Phonics and Early Reading: A guide to helping children learn to read

Learning to read is such a huge milestone for children. From recognising their very first sounds to proudly reading their first little book, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes! Phonics is a really important part of that journey, helping children understand the relationship between the sounds they hear and the letters they see. But if you’re new to teaching phonics or you’re a parent trying to support your child at home, some of the terminology and different approaches can feel a little overwhelming. So, let’s break it down!

Whether you’re a teacher looking for new ideas for your classroom or a parent wanting to understand a little more about what your child is learning at school, here are some simple, practical ways to support phonics and early reading.

What is phonics and early reading?

Put simply, phonics is about helping children understand the relationship between sounds and letters.
Children learn that the letters and groups of letters they see on the page represent sounds. They can then use this knowledge to work out, or decode, unfamiliar words when they’re reading.

Early reading brings all of this together. Children learn to recognise sounds, blend them together to read words and gradually build up their confidence and fluency.
It’s worth remembering that phonics isn’t about children memorising every single word they come across. Instead, it gives them the tools they need to have a go at unfamiliar words independently, which is a pretty powerful skill!

And if you’re a parent, don’t worry if terms such as grapheme, phoneme, blending and segmenting sound like a completely different language at first. Once you understand the basics, it starts to make much more sense.

Why is phonics so important in helping children learn to read?

Phonics gives children a really useful foundation for reading. Once they understand how sounds and letters work together, they have a strategy they can use when they come across a word they don’t recognise. Rather than immediately relying on an adult to tell them the word, they can have a go themselves.
This can make a huge difference to a child’s confidence.

Of course, reading is about much more than simply saying the words on the page. Children also need to develop vocabulary, comprehension and a love of books. Phonics is one part of that bigger picture, giving children the decoding skills they need so that they can increasingly focus on understanding and enjoying what they read.

What are the different phases of phonics and what do children learn at each stage?

If you’re new to phonics, you might hear teachers talking about different phonics phases. Phonics is taught through a structured progression, with children building their knowledge and skills over time. In the early stages, children develop their awareness of sounds and learn to listen carefully to the sounds they hear. They then begin learning common letter sound correspondences and start to apply these when reading and spelling.

As their phonics knowledge develops, children learn more graphemes and phonemes, including digraphs and trigraphs, as well as alternative spellings and pronunciations. They gradually become able to read a wider range of words and tackle increasingly complex vocabulary. The important thing is to think of phonics as a progression rather than a race. Children need plenty of opportunities to practise, revisit and apply what they’ve learnt before moving on.

How do you introduce and teach new letters and sounds?

When introducing a new sound, I think it’s really helpful to keep things simple, clear and multisensory. Say the sound clearly and give children plenty of opportunities to hear it. Show them the corresponding grapheme (the letter or letters that represent the sound) and practise saying it together. Then get children using the sound in different ways. They might say it, spot it, write it, build it with letters or look for it in words.

I also love making new sounds meaningful. Once children have learnt a sound, give them opportunities to spot it in familiar words, books or objects around the classroom.
And you don’t need lots of expensive equipment to do this. Some paper, a handful of letters, a tray of sand or some objects from around the classroom can provide plenty of opportunities to practise.

What strategies help children to develop their blending and segmenting skills?

Blending and segmenting are two really important phonics skills and regular short bursts of practice can make a big difference.
Blending is when children put individual sounds together to make a word. For example: /s/ /a/ /t/ -- sat. You can start by saying the sounds slowly and then encourage children to blend them together.

Segmenting is the opposite. Children hear a word and break it down into its individual sounds. This is particularly important for spelling, as it helps children work out which sounds they need to represent.

The more opportunities children have to practise these skills, the more confident they become. If blending feels tricky, go back to simpler words and build up gradually.
And remember, it doesn’t always have to happen during a formal phonics lesson. You can practise orally while walking to lunch, getting dressed or tidying up. A quick “Can you tell me the sounds in sun?” can be a great little five-second learning opportunity.

How can you help children practise and become confident with CVC words?

CVC words (words made up of a consonant, vowel and consonant, such as cat, dog, sun and map) are a great starting point for practising early blending and segmenting.
Start with words that use sounds children already know. Encourage them to identify each sound before blending them together and then give them lots of opportunities to read the words in different ways. You could use magnetic letters, wooden letters, pebbles, sound cards, matching activities or even write the words in sand.

