How Do You Develop Phonological Awareness In Preschoolers?
Phonological awareness is an ability to attend to and understand the sound structures of a given language. Phonological awareness skills include understanding the difference between speech sounds and environmental sounds, phonemic awareness, rhyme awareness, word awareness and sentence awareness. Children who have poor speech or problems with reading and writing often have deficiencies in these skills, but you can develop them. Learn to listen. When trying to develop phonological awareness in preschoolers start with attending to and identifying sounds. Point out when you hear speech versus environmental sounds. Draw attention to speech you overhear and talk about it. “I hear grandpa talking on the phone” or “Johnny is talking to daddy now.” Use the same method to point out environmental sounds like, “That car driving by was loud,” or “Listen to the birds chirping.” Teach your child to rhyme. Read books that contain rhymes and point out the rhyming words. Sing nursery songs, such as “Tw
