How to teach phonics for preschoolers

How To Teach Phonics To Preschoolers in 3 Simple Steps

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If you have a preschooler in your life, you’ve probably found yourself googling, “How can I teach my preschooler to read?” more than once.

Maybe you’ve even seen terms like “phonics” or “decoding” show up in the search results. Or maybe you’ve caught yourself scrolling Pinterest for hours looking for tips to teach your preschooler letters and sounds.

Teaching kids to read is a common concern for both parents and teachers, and rightfully so! Raising a strong reader is one of the most important things we can do for our little ones.

Although we want a fast, easy answer, teaching a child how to read is very complex. It takes years of systematic, explicit instruction before our kids become fluent readers who comprehend what they’re reading.

The good news is that we can lay the foundation while they’re still young to give them the best possible chance to be strong readers in the future!

In order to do that, let’s start with some basic literacy definitions that are important to understand. Then you’ll be on the right track for learning how to teach phonics to your preschooler.

Phonics vs. Decoding

Phonics and decoding are both essential parts of teaching a child to read. If you’re not too familiar with these common terms of early literacy, here is a brief review:

Phonics is a method of teaching reading by correlating sounds with letters or groups of letters in an alphabetic writing system. So, hearing a sound and knowing what letter made it.

Decoding is the ability to apply knowledge of letter-sound relationships to correctly pronounce written words. So, seeing a letter and knowing what sound it makes.

Phonics and decoding go hand-in-hand.

Let’s take the word BUS as an example.

When we teach our preschooler there’s a /b/ sound at the beginning of “bus,” and then we help them connect the /b/ sound with the letter b, we are teaching them phonics.

When they can look at the letters “b” “u” “s” and blend the sounds together /b/ /u/ /s/ to read the word “bus,” they are decoding.

Our preschoolers need to master the sounds of printed letters so that they can use that knowledge to decode words. Letter sounds are the building blocks of reading.

Related Post: 14 Simple Activities to Teach Preschoolers the Alphabet

Why Are Phonics So Important?

Many people believe that the best way to teach kids to read is via sight words, but phonics sets a strong foundation for the process of reading. Eventually, kids need to know more than just sight words; they must be able to decode new words as they see them.

That’s where phonics comes into play.

Throughout early childhood education, kids focus on phonological awareness and letter recognition. They learn the sounds each letter creates and how to blend simple words together. The goal is to build automaticity in their reading.

The Order to Teach Phonics to Preschoolers

There is a general order in which you should teach your child phonics. If you use a curriculum, you’ll notice that most are set out in this manner.

Letter Sounds: Start with teaching your child the sounds of the letters. Kids are often taught the letters S, A, T, P, I, and N first, giving them a lot of words to sound out.
Digraphs: Digraphs are two letters that make one sound, such as ch, th, sh, and wh. This is a great time to introduce words like wish, bath, and chip.
Blending Sounds: After your child knows all of the individual sounds and digraphs, you start to move to blends for your child. Blends include bl, pl, st, sn, etc. These make up a huge portion of our language!
Vowel Digraphs: Next, you’ll move on to vowel digraphs, such as ae, oo, and ai. Your child will learn how to sound out words like hair and moon.

How to Teach Phonics to a Preschooler

If your preschooler is ready to begin the process of learning to read, here are 3 steps you can follow to help set them up for success with phonics and decoding:

STEP 1: Start with Sounds (Phonemic Awareness)

Let’s take one step back…

Before we ever introduce printed letters to our kids, we want them to know that English is a language of speech sounds. There are 44 speech sounds (phonemes) in the English language that are represented by 26 letters.

If you’re not sure what the 44 sounds are, click here for an easy-to-read chart.

When we speak, we put those speech sounds together to make words. To represent those words on paper, we pair them with letters.

When it comes to reading, we want our kids to first understand speech sounds before they ever get to the printed letters that represent those sounds.

Tuning into the sounds of English (phonemes) helps our preschoolers develop phonemic awareness.

