The Day I Realized Rhyming Wasn't Enough: A Parent-Teacher Perspective on Phonological Awareness
- Melissa McCall
- Dec 31, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 14
We send our children to preschool. They sing songs, learn nursery rhymes, and start recognizing letters and sounds. We hear them proudly chant rhymes from the backseat and cheer when they point out the letter “M” on a sign.
That was me in 2020.
My son was in the 3-year-old preschool class. My daughter was in kindergarten. We were living in Rogers, Arkansas, loving our preschool and all the joy it brought into our home.
Then COVID hit.
Suddenly, we were all in the dining room...a makeshift classroom of alphabet charts, weather graphs, and calendar routines. While my daughter was on Zoom for kindergarten, I kept my son engaged with literacy games. I downloaded a guide on phonological awareness, thinking it would be simple.
It wasn’t.
Syllables? Compound words? Onset and rime?
Even as a seasoned kindergarten teacher with a MA in SPED, I had never used some of these terms before.
But we jumped in. Each morning, we played with sounds. My daughter joined us too.
And that’s when I realized something was wrong. My son, at three, could rattle off rhyming words with ease. My daughter (nearly through kindergarten) couldn’t.
She couldn’t rhyme. She couldn’t clap syllables. She struggled to blend and segment sounds.
She was one of the 20% of children with a phonological awareness deficit.
I was shocked. Three years of preschool and nearly done with kindergarten and she couldn’t do the most basic sound play.
At the time, I wasn’t overly alarmed. She was bright, articulate, and social. She seemed to be doing well in school, and no one had raised concerns. But looking back now, I was missing the full picture.
I didn’t catch it early because I didn’t have the knowledge. I didn’t know that children should be practicing these skills. I didn’t know the early signs to look for.
It would take until third grade, tears during read-alouds, and finally private testing to get the diagnosis: a reading disability.
And that moment...that simple rhyming activity at our dining room table...should have been my red flag. If she had received strong core instruction in these skills and still couldn’t do them, yes, I would have been deeply concerned. But at the time, it was clear that she had never been explicitly taught how to hear and manipulate sounds. No one was teaching these skills at the preschool level. We know early intervention is key. And the earlier we understand what to look for, the sooner we can act.
The Big Realization
As the years have passed and I have dedicated time my time and energy to understanding the science of reading and how it applies to the preschool level, I have started to wonder: In those early years, I started asking myself:
What if we had built a stronger sound foundation in preschool?
What if I had known how to identify these red flags sooner?
What if I didn't advocate for my daughter?
And most importantly…
What happens to children whose struggles go unnoticed?
It is Time for Change!
Now, three years later, I am dedicated to researching early childhood development and I am determined to spread the word about the importance of phonological awareness skills. Through this process, three things have become clear:
1. Phonological awareness matters.
Phonological awareness is the understanding that words contain units of sounds. Children with strong phonological awareness skills are able to hear and manipulate smaller sounds within words. Phonological awareness focuses solely on auditory skills. Children do not need to see letters or words to practice these skills. Children can begin distinguishing sounds before they are born!
Children that can manipulate words auditorily have a strong sense of how words work. Science has proven that knowing how to blend and segment sounds auditorily makes it easier for children to learn to blend words when beginning to read (decode) and write sounds in words when beginning to write (encode).
Approximately 20% of children have a phonological awareness deficit, which is directly linked to reading difficulties. If we do not expose children to the different levels of phonological awareness skills in preschool, we will miss the opportunity to identify these struggling children and to provide early intervention.
2. Explicit instruction is necessary and can be taught in fun and engaging ways.
Explicit instruction matters. We don’t naturally “play” with words. Therefore, we must dedicate time and effort to build the necessary phonological awareness skills in preschool children that will prepare them for the final step, which is phonemic awareness. Building phonological awareness skills is fun, easy, and can be done in a few minutes each day.
The science of reading has proven that the brain must make connections between speech and vision to be able to read. Children need explicit instruction in both phonological awareness and phonics to strengthen these connections and build a strong reader. Teaching children to play with and manipulate words is a simple step that we can do to make reading and writing easier in the future, since phonological awareness and phonics belong on parallel tracks! The greater you are at hearing sounds, the easier it will be to segment and blend sounds when reading and writing.
