From Rhyme to Reading: Why Rhyming Matters in Early Literacy

If you’ve been exploring the Science of Reading, you’ve likely heard about blending and decoding. But before children can blend sounds to read words, they must first understand that words are made up of smaller sound parts.

And that journey often begins with rhyming.

Rhyming is one of the earliest and most essential phonological awareness skills in the Science of Reading progression. It may feel playful and simple — but it plays a powerful role in preparing young learners for reading success.

What Is Rhyming and Why Does It Matter?

Rhyming is the ability to hear and recognize words that share the same ending sound (cat/hat, log/frog, bee/key).

When children recognize rhymes, they are:

✔ Listening closely to sound patterns. 
✔ Developing auditory discrimination           
✔ Noticing similarities in word endings
✔ Building early language awareness

Before a child can isolate individual phonemes (the smallest sounds in words), they need to hear larger chunks of sound. Rhyming helps train the ear to notice those patterns.

How Rhyming Fits Into the Phonological Awareness Progression

Phonological awareness develops in a sequence:

• Recognizing rhymes
• Identifying alliteration
• Clapping syllables
• Blending onset and rime
• Segmenting individual sounds

Rhyming typically comes first because it focuses on larger sound units (rimes) rather than individual phonemes.

It’s like teaching children to hear the rhythm of language before asking them to analyze every single sound.

Does Rhyming Predict Reading Success?

Research tells us that rhyming alone is not the strongest predictor of future decoding skills — but it does support later phonemic awareness when paired with explicit phonics instruction.

In other words, rhyming is part of the foundation.

When children can hear patterns like -at, -og, or -up, they begin to build word family awareness. That awareness supports decoding, spelling, and fluency later on.

Rhyming builds the bridge between oral language and print. 

Why Rhyming Builds Confidence

One of my favorite things about teaching rhyme is how quickly students feel successful.

When children can confidently shout out “hat!” after hearing “cat,” they feel capable. That early success builds momentum.

And confident readers become willing readers.   

Simple, Research-Aligned Ways to Teach Rhyming

You don’t need fancy materials to build strong rhyming skills. Try:

✔ Reading nursery rhymes with repetition
✔ Playing “Does it rhyme?” games
✔ Students find your rhyming partner using rhyming partner cards
✔ Asking students to generate additional rhyming words
✔ Have students use a rhyming name for the day. "My name is Aria, but today you can call me Paria!"
✔ Sorting pictures by rhyme

Start with listening only before introducing print. Once students are strong orally, connect rhyming to word families and spelling patterns.

Connecting Rhyming to the Science of Reading

The Science of Reading reminds us that literacy development is structured and cumulative.

We move from:

Listening → Speaking → Phonological Awareness → Phonics → Decoding → Fluency → Comprehension

Rhyming lives near the beginning of that journey.

It may feel playful — but it is purposeful and powerful!

Final Thoughts

Rhyming is more than a cute kindergarten activity. It is an intentional step in developing strong readers.

When we give students opportunities to hear, repeat, generate, and manipulate rhymes, we are strengthening the sound awareness skills that prepare them for blending, decoding, and spelling.

Playful does not mean unimportant. Children learn through play!

Sometimes the simplest skills build the strongest foundations.

Teaching reading is not about rushing ahead.
It’s about building carefully, layer by layer.

Rhyming may feel simple — but these simple foundations will create strong readers.

If you’re looking for some hands-on rhyming activities to support phonological awareness in your classroom, you can find my Rhyming Words Activity here