At what age can a toddler grasp the concept of rhyming?

Question

My son is 3 y 9 mo and his speech therapist has him working on words that rhyme. It seems this is a little bit of a difficult concept for him to grasp and I was wondering if there are any other maybe preschool teachers or kindergarten teachers who have an idea as to about what age this concept truly sinks in.

Answer 1

Rhyming is generally learned at approximately 6.0 to 6.5 years of age. Children in earlier years must learn the letters and their sounds.  They also have to learn the concept of phonemic awareness, such as isolation and identity (for example: tell me the first sound that you hear in the word 'dog' : tell me the sound that is the same in dog, doll, and dance.) before rhyming is 'grasped.'

I normally begin to expose the child to rhyming once s/he is ready to head to kindergarten, around the last few weeks of summer school.

I'm not sure exactly why your son's speech therapist is focusing on rhyming. Have you asked him/her?

If you have any more specific questions, please feel free to contact me.