Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words; it is a listening rather than a seeing skill. Phonological awareness includes:

The awareness of syllables (oat+meal=oatmeal)

The awareness of rhyme (dog, fog, log, bog, cog, hog)

The awareness of phonemes, which are the smallest speech sounds (dog=d/aw/g) 

What can you do to help your child with phonological awareness?

• Sing!  Singing helps children hear syllables and  the small sounds that make up words.
• Clap out words into their parts or syllables.
• Learn some nursery rhymes to say with your child.
• Make up your own silly rhymes: The fat cat went splat on a mat.