When we sing and say nursery rhymes to children from the time they are born, they will get used to the rhythm and rhyme of words, and this will support their understanding that the words we speak are made up of sounds - 44 sounds actually!

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By the time children are three, they should know many songs and rhymes and this will allow us to begin to be "silly" with the sounds in words.

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Click here for a list of "Songs for Switching Sounds".

 

And read LOTS of books that rhyme (Dr. Seuss is a good example, but many children's books rhyme). When reading aloud, LEAVE OFF THE LAST WORD to see if they can fill it in.

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Be direct about words that rhyme. Say, "Hey!! Moose! Goose! Those words RHYME! Those words both have "oose" at the end. Listen! Moose! Goose! Oose Oose - Moose - oose, Goose - oose. Can you hear "oose" at the end of both of those words?"