A baby's first months are full of language exploration and learning. As parents and caregivers speak, sing songs, share rhymes, and read stories, babies are taking in everything that they hear. This includes the sounds and the rhythm of language. When babies hear different sounds and start to try them out, we call this skill phonological awareness (Brightly). This early literacy skill is one of the building blocks that children develop before learning how to read and write.
One great way to practice phonological awareness is to do something that you are probably already doing—making animal sounds! Animal sounds emphasize the different vowel sounds in any given language, and they are often some of the first sounds a little one learns. Try facing your little one as you make these sounds so that they can see the shape that your mouth makes for each one. If you are looking for a board book that encourages animal sounds, check out these titles:
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