Phonemic Awareness refers to the specific ability to identify and manipulate the 44 phonemes in spoken words.

Phonemic awareness is one of the best predictors of how well our kids will learn to read during the first two years of school.

Ideas to practice phonemic awareness (you don’t need any supplies for these games):

Slow-Fast: Say a word slowly, and then have your preschooler say it fast.
- You say /c/ /a/ /t/ slowly and they say “cat.”
- You say /s/ /i/ /p/ slowly and they say “sip.”
Isolate the Sound: Have them tell you the beginning, ending, or middle sound of a word (not the letters, just the sounds).
- “What’s the first sound in the word caterpillar?” /k/
- “What’s the last sound in the word cheese?” /z/
- “What’s the middle sound in the word pop?” /o/
Change the Beginning Sound: Say a word but change the beginning sound to make it silly.
- “Would you like a baffle?” (instead of waffle)
- See if they can guess the word it was supposed to be.
Count the Sounds: Give them a word, and have them count the sounds (not the letters, just the sounds).
- “How many sounds in the word apple?” /a/ /p/ /l/ = 3 sounds
- “How many sounds in the word wish?” /w/ /i/ /sh/ = 3 sounds
Same or Different: Determine if words have the same beginning sound or not.
- “Do “duck” and “dog” start with the same sound?” Yes
- “Do “fish” and “box” start with the same sound?” No

If you want to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to teaching your preschooler to read, THIS is the area to spend the majority of your time!

5 Tips for Teaching Phonics to Preschoolers

Now that you know the steps, it shouldn’t seem as intimidating. One thing to keep in mind is that these steps take plenty of time. At times, it may feel frustrating, so here are some tips to increase your likelihood of success and fewer tears.

Give Your Child Plenty of Practice

Kids need frequent opportunities to practice and apply the knowledge they learned. They need to apply this phonetic knowledge to both reading and writing activities.

Don’t be afraid to give them plenty of practice!

Whether you find some fun games to play with your kids or give them some worksheets to complete, the more practice they have, the better it is.

Try Phonic Clips Cards

Clip cards are a great, non-permanent way to teach your child how to distinguish letter sounds. Your child looks at the picture, says what it is out loud, such as the moon, and determines the beginning sound.

Then, they use a clothespin and clip the beginning sound on the card. Kids love the kinetic part of this; using clothespins is fun!

Related: Christmas Beginning Letter Sound Clips: Free Printables

Be Flexible with Your Instruction

Each child is unique, so it’s important to be flexible whether you are a parent or a teacher. All kids learn differently; some are auditory learners, while others are kinetic learners.

Be versatile and use different methods of instruction. Observe the most effective lessons and tailor your instruction to meet your child’s needs.

Learn about Orton-Gillingham’s method of reading; this is a multi-sensory approach to learning how to read. It offers a variety of activities and brings in auditory, visual, and kinetic ways of learning.

Don’t Just Focus Solely on Phonics

In general, kids need a complete literacy program. You don’t want to solely focus on phonics for kids. They should be learning new vocabulary and working on reading comprehension.

One of the best things you can do for kids is to read to them daily. Pick up several books each day and read them to your child. Ask your child questions about the book to work on reading comprehension as you read. They naturally learn new vocabulary through new books.

Incorporate Writing As Well

Kids should begin to learn how to write the letters they learn to read simultaneously. Start by focusing on correct letter formation.

Use a multisensory approach to teaching letter formations. Here are a few ideas!