3. Preschool children are more than capable of building these skills early on.
The National Reading Panel has found that building phonological awareness benefits all types of learners, including preschool students, students in grades K-6, typically developing learners, students from all SES backgrounds, ELL learners, and children with special needs.
Preschool curriculums nationwide include phonological awareness skills. Below are developmental skills adapted from the North Carolina Foundations of Early Learning and Development, as well as several other sources.
Be sure to grab our Milestone Charts (0-36 Months) and (3-5 Years) to help track development and get ideas for how to teach these skills!
Birth - 24 Months | Age 2 | Age 3 | Ages 4-5 |
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Advanced learners may be able to:
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Easy Phonological Awareness Practice!
Sing songs, read nursery rhymes, and recite poetry – repeat!
Focus on reading books that are full of rhyming words and point them out by name. Have your child repeat the rhymes.
Use movement to count and play with words and sounds (clap the words in poem, jump the number of words in a sentence, chop syllables with your hands).
Play “I Spy” with something that rhymes with ____ or begins with the ___ sound.
Missing Sound Game – “I am hungry. I am ready for a nack. What is missing? Ssssss.”
Mystery Sound – Say the name of three words with the same sound and one that does fit – Can you guess the wrong sound?
Clap syllables in names and objects around you!
Tap out each sound in simple words on your fingers (c-a-t, f-i-sh, s-u-n).
With children ages 1-3 years old, play with sounds:
Guess the sound
Practice animal sounds
Hold up an animal picture or stuffed animal and say the incorrect sound. Encourage your child to correct you with the proper sound!
Clap a pattern and have your child copy the claps
Head out on a nature walk and listen to the sounds around you
"That Rhymes, That Rhymes" Game - Say two words aloud. If the two words rhyme, moving your legs back and forth and say, "That rhymes, that rhymes." If the words do not rhyme, shake your finger and say, "No way, no way!" Continue with several word pairs.
Point to different objects. Can you name the beginning sound? Can you name the ending sound? Can you name the middle sound?
Say a word slowly and jump for each sound in the word.
Final Thoughts
Looking back, I wonder:
What if I hadn’t learned about phonological awareness?
What if I hadn’t asked the right questions at the right time?
That’s why I share this story. Because it’s not just about my daughter. It’s about every child who struggles silently.
Preschool children are more than capable of learning these skills, and they deserve the chance to do so.
Let’s stop waiting. Let’s start teaching. And let’s give every child a stronger start.
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We believe that every child deserves a bright future, and this begins with a strong foundation in early literacy skills. At Moving Little Minds, we are dedicated to providing research-based literacy activities in fun and engaging ways! By merging instruction with play, we ensure that children are reaching their full potential and embark on their educational journey well-prepared for the future! Let's build those KEY emergent literacy skills together.
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References:
Learning to Read A Primer Part One. (n.d.). Center for Early Reading, 1–56. Retrieved August 7, 2022,
from https://amplify-
commktg.imgix.net/app/uploads/2018/10/04210455/amplify_primer_3717_lo.pdf.
Mesmer, H. A., & Kambach, A. (2022). Beyond labels and agendas: Research Teachers Need to Know About Phonics and Phonological Awareness. The Reading Teacher, 76(1), 62–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2102
PA beyond basics Schuele, C. M., & Boudreau, D. (2008). Phonological awareness intervention: Beyond the basics. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 39(1), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2008/002)
Phonemic Awareness Research. Heggerty. (2020, October 15). Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://heggerty.org/Phonemic-awareness-research
Phonological Awareness (emergent literacy). Department of Education and Training Victoria. (n.d.). Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/professionals/learning/ecliteracy/emergentliteracy/Pages/phonol ogicalawareness.aspx
Science of reading: Phonological awareness & phonics - Nebraska. Science of Reading: Phonological Awareness & Phonics.
(2020, November). Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://cdn.education.ne.gov/wp
-content/uploads/2020/11/Nebraska-Session-1-Phonological-Awareness-and-Phonics-2.pdf
The Reading League. (Year, Month, Day). Science of Reading: Defining Guide. https://www.thereadingleague.org/what-is
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