The English language has between 41 and 44 phonemes. The concept of phonemes can be confusing for children because there are not always the same numbers of phonemes as there are letters in a word. Phonemic awareness is important because the English language uses an alphabetic writing system, and all aspects of learning to read and write incorporate PA on some level. Magazine

In the April 2009 article "Using Scaffolding to Teach Phonemic Awareness in Preschool and Kindergarten," McGee and Ukrainetz note that many children enter school without the ability to recognize the individual sounds within words. Moreover, their teachers find it difficult to teach phonemic awareness and that there is little in the teaching curricula that can help teachers understand how to teach this skill. They suggest using intense scaffolding for children who have no concept of phonemic awareness. This can be accomplished by isolating and exaggerating the sounds within words and by providing the correct response. They can...

As the child gains skill and confidence, the teacher withdraws support.
References

Farstrup, A. And Samuels, S. (2002). What research has to say about reading instruction. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.

Hoover, W. (2002, December). The importance of phonemic awareness in learning to read. SEDL. Retrieved April 19, 2010 from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedl-letter/v14n03/3.html

Langland, C. (2004, December 23). Working with sounds: educators trying to boost reading skills with phonemic awareness. Beaver Country Times. Retrieved April 19, 2010 from http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kLciAAAAIBAJ&sjid=H7UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3342,6119937&dq=phonemic+awareness&hl=en

McGee, L. And Ukrainetz, T. (2009, April). Using scaffolding to teach phonemic awareness in preschool and kindergarten. The Reading Teacher, 62(7), 599-603.