Work - ECRR Part VI

Phonological awareness is being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. Easily said it's playing with sounds. Being able to hear the sounds that make up words helps children sound out words as they begin to read.

Here are some tips to help your child develop phonological awareness.
1. Say nursery rhymes and make up your own silly, nonsense rhymes.
2. Sing songs. Songs have different notes for each syllable in a word, so childen can hear the different sounds in words.
3. Add actions as you sing a song or recite a poem. This helps your child break down language into separate words.
4. Play word games such as, "What sounds like 'ran'?" or "What starts with the same sounds as 'ball'?"

Here are some activities to do with your older pre-school child.
1. Ask whether two words rhyme: "Do 'cat' and 'dog' rhyme?" "Do 'cat' and 'hat' rhyme?"
2. Say words with word chunks left out: "What word would we have if you took the 'hot' away from 'hotdog'?"
3. Put two word chunks together to make a word: "What word would we have if we put 'cow' and 'boy' together?"
4. Say words with sounds left out: "What words would we have if we took the 'buh' sound away from 'bat'?"
5. Read some poetry together. Make up short poems together. Say the words that rhyme.

Now that I've shared those tips, I'll share some of my favorite nursery rhymes and songs that I often use in story times. I won't type them all out since some of them are lengthy, but if you have questions about any of them let me know and I'll send it to you!

Fingerplays/songs with motions:
I Have 10 Fingers
Open Shut Them
2 Little Blackbirds
5 Little Monkeys
Rain is Falling Down
Hokey Pokey
5 Little Ducks
5 Green and Speckled Frogs
Higgledy Piggledy
The Wheels on the Bus

Nursery Rhymes:
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Jack and Jill
Little Miss Muffet
Hey Diddle Diddle
Little Boy Blue
Humpty Dumpty