Write letters in the air as they say the sounds – do it three times!
Write on sand or salt trays.
Form letters with Play-Doh
Build letters with blocks or popsicle sticks
Use a dry-erase marker and board for repeated practice

AUTHOR BIO:

Erin from Littles Love Learning

Erin is a wife, mom, and preschool teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education & an endorsement in Reading. She is the founder of Littles Love Learning, where she shares hands-on learning activities that are based on early learning standards and rooted in PLAY! Her passion is equipping preschool parents & teachers with the tools to teach foundational skills so their little ones have success in kindergarten and beyond. Connect with Erin on social media:

Instagram: @littleslovelearningblog
Facebook: Littles Love Learning Blog
Pinterest: Littles Love Learning Blog

14 Phenomenal Phonics Activities for Preschoolers

It’s difficult to overstate how important reading and language are. These skills are the foundation for a lifetime of success, so it’s only natural if you’re seeking out ways to make sure the little ones in your care are on solid ground. One tried-and-true method for building literacy skills is through the use of phonics activities. In this article we’ll help explain what phonics are and share some excellent phonics activities we’ve found from preschool professionals.

What are phonics?

It’s pretty simple—phonics are just the relationships between letters and the sounds they make. For instance, the letter “p” sounds like /p/ and the letter combination of “tion” sounds /shun/. Though letter combinations like “tion” are more complex, preschoolers can get started learning to recognize simpler letter sounds.

Learning phonics will help young kids decode words to learn how they’re pronounced and what they mean. This will give them a leg up on writing and spelling. Normally learned between kindergarten and second grade, phonics activities are available for every age, including remarkably simple and amusing options for you and your child. We’ve gathered the best on the web just for you and your preschooler.

14 Fun phonics activities for preschoolers

1. Rainbow hop letter sounds game

This kinetic phonics game from Fun Learning for Kids transforms your living room into a life-sized board game. Simply use colored paper, one die and a marker to create a stepping-stone for every letter of the alphabet or however many you have room for. You can even include “ch” and “sh” pieces for more advanced learners. For the game, your child will roll the die, take the allotted number of hops and say and pronounce the letter that they land on. Perfect for playing with siblings or parents or friends, this active game will help your little one learn both letter sounds and counting.

2. Alphabet ball

Best played outside or in a gym, this super simple active game from Hands On As We Grow will keep your energetic preschooler moving, grooving and learning. First, the adult calls out a letter and the child responds with a word that begins with that letter. Then, the adult throws the ball to the child and the child gives the adult a letter to find a word for, and on and on. You can make the game even more fun by kicking the ball or chasing each other to tag with the ball. You can also play rhyming ball, where the thrower provides a word for the catcher to rhyme with.

3. Alphabet phonics clip cards

You can download these free, fun and easily portable phonics clip cards from Kids Activities. Using clothespins or any other kind of nonpermanent marker, your child will mark which animal name starts with the letter “z,” “b” or “s” depending on the card. These colorful cards enable your child to work on word association and sounds while in the car, waiting at the doctor’s office or relaxing at home.

4. Letter sounds race

This Letter Sounds Race from Inspiration Laboratories is perfect for your little sprinter. Place letter magnet opposite any magnetic surface—magnet board, the fridge or easel. While your kiddo stands near the magnet board, pronounce a letter sound, have them run to the letter magnets, pick out the corresponding letter and place it on the magnet board. You can help your younger child learn new letter sounds by asking them to find and place the letter, pronounce the letter sound and ask them to repeat it.

5. Phonic photo scavenger hunt

Get clicking with this bright idea from VeryWell Family. Have your preschooler create a photo album, either physical or digital, with a photo of an item for every letter sound: “a” for anthill to “z” for zoo. This is an easy way to keep the learning flowing while on vacation or on the go. This can be done again and again to learn new sounds like “ch” or “sh.”

6. Spin & rhyme

No Time For Flash Cards suggests a creative alternative to boring work sheets. Use a paper towel roll and clothes hanger to easily create rhyming words (e.g., cat, pat, mat, sat). This exercise also helps your little one learn how to break down words and identify word families. The simple setup is easy to transport and provides a kinetic twist to a basic phonics activity.

