Books to stimulate phonological awareness

Sound awareness is a skill to stimulate in preschool children, and it will have a significant impact on the child's academic journey. The 'I pronounce...' book series offers several opportunities to focus on a targeted sound; you can draw the child's attention to this sound throughout the reading.

Here are 4 tips to practice phonological awareness before kindergarten begins

1- First, read it yourself and draw the child's attention to the words YOU say that contain the targeted sound. You can draw their attention by simply verbalizing that you made the X sound for such a word, by exaggerating the sound, by producing a secret code simultaneously with the production of the sound...

2- You could then reread it yourself and ask the child to signal to you when THEY hear the targeted sound in the words YOU say.

3- When the child is able to produce the sound well, you can use the book to draw their attention to the words THEY say that have the targeted sound (see video).

For most children, speech develops naturally on a daily basis without them becoming aware of the sounds they produce. However, making them aware of the sounds used to speak will help them transition to written language, which will impact their schooling.

4- During a future reading with the child you see in the video, it would be possible to have a code with them and invite them to use this code every time THEY say a word containing the targeted sound. Since it's the 'R' sound in this video, the code could be to make lion claws, point to a lion image, or something else.