Easy Phonics For 4-Year-Olds
by Mary Follin
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Given the recent statistics on lack of proficiency in reading among fourth-grade children, many parents are looking for phonics for 4-year-olds. Yes, it starts that early. As children begin formal schooling, expectations for mastery of reading skills are higher than they used to be, and a lot of parents want to support these skills at home. After all, how do we address our literacy problem without taking a more focused approach? Phonics for 4-year-olds can actually be pretty easy to teach, and with the right approach, you can teach your child phonics without creating anxiety or causing frustration.
So what does phonics for 4-year-olds look like? At this age, most children who aren’t being homeschooled are still in preschool, possibly in kindergarten. How do you teach such a young child about phonics? Is it even possible? It certainly is. The key is to introduce phonics in an age-appropriate way so that young children can grasp the concepts at their own pace. What you want to avoid is pushing children when they’re so little; you don’t want to risk turning them off to learning how to read altogether. And please keep your lessons short—5 minutes each day is plenty of time for teaching phonics for 4-year-olds. |
Phonics for 4 year olds is actually pretty easy!
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How to Teach Phonics for 4-Year-Olds
Start with phonemic awareness. This is fun for children—and for you, too! Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize sounds and sound patterns in words. You can develop phonemic awareness by reciting silly rhymes, playing I Spy with My Little Eye (something that begins with the sound ‘buh’ ‘tuh,’ or ‘ch’—whatever objects you see in the room), and making up songs with lots of repetitive sounds in them:
Bobby Bouncy bounces his ball on blue bricks!
Tommy Tootletree toots his trumpet!
Sister Sally sings silly songs!
But phonics for 4-year-olds doesn’t end with phonemic awareness. You can actually begin to actively teach your child phonics at this age, as long as you keep a few things in mind.
First of all, use a direct instruction, phonics-based approach. This means that you will teach the sounds of each letter, phonetic blends, and the rules of phonics. While this sounds complicated, it actually isn’t. If you’re not familiar with how to teach phonics (especially phonics for 4 year olds), I do recommend that you use a direct instruction, phonics-based program designed for children this age.
Bobby Bouncy bounces his ball on blue bricks!
Tommy Tootletree toots his trumpet!
Sister Sally sings silly songs!
But phonics for 4-year-olds doesn’t end with phonemic awareness. You can actually begin to actively teach your child phonics at this age, as long as you keep a few things in mind.
First of all, use a direct instruction, phonics-based approach. This means that you will teach the sounds of each letter, phonetic blends, and the rules of phonics. While this sounds complicated, it actually isn’t. If you’re not familiar with how to teach phonics (especially phonics for 4 year olds), I do recommend that you use a direct instruction, phonics-based program designed for children this age.
