Parenting Tip #8
Learning Letter Sounds

Toddlers absorb so much knowledge and quickly too, which is why as parents, caregivers, and teachers it is important to make learning fun and unique. This will encourage their education process for the future and increase their self esteem. If a child believes in themselves, they will be more willing to study and practice later on because they will have confidence that they can complete the task at hand.

There are several ways to make learning letter sounds fun and interactive, try some of the few we have listed!

~ Try rhyme time. Young toddler will not be able to rhyme independently, but will have a lot of fun imitating your sounds. Start by focusing on easy sounds and leave a space for your toddler to repeat. For instance, try the "ot's" ie. Hot, bot, not, rot, dot, jot, cot, lot, ect… This will also give them the opportunity to hear the repetitiveness of sounds, which is a great way to practice auditory skill building.

~ Try listing words with same sounds. Try using this game when pushing your toddler on the swing, or going for a walk. They will be more apt to concentrate on you if they are less distracted. List as many words as you can with the same letter or sound. For example, mom, make, my, more, money, mmm, mouse, ect…. Emphasize the sound you are focusing on, or trying to learn , make that sound louder and longer than the remainder.

~ As your toddler grows, your games can as well. You can try memory or matching games to say the word or sound, alphabet games, singing and dancing games, and more!

Remember that repetitiveness is an important step towards learning to read. When toddlers are learning language, they are doing this by using their auditory skills. Building these skills is a key factor in developing your child's vocabulary and jump starting their reading readiness!

Do you have a tip for learning letter sounds? Let us know, we would love to post it!