7. Erase the sound

Your little artist will love this simple and visually stimulating activity. Draw a picture on a whiteboard or chalkboard, name individual letters and have your child identify and erase items in the picture that start with that letter. PreKinders suggests drawing a snowman with a hat for “h,” buttons for “b” and carrot for “c.” If your child is old enough, you could also reverse the roles of artist and eraser, once they see how it’s done.

8. Mystery bag

In this tactile activity from PreKinders, you’ll place three objects within a bag—like a ball, bug and button for the letter “b”—have your child name each item, and guess the “mystery letter” that unites all of the objects. If you have more than one little one learning phonics, you can have them fill a bag for the others with objects around the house to have the others guess.

9. 4 in a row

The Measured Mom recommends this game for older preschoolers who can count to four and know most of their letters, but need a bit of review. You can print this simple sheet from this website and take turns naming and pronouncing a letter. When you or your child names a letter correctly, you can color it in or cover it with a small object or game piece. The first to get four in a row wins!

10. Kaboom alphabet

Using just jumbo craft sticks and a cup, each player will pull a stick out of the cup and say the sound of the letter written on the stick they draw. Then, they get to keep that stick. But “KABOOM” is written on one stick and every time it’s pulled, the unlucky player has to put all their sticks back in the cup. You can even set a timer as Fun Learning for Kids recommends for a fun speed-round version.

11. Say two words

This simple game from PreKinders requires zero materials and allows kiddos to stretch their legs and get some energy out. When you say two words that begin with the same sound, they should stand up as fast as they can, but stay seated if the words do not begin with the same sound. If playing with more children, you can create an elimination system, so that there’s one clear winner determined.

12. Monster names

This simple activity from PreKinders is fun anytime and takes absolutely zero setup. Have preschoolers replace the first letter of their name with the letter “M,” and add ‘mad’ to the beginning. For example, Ashely would become Mad Monster Mashlyn. The kiddos can then stomp around, growl and play monsters with each other. This simple approach for reinforcing phonetic sounds can obviously be expanded and modified for further practice (e.g., Cool Cat Cashlyn, Funny Fish Fashlyn, etc.).

13. Smack the letter

Fun Learning for Kids recommends this flexible and fun game. Preschoolers will love getting to use a flyswatter to hit the letters you write on sticky notes and pronounce for them to identify. You can pick the letter sounds they most need to work on. If playing with a peer, this game can become a race. Two to three children can play for points to see who can reach 10 first. It can also be played tournament-style, if you’re working with a larger group.

14. Phonics I-Spy discovery bottle

Imagination Tree offers this fun boredom buster. Fill a large juice bottle with a variety of small items that start with various letters, using rice or sand as a filler for the remaining space. To play, use an alphabet deck or phonics clip cards to pick a letter and have your child shake the bottle and hunt for the item with the corresponding beginning letter.

Make phonics fun!

If these ideas excite you, it probably isn’t because you only love phonics. It’s more likely you love helping little ones develop their minds too. If making a career out of that love sounds like a bright idea, learn about just how important early childhood education is and how you could play a role in it.

Article | Developing the phonetic speech of a first grader

What is phonetic knowledge? What phonetic progress should a child have in first grade? What should parents do to help a preschooler, and then a schoolchild, learn to understand sounds and letters? The questions are answered by the primary school teacher of the highest qualification category Svetlana Nechepaeva.

At the beginning - a sound

The words of a first grader “I need to do phonetic analysis” often scare not only children, but also parents. Although at its core, the phonetic structure of a language is the natural state of a person. The world around is filled with sounds that everyone and everything makes. nine0005

Hearing these sounds, being able to distinguish them is the first preparatory action to begin to understand the phonetic structure of the native language.

The famous Soviet psychologist Daniil Elkonin said about the importance of phonetic knowledge that if a child is well versed in the sound structure of his native language, this will allow him to become a literate person. Not only to understand the sounds and letters that make up any word when we perceive it by ear, but also in the future will help the child master the grammatical and spelling skills of his native language. That is, phonetic knowledge and skills are one of the most basic for a future first grader. nine0005

Unfortunately, not much time is allotted for such phonetic development of knowledge in the first grade. Due attention is not always paid to the sound that the child must learn, because in the very first days the student has a lot of different tasks associated with the adaptation period. And when a first grader comes home, parents are not up to litigation with what was done in the lesson specifically for the academic part.

