Learning to read is a complex process and it actually begins very early when spoken language is being developed. Children need the opportunity to hear and play with spoken language. This process helps to build phonemic awareness skills. The ability to break spoken language into smaller pieces and to hear rhymes is actually something that doesn’t come naturally to a child with Dyslexia. A child’s ability to work with nursery rhymes and rhyming words can actually be another early indicator of a problems down the road. A child that has awareness of rhyme actually implies that the child understands that words can be broken down into smaller parts and that many words will have sounds in common. If a preschool child is struggling to grasp rhyming words then they may need additional support and instruction to develop those phonemic awareness skills.
There are a few simple activities that you can do with your child to help support this skill development.
-Rhyming games like I am thinking of an animal that rhymes with dig. ..pig
-Tongue twisters
-Working with word families
-Beginning sound hunts like find something in this room that starts with D
-Counting syllables. While at the grocery store count how many syllables are in some foods like apple. ap/ple and teach them how to clap or snap syllables.
These simple but engaging activities can help any young child develop these skills and they also give parents the interactions that help identify weaknesses in these skills early on.
