Cuddles Childcare Centres Reveal the Importance of Phonemic Awareness in Children
Announcement posted by Cuddles Childcare Centre 28 Mar 2014
Childcare professionals in Perth provide information on the relationship between phonemic awareness and learning to read.
Perth, Australia, 28 March 2014 - Learning how to read is a major milestone in any child’s development because it is a vital skill that will serve them for the rest of their lives. Something that adults, who have probably been reading most of their lives, often take for granted is the fact that the process is much more complicated to a child who is just beginning to develop this ability.
One of the most essential components in learning how to read is phonemic awareness. Although more complex than it sounds, phonemic awareness is something that children should be able to do well to better increase their reading abilities.
To provide a better understanding on the nature of reading, phonemic awareness and their relationship, Michelle Novatscou, Operations Manager of the Cuddles Childcare Centres, provides more information on the subject, drawing upon her experience in childhood education.
“The ability to read is a fundamental part of our everyday lives and a number of factors come into play when a child is learning how to read. To understand this better, reading is defined as divulging meaning from text in the form of sounds and meaning. It is different from spoken language, because there are alphabetical units involved.”
Novatscou continues by describing what phonemic awareness is and how it can be defined into different parts.
“Phonemic awareness is a major component in learning how to read and can be divided up into three parts. The first is the understanding of what phonemes and phones are. Phonemes are the differences in sounds that change the meaning of a word, whereas phones are the actual sounds themselves. The second part is being able to recognise what each phoneme and phone means. As adults, we do this without even thinking, but children have a harder time grasping this. By teaching them what each letter means in terms of sounds, they develop a better understanding of the language. The final piece of phonemic awareness is the mastery of being able to manipulate these letters and sounds into more complex sentences. This develops naturally with age and proper education.”
Novatscou then describes in more detail the relationship between phonemic awareness and actual reading abilities.
“While phonemic awareness is a linguistic skill, it is not technically necessary when speaking a language. This is because children can pick up on what a person says and still learn. However, when you add a written component to language, phonemic awareness becomes necessary because text has to be translated into something that the child can understand.”
Novatscou concludes by proclaiming the role of educators in teaching children how to read and how her childcare centres promote this.
“As educators, it is our responsibility to teach children the basics of phonemics and language in the written sense so that they can learn how to read and develop this skill later in life. By providing a healthy and active learning environment, we can achieve this and be able to provide our children with the best literary education that they can get at this age. At our childcare centres, we strive to do just this because our children deserve it.”
Cuddles Childcare Centres provide excellent education and care for young children all throughout the Perth area. To learn more about them and the opportunities they offer, please call the Bertram centre at +61 (08) 9419 1844, the Carlisle centre at+61 (08) 9472 4702 and the St James centre at +61 (08) 9358 4673. You can also visit their website: http://www.cuddleschildcare.com.au/.
One of the most essential components in learning how to read is phonemic awareness. Although more complex than it sounds, phonemic awareness is something that children should be able to do well to better increase their reading abilities.
To provide a better understanding on the nature of reading, phonemic awareness and their relationship, Michelle Novatscou, Operations Manager of the Cuddles Childcare Centres, provides more information on the subject, drawing upon her experience in childhood education.
“The ability to read is a fundamental part of our everyday lives and a number of factors come into play when a child is learning how to read. To understand this better, reading is defined as divulging meaning from text in the form of sounds and meaning. It is different from spoken language, because there are alphabetical units involved.”
Novatscou continues by describing what phonemic awareness is and how it can be defined into different parts.
“Phonemic awareness is a major component in learning how to read and can be divided up into three parts. The first is the understanding of what phonemes and phones are. Phonemes are the differences in sounds that change the meaning of a word, whereas phones are the actual sounds themselves. The second part is being able to recognise what each phoneme and phone means. As adults, we do this without even thinking, but children have a harder time grasping this. By teaching them what each letter means in terms of sounds, they develop a better understanding of the language. The final piece of phonemic awareness is the mastery of being able to manipulate these letters and sounds into more complex sentences. This develops naturally with age and proper education.”
Novatscou then describes in more detail the relationship between phonemic awareness and actual reading abilities.
“While phonemic awareness is a linguistic skill, it is not technically necessary when speaking a language. This is because children can pick up on what a person says and still learn. However, when you add a written component to language, phonemic awareness becomes necessary because text has to be translated into something that the child can understand.”
Novatscou concludes by proclaiming the role of educators in teaching children how to read and how her childcare centres promote this.
“As educators, it is our responsibility to teach children the basics of phonemics and language in the written sense so that they can learn how to read and develop this skill later in life. By providing a healthy and active learning environment, we can achieve this and be able to provide our children with the best literary education that they can get at this age. At our childcare centres, we strive to do just this because our children deserve it.”
Cuddles Childcare Centres provide excellent education and care for young children all throughout the Perth area. To learn more about them and the opportunities they offer, please call the Bertram centre at +61 (08) 9419 1844, the Carlisle centre at+61 (08) 9472 4702 and the St James centre at +61 (08) 9358 4673. You can also visit their website: http://www.cuddleschildcare.com.au/.