Phonemic Awareness is defined as the ability to identify, hear, and work
with the smallest units of sound known as phonemes. It is NOT the same as
phonological awareness, instead, it is a sub-category of phonological
awareness. For example, phonemic awareness is narrow, and deals only with
phonemes and manipulating the individual sounds of words - such as /c/, /a/,
and /t/ are the individual sounds that make up to form the word "cat".
Phonological awareness on the other hand, includes the phonemic awareness
ability, and it also includes the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate
larger units of sound such as rimes and onsets.
Phonemic awareness can be taught very early on, and will play a critical
role in helping children learn to read and spell. While it's not set in
stone on when a child can learn to read, however, I do believe that a child
that can speak is a child that can learn to read. Children as young as two
years old can learn to read by developing phonemic awareness, and they can
learn to read fluently. Please see a video of a 2 year old (2yr11months)
reading below.
Below are several of the most common phonemic awareness skills that are
often practiced with students and young children:
- Phonemic identity - being able to recognize common sounds in different words such as /p/ is the common sound for "pat", "pick", and "play".
- Phonemic isolation - being able to recognize the individual sounds of words such as /c/ is the beginning sound of "cat" and /t/ is the ending sound of "cat".
- Phoneme substitution - being able to change one word to another by substituting one phoneme. For example changing the /t/ in "cat" to /p/ now makes "cap".
- Word Segmenting - the parent says the word "lap", and the child says the individual sounds: /l/, /a/, and /p/.
- Oral blending - the parent says the individual sounds such as /r/, /e/, and /d/, and the child forms the word from the sounds to say "red".
Studies have found that phonemic awareness is the best predictor of reading
success in young children. Research has also found that children with a high
level of phonemic awareness progress with high reading and spelling
achievements; however, some children with low phonemic awareness experience
difficulties in learning to read and spell. Therefore, it is important for
parents to help their young children develop good phonemic awareness. [1]
Being able to oral blend and segment words helps children to read and spell.
According to the National Reading Panel, oral blending helps children
develop reading skills where printed letters are turned into sounds which
combine to form words. Additionally, word segmenting helps children
breakdown words into their individual sounds (phonemes), and helps children
learn to spell unfamiliar words.
As a young child begins to develop and master phonemic awareness skills,
they will discover an entirely new world in print and reading. You will open
up their world to a whole new dimension of fun and silliness. They will be
able to read books that they enjoy, develop a better understanding of the
world around them through printed materials, and have a whole lot of fun by
making up new nonsense words through phonemic substitutions.
For example, we taught our daughter to read at a young age - when she was a
little over 2 and a half years old. Before she turned three, she would run
around the house saying all types of silly words using phonemic
substitution. One of her favorite was substituting the letter sound /d/ in
"daddy" with the letter sound /n/. So, she would run around me in circles
and repeatedly say "nanny, nanny, come do this" or "nanny, nanny, come play
with me" etc... Of course, she only did this when she wanted to be silly and
to make me laugh, at other times, she would of course properly refer to me
as "daddy", and not "nanny". She is well aware of the differences between
these words and is fully capable of using phonemic substitution to change
any of the letters in the words to make other words.
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