Help your toddler learn how to pronounce letter sounds!

Teaching your toddler letter sounds can be very simple! First, you need to teach each phoneme separately, connecting the image of the letter with its corresponding sound. In the world of literacy, letter sounds are called phonemes and learning them separately is a crucial skill to practice. Phoneme sound practice should be repeated daily or even twice a day to ensure it will be locked into your child's memory. Rest assured, this process should take less than five minutes of your time, as you can practice as many or as little phonemes as you'd like.  

There are a few general rules regarding phonemes that you will need to know and master prior to starting your learning journey with your little one. In your phoneme practice,  there will be both, continuous and non- continous sounds. Continous sounds are sounds you can sustain without distortion; while , non- continous sounds , also known as stop sounds, are sounds that cannot be stretched out or elongated. We have a blog post on continous sounds that you can check out to get more information on how to identify and pronouce continous sounds.

Pronunciation is key! Often, non-continuous or stop sounds are the phonemes that are mispronouced by most people, parents and teachers alike. Some non-continuous sounds are difficult to pronounce on their own because they are easily pronounced with the valuable and conspicuous /uh/ appended at the end. In fact, a lot of parents and educators have used this /uh/ to sound out words for their kids. For example, recognizing "pig"' individual sounds as /pu/, /I/, and /gu/. The issue with leaving a large /uh/ at the end is that some students might find it difficult to blend the sounds without it, especially those who need the most precise instruction. They might ,therefore, change these sounds into the three-syllable word “/pu/-/i/-/guh/“ rather than the one-syllable word "pig." Thankfully, there is a very simple method that will help you pronounce the stop sounds more correctly.

Consider the way you pronounce the sound at the end of the word rather than how it appears at the beginning. For example, use the word "rib" rather than the word "big" when considering how to pronounce the /b/ sound. Pronouncing your isolated /b/ in the same manner as you say the last sound of "rib" will help you say the phoneme accurately and clearly. 

The difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds is another crucial aspect of phonemes. A few phonemes , when vocalized, cause a vibration in the vocal chords (i.e. the /v/ sound) , while other voiced sounds expel gusts of wind from the mouth (i.e. the /h/ sound). Here's an excellent experiement to experience the difference in feeling between the /v/ and /h/ phonemes. Place your hand on your throat and say /v/. Did you feel that? Now try, the /h/ sound . What a difference! When you vocalized the  /v/, you will feel a vibration that is not there when you say /h/.  This is a wonderful activity to try with your toddler as well.  If you have a mirror handy , you and your child can see and discuss the differences you recognize in the lips, throat and tongue as you say each phoneme.  You can even make it a game!

Teaching phonemes doesn't have to be drab and boring. Click the link to access a free TRA phoneme/ sound chart, this will provide you with the tools you need to get started teaching phonemes the correct

way!