Adults are usually interested in the child's relationship with other children and the teacher and how the day went. But just in the first days in the classroom, phonetic knowledge is being taught, and if it is missed, in the future it will be very difficult for the child to understand the work with the tape of letters that is located above the board. nine0005

It will be difficult for a child to understand why he needs phonetic analysis, why color the word structure in different colors. Such a lack of understanding - why I am doing this and why - creates a feeling of rejection in the child, and therefore it is very difficult for him to understand this difficult area of \u200b\u200blanguage.

Meanwhile, the importance of this issue is great, because a child who does not hear the sounds of speech will find it difficult to read and write in the future.

An indicator of readiness for learning to read and write is the clear pronunciation of each individual sound by the child. nine0005

What a child should learn before school

Pronounce speech sounds clearly.
Extract the sound from the spoken word. For example, call the first sound [m] or the last [a] in the word “mother”. This will mean that the child clearly hears in which part of the word the sound is located.
Distinguish between vowels and consonants. However, it is not necessary to call them vowels and consonants. It is enough to distinguish the sounds that we stretch, sing, and pronounce the sounds that it is impossible to stretch. This will be the structure of the language, and as a result, the child will get acquainted with the so-called gradation: some sounds are like this, and others are like that. It is not necessary to delve deeply into the theory of the division of sounds into vowels and consonants, and consonants, in turn, into hard, soft, voiced and deaf ones. It is important to simply name all the sounds that the child hears. nine0032
If you still decide to teach your child to read, then you should start with the sounds of speech, and then move on to the letters so that the child does not create confusion in the head.

Getting Started

Start simple: If your child can reproduce the sounds that surround them, that's great. Name words that associatively can help separate these sounding sounds.

It is a good idea to acquaint your child in advance with the fact that at school sounds will be indicated by different colors. Red - vowels, blue - hard consonants, green - soft consonants. If a child does not know this before school, it is not scary, although today the industry of acquaintance with such schemes begins at the stage of early preparation for education. nine0005

Pay special attention at the beginning of the first grade, or even before entering school, to the fact that we hear sounds and see and write letters. It is very difficult for a child to engage in analytical and synthetic activities. Analysis, synthesis, classification are weakly subject to him, therefore the rhyme “We hear sounds, and we write letters” should be learned like a poem, at first just by heart. In the future, the child will approach this information consciously and the letter icons will not be confused with the sounds that will be enclosed in square brackets in the letter. nine0005

If you do not pay due attention to phonetics in the first grade (the child must be able to separate sounds from each other and see them in a word), then spelling will suffer in the future - the student will make a large number of mistakes in writing: mixing paired and voiced consonants, incorrect designations of softness of consonants, etc.

On the tape of letters from the primer, the vowels of the upper row mean the hardness of consonants, and the lower row - the softness of consonants. It depends on the spelling of the words. When a child has a distorted perception of sounds, a large number of errors await him. If, starting from the alphabetical period, from the very first day, the child pronounces, hears, shares, selects the right words for the sounds that the teacher oriented him to and which you repeated at home, there will be no problems. nine0005

Ignorance of phonetics can lead to errors in reading. For example, the omission of adjacent consonants (instead of "mark" - "poppy", instead of "barrel" - "sides"). That is, while reading, the child sees the letter, perceives it, but reads it indistinctly.

Or, on the contrary, a child can insert vowels between consonants (instead of "pasla" - "pasala", instead of "girl" - "girl"), and indistinctly read words are obtained. If you do not pay attention to this, then the child will do the same in writing. Therefore, it is important to read aloud. nine0005

Try to develop the simultaneous work of visual and auditory perception. Name the word, ask the child to repeat and match the pronounced sound with the letter.

