Getting Ready to Read: Building Phonics Skills
Your child will learn to sing the alphabet song long before she truly understands that she is singing about the 26 letters that make up the English language. With increased and consistent interaction with print, language, and books, however, she will come to understand that "ellamopee" is really "l, m, n, o, p" and sing the alphabet song with greater confidence and ease!
Over time, your preschooler will also come to understand that written English consists of letters and groups of letters that stand for a series of sounds — sounds that get translated into meaning. This letter-sound association is known as phonics, and it sets the stage for reading.
The Alphabet, Letters and Their Sounds
Phonics helps your child understand the relationship between letters (graphemes) and individual sounds (phonemes). Eventually he will be taught, for example, that the letter B stands for the sound you hear at the beginning of the word "ball." Making this association will help him more accurately read familiar words, analyze new words, and write words. When he knows that "ball" is spelled b-a-l-l, he will be better able to read, spell, and write words like call, tall, and fall. Over time, your child will learn how to efficiently connect about 42 to 44 sounds with the 26 letters of the alphabet.
Sequence of Learning
Even during the preschool years your child will begin to absorb amazing things about how letters and sounds work. Here is what you can expect her to learn, age by age:
3 and 4 year olds:
- Understand that letters have names
- Identify and name the beginning letter of their first name
- Identify and name all of the letters in their first name
- Identify and name up to 10 letters
4 and 5 year olds:
- Identify and name all lowercase and uppercase letters
- Understand that letters stand for sounds
- Associate some consonant letters with their beginning sounds
6 year olds:
- Know all letter names and how to write them
Quick and Easy Activities
There are a number of ways in which your child develops early phonics skills, making that all-important letter-sound connection. For example, when you read a good book to him (he hears the language of books), through your modeling (when he sees you reading the newspaper or writing a grocery list), and when he writes using invented spelling (also known as temporary spelling). Here are a few fun, simple activities you can do at home to further increase your child's phonics awareness:
1. Sing the alphabet song. This is a natural, but don't feel you need to sing the song the same way every time. Be creative — sing it as a rap, skip every other letter, start the song beginning with the letter of your child's name, sing the alphabet backwards, quietly, or loudly. Trying different styles will deepen her knowledge of the alphabet, making it more meaningful.
2. Play with letters. Set up a place in your home where your child can see and work with letters. Magnet letters are good for refrigerator word play. You might use sandpaper letter cards to help him learn in a tactile way. Take rough sandpaper, cut out the letters (make each about four inches high) and glue them to heavy paper. Help him trace his finger across the sandpaper. Say the letter and the sound as he traces the letter. Once he's familiar with the letters, try making a fun game out of it: Have him close his eyes, guide him in tracing a letter and ask, "which letter is this?"
3. Make an alphabet caterpillar. Cut out 27 large circles from sturdy construction paper. Use different colors. Make a simple caterpillar face on one of the circles. Next, write a letter on each of the remaining circles to make 26 letter circles. Work with your child to put the circles in alphabetical order.
4. Play "I Spy." Invite your child to play a guessing game. Without revealing it to her, select an object in the room and provide phonics clues to help her guess what it is. For example, "I spy something that begins with a 't'." Keep offering clues ("What sound does 't' make?") until your child guesses that the object is a table.
5. Share alphabet books. Alphabet books provide perfect, at-home opportunities for learning about and working with letters and words. Wonderful books for preschoolers include:
- ABC I Like Me by Nancy L. Carlson
- Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
- Dr. Seuss's ABC by Dr. Seuss
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault
- The Calypso Alphabet by John Agard
- Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables From A to Z by Lois Ehlert
