word, changing one letter in the word to make a new word, and writing the word.
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