It is good if a child is able to carry out phonemic analysis, that is, to divide the heard word into its constituent sounds, to clearly imagine its sound structure. This is where age matters.

At the age of 4, a child can already differentiate all sounds, that is, he can already have a formed phonemic perception. At the age of 5–6 years, a high level of development of phonemic perception occurs. At the age of 7–8, a child develops phonemic analysis, that is, recognition of a sound against the background of a word, selection of the first and last sounds from a word, determination of the sequence of the number of sounds, their place in the word in relation to other sounds. nine0005

How do you know if there is a problem?

The child does not distinguish between individual sounds that you pronounce or ask to repeat, mixes them, cannot match the picture to the sound, confuses words. Such problems can be solved by a speech therapist.

Unfortunately, there are more difficult situations, violation of the organs of the articulatory apparatus, low cognitive activity of the child during the period of speech formation, weakened voluntary attention. But in each case, the specialist will determine the cause. nine0005

It is very important to remember that in the first grade a child has a lot of phonetic work to do. He must learn to determine the number of syllables in a word, highlight the stressed syllable, analyze the number of vowels and consonants, understand where - at the beginning, in the middle or at the end - there is a vowel or consonant sound that the teacher is interested in, count the number of vowels and consonants in the word.

It's not scary if the child hears sounds. You can’t look at the word and name the sounds, you have to close your eyes and listen to the sounds. And if a child is taught to listen, he will definitely succeed. nine0005

Svetlana Nechepayeva's webinar can be viewed at the link.

English phonetics for children

Many parents are afraid to start learning English at an early age, linking this to the fact that some children cannot correctly name the sounds of their native language. What to say about the foreign! But the danger lies elsewhere. You can miss the moment when the child's speech apparatus is flexible and mobile. It is easiest for children under 3 years old to “set” the sound.

If your child is only getting acquainted with the melody of the English language, it does not matter if he is 2 years old or already 6, you must remember that the sound side should be practiced at first. And not so that let him say how it turns out, then he will correct himself. Yes, and learning right right away is easier than correcting later. Even if at the first stages the sounds of Russian and English are confused, nothing. Subsequently, everything will fall into place.

English phonetics for children - how to make friends with her?

— it’s easier for an adult to understand the peculiarities of each sound: put your tongue there… your lips are so… it looks like Russian… But you can’t really explain it to children. For many years, one of the most proven and effective ways has been considered "The Tale of the Tongue" , where each sound is presented in a playful way. Kids really like to repeat after the main character, to be like him.

- tongue twisters and rhymes occupy a pedestal in the course of English phonetics for children. nine0005

- music, songs . Through the sound of a melody, it is easier for a child to perceive information. After all, he does not even suspect that he is learning, memorization and repetition is involuntary.

- video lessons, video courses, audio cassettes , which are designed specifically for practicing various sounds. Regular listening leads to automatism, and then it is almost not necessary to put sounds or correct them.

- games. English phonetics for children offers a variety of phonetic games-exercises that create comfortable conditions not only for practicing pronunciation, but allow you to develop imagination, stimulate interest in the language. nine0005

For example, such a game “Bees”:

“I want to tell you a fairy tale. Once a Russian bee sat down on a flower, but did not notice that it was already taken. At that time, an English bee rested on it, which was not happy with the guest. The Russian buzzed: z-z-z-z. And the English answer to her: th-th-th-th. The foreign bee has a long tongue that does not fit in the mouth, so it sticks out a little. Look. Try again. How did the Russian speak? (children's answer), but how is English (children's answer)? nine0005

Repeated several times. Here you can add other sounds, for example [ks], [d], [t], continuing the story of their dispute.

- computer games. Today you can find various ways to get acquainted with English phonetics for children on the Internet. For example, a talking table of sounds. The kids will definitely like it, they will repeat and play.

From sound to sound, from brick to brick and a sound house will be built.