Unit 1: Phonological Awareness and Prewriting

Children begin by tuning their ears to the sounds around them. Listening games, sound discrimination, and sequencing activities build attention and listening skills. Songs, rhymes, and word games begin to focus that listening on spoken language. Prewriting lessons focus on grip and the basic strokes that form every letter.

Overview

	Main Concept	Activities	Fine Motor
1	Listening for Sounds	Notice and imitate environmental sounds (clapping, animal noises, everyday sounds).	Tripod Grip and Vertical Surfaces
2	Same or Different?	Identify if two sounds (or words) are the same or different.	Horizontal and Vertical Lines
3	Listening for the “Wrong” Sound	Purposefully change a word in a familiar rhyme or song (e.g., “Twinkle, twinkle, little hat” instead of “star”) and see if they notice!	Circle
4	Following Directions	Play a game where children act based on the sound	Cross +
5	Sequencing Sounds I	Identify which sound came first and which came last in a short sequence	Square
6	Sequencing Sounds II	Identify which sound came first, next, and last in a simple sequence.	Diagonals and X
7	Word Awareness	Clap or tap once for each word in a short-spoken sentence	Triangles

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my child ready for Unit One?

Your child is ready to start unit one if they...
- Are able to have back and forth conversations with you
- Understand how to play simple games

If your child is younger than four
- Expect to do the activities multiple times and do not expect mastery
- They might not be ready for the fine motor activities. Leave those out until they are ready for them.

Can my child skip Unit One?

If your child is four or older, ask yourself the following questions.
- Can they follow two-step directions? (turn around, then hop)
- Do they notice if a word is wrong in their favorite songs?
- Can they answer first, next, and last questions?
- Can they count the number of words in a simple sentence? (I like cats = 3 words)

Does my child need to do prewriting?

If the prewriting doesn’t work for your child or your child isn’t ready for it, do NOT do the fine motor activities.

To know if your child is past the prewriting stage that Unit One goes over, evaluate if your child can make the marks on the following page