3 Tips To Improve Your Child's Rhyming Skills

 Rhyming is a crucial initial stage in a child's reading development. When a child learns to rhyme, he or she learns to concentrate on the mechanics of language. They also start to notice all of the different sounds that each word has. Rhyming is a fun way to read that keeps you interested and helps you to remember what you read. It also supports the development of early literacy abilities such as phonemic awareness and fluency. It is essential for emerging literacy and learning to read because it educates children about language. Rhyming is a great way for kids to learn about word families like let, met, pet, wet, and get. When it comes to reading, a child’s ability to break words down into smaller ones allows him/her to handle new vocabulary. This is referred to as improved phonemic awareness. Children who struggle with reading are frequently unable to do so.  Word families play a crucial role in a child's language foundation. When children notice that similar sounds appear in words they've heard previously, they develop a sound library for language in their brain. If the letter a in the word can is pronounced as ‘ah’, it may also be pronounced as ‘ah’ in the word man. Because rhyming abilities are a strong predictor of a child's subsequent success in learning to read, every effort should be made to provide opportunities for young children to develop these skills. Here are 3 activities you can try to improve your child’s rhyming skills. 

Make A List 

In the early stages of teaching rhyme, you can make a list of rhyming words. This can be done at various levels and adjusted based on your child’s progress. For beginner readers, the list can include 2-letter and 3-letter words, and as they grasp the concept, advance to longer words. To make this activity fun, it can be done on a chart (printed or using bristol board or other craft items) and stuck on a nearby wall where the child can practise regularly. 

Letter Blocks 

Using letter blocks, form rhyming words. For some words, you can simply switch the first letter(s). This activity allows your child to identify words that have similar ending sounds but different beginning sounds. 

Example: What rhymes with cat? 

• Bat 

• Fat 

• Mat 

• Sat 

• Hat 

• Pat 

• Rat 

Here we can see where the first letter varies but the last 2 letters remain the same. 

Flashcards 

Make a list of rhyming words(in pairs) and then write them on different flashcards. Have your child say each word and then match the rhyming words. This allows your child to practice their rhyming skills while engaging in a fun and exciting activity. 

At The Caribbean Academy for Reading Intervention and Development, we offer an Individual Reading Assistance Programme that assists struggling readers to build skills in: 

• Sight words and high-frequency words 

• Sounds recognition 

• Reading comprehension 

• Letter and word recognition 

• Phonics and phonemic awareness 

Our Reading Assistance Programme is designed to teach the foundational skills of reading to children with significant academic challenges, empowering them to achieve grade-level proficiency. Our dedicated tutors help struggling readers understand the basic mechanics of reading and help them develop critical reading skills that will help them develop a lifelong love of reading. 

Target Audience: Struggling readers between the ages 5 years to 10 years. 

Persons interested in our Individual Reading Assistance Program can contact us at 1-868-474-9819. 

Chrystal Murray 

Reading Interventionist 

1-868-474-9819