Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear all of the little individual sounds in words. For example, how many sounds are in the word "cat"? (/c/a/t/ = 3)

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This is the skill that has been most linked to later reading success. When children struggle with learning to read, this is often the underlying cause.

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The good news is that it can be taught!

There are so many strategies that we can use, and it really requires some extensive training to be able to do this well, but here are some ideas.

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NOTE:

• This is just as important as learning the letters of the alphabet.

• This does not have to take a lot of time for most students.

• Children who struggle with this will need more support from a highly knowledgeable and trained teacher.

• If a child does not have a problem with PA, this does not mean that they will be good readers. Children who struggle with learning to read do so for many many reasons. This is just one of the most common.

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