Listening ability is an important pre-reading skill. We need to be able to listen and hear the sounds of letters and how they combine to make other sounds.
We can build listening skills by:
Playing rhyming word games
Doing activities which have one-step directions; then two-step directions; finally three-step directions
Gather objects that make different sounds; let the child become familiar with their sounds, then have him/her close their eyes while you make a sound with one object. Let them guess which object was sounded
Play animal sound lotto
Secretly give a bell to one child. Have all pretend to ring a bell. The child who is "it" will guess where the sound came from
Play a different kind of music each day at lunch. Have discussions on whether the children like or dislike that kind of music
Play "Doggie, doggie, where's your bone?" The child who is sitting in the chair must listen to hear when someone is creeping up to get his bone
Occasionally give information in a teeny, tiny voice so everyone has to listen very hard to hear it
Take nature walks and listen carefully for sounds you hear. Write them down and the next day try to imitate them in school (helps build memory skills, too)
Ask questions before you read a story so children will be listening for the answer
