Exciting new research is showing parents and teachers how language and literacy development actually occurs. The research clearly shows that, as a parent, you’ve been playing a crucial role all along.

Learning to read starts early – right at home. For instance, you may not realize it, but even when your child was an infant, you were preparing him/her to learn letters. From the rhymes and words and chants the two of you shared to the first time you read a picture book to him/her you were laying the ground work for this journey.

All of the Student Services classes are focusing on learning rhyming words. Rhyming can be lots of fun! There is some research that shows that children find it easier to learn to read words when they use rhyming word families (hat, mat, rat.)

To help your child recognize rhyming words, read lots of nursery rhymes and poetry aloud. Picture books with rhyming words such as the Dr. Seuss books (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Hop on Pop, and There’s a Wocket in My Pocket!) are great models. You can change wocket to many other variations to rhyme orally and use your imagination to make silly new words that rhyme.

Make list of rhyming words with your child that you can read together. Add other words that are spelled like that and rhyme. Using family names works well, for example, take the G away from Gail, put a p and you get pail. Continue with nail, rail, sail, tail, hail and so on. Using your child’s name is the best place to start.

There is a fun Raffi music tape that goes something like this: “ Willaby, Walloughby, Wecky,/An elephant sat on Becky./Willaby, Walloughby, Wail./An elephant sat on Gail.” You can go through the names of several of his/her friends or family members to change the rhyme.

You can also use magnetic letters on your refrigerator so your child could play with changing the onset of a word to make a new word that rhymes. Use word families such as -an, -am, -at, and –it. Another fun rhyme game focuses on body parts such as head, nose, feet, eye, and hair. You say a word that rhymes with one of those. Your child repeats the word, then points to the body part that rhymes with it. Do just two at a time until they are firm. For nose, you could say, rose, hose, close, chose and so on, and for feet, you could say meet, seat, beat and heat.

Remember to always praise your child successes. Maybe even create a little book for your child of “Rhyming Words I Know.”

We hope you have as much fun rhyming at home as we are at school!

Questions? Please contact the Student Services Center.
Last updated: December 08, 2000.