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3 Ways to Enhance Phonemic Awareness with Music

Mom and toddler son sing songs together to boost phonemic awareness

You’ve probably heard the word phonics, but what exactly is phonemic awareness? Phonemic awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds—phonemes—in spoken words, a crucial pre-reading and speech skill.

Research shows that programs focused on phonemic and phonological awareness significantly increase children’s reading abilities in early years, and can be further enhanced by music. What does this look like at home? Here are a few things you can do that sound like learning, but feel like fun!

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Why Music Is Better Than White Noise for Babies

Music is better than white noise for babies

Everyone loves to watch a sleeping infant, but is white noise for babies the best environment for these peaceful moments?

Research tells us no, and here’s why – your baby’s auditory system is hard at work, and sleep aids like white noise can send it into overdrive.

Our auditory system is the first to develop and the last to stop. It is almost fully developed at 16 weeks in utero. So, when your baby is born, they already have 5 months’ experience in processing sound.

Before we look at why soothing, patterned sounds like music are better than white noise for babies, it’s important to understand how the auditory system works.

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