What: 

Phonemes are the distinct sounds, both consonants and vowels, used in a language. Some phonemes are single letters, such as b, f, a, and t. Others are a combination of letters to create a single sound: the ng in song, the th in the, the sh in sheep, the oy in toy. 

 

Why they are important:

Other than the fact they are the building blocks of any language, phonemes are important because they help the brain develop. New experiences stimulate brain cells. While our brain develops and grows throughout life, the greatest brain growth and development occur in our first year of life because every experience is new. 1 When stimulated, brain cells communicate with each other by sending out electrical impulses that connect at synapses. Activating these same synapses repeatedly forms a pattern which becomes a fast and accurate pathway.2 Frequently exposing babies to all the sounds of a language creates communication speedways. This is called Language Acquisition.

The second reason phonemes are important is they are critical tools in learning to read. Early education teachers often say the ability to hear and play with the sounds of a language is a critical step before a child can learn to read. The first level of this is called Phonological Awareness in which we deal with larger units of spoken language. Examples of this are recognizing rhyming words and alliteration (words that start with the same sound), breaking a sentence into individual words, and counting the number of syllables in a word. 

The next level is Phonemic Awareness, in which we learn to break words into the individual sounds. Examples of this would be recognizing the word “hat” is made of three sounds /h/ + /a/ + /t/ and that /h/ + /i/  + /t/ makes a different word. Phonics incorporates the visual and involves print, but requires the student have phonological/phonemic awareness in order to be successful.3 Developing Phonological and Phonemic Awareness leads to Reading Readiness.

Phonemes and Phonics are a personal crusade of mine. Many schools teach reading using the “whole language” approach. It works fine for lots of students, but not for all. Like me. In second grade I was in the lowest level reading group and remember guessing at words. It wasn’t until I was sent for remedial reading help, at which I was taught phonemes and phonics, that I learned to read. By equipping me with the right tools, by fifth grade I was reading at an eighth grade level. 

 

Building Superhighways 

When they are infants, make a point of face-to-face cooing, where you emphasize each consonant sound with different vowels. Position your face close to theirs, so they can connect sounds to face/mouth shapes. Bah, bah, bah. Bee, bee, bee. Bye, bye, bye. Boe, boe, boe. These are just sounds—don’t worry if they aren’t actual words. When they start to coo, stop and listen. Then repeat the sounds they made. This teaches that conversations are a back and forth dialogue.

I had planned to include several fun activities here for incorporating phonological and phonemic activities into the daily lives of small children. But it turns out my favorite ones are all on ReadingRockets.org

 https://www.brainfacts.org/thinking-sensing-and-behaving/brain-development/2019/the-first-years-of-life-092419

2 https://www.idra.org/resource-center/brain-development-and-mastery-of-language-in-the-early-childhood-years/

3 https://heggerty.org/blog/phonological-awareness-and-phonemic-awareness 

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