School Sparks - Kindergarten Readiness

Why I love rhyming worksheets

Rhyming is an important pre-reading skill that helps to hone your child’s ability to listen for sounds. And even more than that, learning to identify rhymes helps children focus on the ending sounds in words. Generally children are able to hear and isolate the beginning sounds in words before they can isolate the ending sounds. Of course, for reading and writing proficiency, children must be able to hear all the sounds in words. And the ability to recognize rhymes is one of the first steps in this process.

Tips for using these rhyming worksheets

To help your child prepare for listening to rhymes, play a rhyming identification game. Say two words in a row and ask your child if they rhyme. Begin with several rhyming pairs to get your child into the groove. Then throw in a pair that does not rhyme. Tell your child to indicate the rhyming pairs of words with a "thumbs up" signal so that you can continue saying pairs of words without interruption.

Then look at the beginning-level rhyming worksheets. Point to each picture as you say its name. It may be helpful for you to quickly scan each worksheet to make sure that you are labeling the picture correctly, although most are very clear. Then ask your child to say the name of each picture as you point to it.

Next, point to the circled picture, letting your child call out its name. Then point to the next picture on the page and allow your child to say its name. If your child recognizes that the pictures rhyme, he may circle the new picture. If the pictures don’t rhyme, your child may wish to mark that picture with an X to avoid confusion.

For the beginning and intermediate worksheets, it may be helpful for your child to name the circled picture each time he “tests” a new picture on the page for a rhyme. Hearing the first word in the rhyming pair each time will refresh his memory and highlight the ending sound he is listening for.

The advanced worksheets present a bigger challenge as your child will need to find four rhyming pairs. As with the other rhyming worksheets, it is a good idea to name all the pictures first to be sure that your child labels them correctly. It is easiest to complete this style of worksheet by looking first at the top picture of the left column. After your child says this name aloud, ask him to move his finger down the right-side column of pictures, saying each name until he comes to the picture that rhymes. After drawing the line to connect the two pictures, your child can then go back to the left-hand column, identify the next picture and continue the process of moving down the right-hand column until he finds the rhyme.

Have fun with rhyming memory game

The Rhyming Memory Game worksheets should first be copied onto heavy weight or tag paper to increase their durability. Then cut the cards apart.

There are a few ways to play with these sets of rhyming picture cards. To practice and reinforce rhymes, you might ask your child to simply look at a pile of cards, face up, and make the matches as he finds them.

When he is familiar with the rhyming matches, he is ready to play the traditional matching game. Place several pairs of rhyming word cards face down. Each player gets to turn over two cards, looking for a rhyming pair. If a match is made, that player gets to keep the pair of cards and take another turn.

To reinforce rhyming, you can change the rules of the traditional game. In this version, the player turns over his first card and leaves it face up on the table. Then he turns another card over, looking for a match. But in this new version, if a rhyming match is not found, the player returns that card to its face down position and tries again to find a rhyming match for the first card he revealed. His turn ends when he has found the rhyming pair of cards.

Extra activities to supplement the rhyming worksheets

• Teach your child rhyming chants, such as "One, two, buckle my shoe." Look for these in books at the library.
• Read rhyming books at bedtime. When your child feels comfortable, pause before saying the rhyming word and let him complete the sentence. Or, read nursery rhymes to your child and repeat them often. Be sure, though, that the words strictly rhyme, since some old rhymes use words that are very similar in sound, but are not actual rhymes.
• Ask your child to spot specific items in a magazine or picture book page, giving him a rhyming clue. For example: "Point to something that rhymes with shower." (flower)