Recognizing syllables can be difficult for some children. Yet recognizing syllables is an important skill to learn to read more advanced words once children have mastered CVC, one-syllable words. How can you help children recognize when one syllable ends and another begins?
You might start with compound words, saying “snowman” or “doghouse” aloud and asking where the first part of the word ends and the second part begins. These need not be words a child can read yet, but words the child is familiar with. You can find lists of such words by searching online for “compound words.”
Using such familiar words, you and the child can clap after each syllable. The more senses the child uses, the more apt she is to remember the skill. Clapping, listening and speaking uses three senses, increasing the odds.
Another approach I have seen some children use is to hold their lower jaw with one hand while saying a word. Each time the jaw moves, that is a syllable. This is harder than clapping I think, so I like the clapping method better.
When you introduce two syllable words to read, you might start with words which have a double consonant in the middle like “mitten” and “rabbit.” The double consonants are a visual clue that one syllable has ended and another has begun. I have seen children stop to clap for some words but recognize the double consonant rule immediately and not need to clap for those words.
Syllables are harder to recognize when there are two unlike consonants in the middle of a word such as in “often” and “under.” I have seen first graders say the word correctly, pausing at the right spot to clap, and yet draw a line for the syllable break at the wrong spot.
If you are teaching a child who is having trouble figuring out where one syllable ends and another begins, slow down. Give the child plenty of time to master this skill. Use part of each reading lesson to reinforce this skill, moving from oral work with compound words to written work with double consonants to words with one consonant between two vowels.
Being able to read and pronounce longer words correctly depends on this skill.
comicphonics for early readers 