Once children become familiar with a set of CVC words, encourage them to read them more confidently rather than sounding out every single word slowly.
And don’t forget to celebrate those little wins. That moment when a child suddenly realises “I can read this!” is exactly what we want to encourage.

What are the best ways to teach and reinforce tricky words?

Some words don’t follow the phonics patterns children have learnt yet, so they can’t always be decoded in the usual way. These are often referred to as tricky words.
Rather than asking children to simply memorise lots of words, it can be useful to look closely at each one and talk about which parts are tricky and which parts they can decode using their existing phonics knowledge. Keep coming back to these words in different contexts, too. Flashcards can be useful, but seeing the words in sentences, stories and everyday classroom activities helps children understand that these words have a purpose beyond the phonics lesson.

At home, parents could also look out for tricky words in books, signs, shopping lists or other everyday writing. A quick “Can you spot the word the?” can be an easy way to reinforce learning without turning it into another lesson.

What phonics games and activities work well in the classroom?

I’m a big believer that phonics doesn’t always have to mean sitting at a table with a worksheet. Some of the most effective activities I’ve used have been the ones where children can explore, move, touch and play with sounds.

Sensory phonics trays

One of my favourite things to set up is a sensory phonics tray. For example, using things like sand with natural resources that have sounds on e.g. stones, shells, conkers, log slices and little picture prompts to create a simple activity. Children can hunt for sounds, match graphemes to pictures, sort sounds into hoops or use the letters they find to practise forming letters and sounds in the sand, build words and then read them back. These kinds of activities are lovely because they combine sensory play with purposeful phonics practice. They might look like play, but underneath that children are listening to, recognising and using sounds.

Other easy activities to try:

There are so many simple activities you can set up without needing lots of equipment.

- Phonics treasure hunts: Hide graphemes around the classroom or outdoors for children to find and identify.
- Sound sorting: Give children objects or pictures and ask them to sort them according to their initial sound.
- Build a word: Use magnetic letters, pebbles or wooden letters to build CVC words and then blend them together.
- Phonics bingo: Call out sounds or words and let children find the matching grapheme.
- Write it in the sand: Say a sound or word and ask children to write it using their finger or a mark-making tool.
- Hoop sorting: Give children grapheme or picture cards and ask them to sort them into different hoops according to their sound.

And don’t worry about making every activity Pinterest perfect! A tray of sand and a handful of letters can provide just as much valuable phonics practice as a complicated activity, as long as children are actively listening to, recognising and using the sounds.

What should teachers look for when choosing phonics and early reading resources?

When I’m choosing phonics resources, I always think about how children are actually going to use them. Can they touch them? Move them? Sort them? Build with them? Can they come back to them again and again? I love resources that can be used in lots of different ways. For example, grapheme stones or wooden letters can be used for sound recognition, word building, sorting, matching and outdoor phonics activities.The sensory resources I use in my own classroom set-ups are a good example of this. Shells, sand, hoops, wooden pieces and tactile letters can turn a simple phonics task into something much more engaging.

For me, the best resources are: 

- Easy to use - children should be able to understand what to do without lots of complicated instructions.
- Hands on and engaging - resources that children can touch, move and manipulate can make learning more memorable.
- Flexible - look for resources that can be used for lots of different phonics activities.
- Appropriate for the child’s phonics stage - children need to practise sounds and words that are relevant to what they’re learning.
- Durable - particularly if resources are going to be used regularly in a busy classroom!
- Open-ended where possible - I love resources that can grow with children and be used in increasingly challenging ways.

And for families, you really don’t need to recreate a whole classroom at home. A few good-quality, reusable resources can go a long way. A handful of letters, some paper, a tray of sand or rice and a few picture cards can provide lots of opportunities for practising sounds and building words. The aim isn’t to have the biggest collection of phonics resources, it’s to have resources that children genuinely want to use. 

How can teachers and families work together to support phonics at school and at home?

The biggest thing is communication. Families don’t need to become phonics experts overnight. Knowing a little about what their child is learning and having a few simple activities they can try at home can make a real difference. Sharing the sounds, words and books children are currently working on gives families an easy starting point. Even a few minutes of practice at home can help reinforce what children have been learning at school.

Reading together is important, too. Encourage children to have a go at sounding out words but also make time to simply enjoy stories together. Talk about the characters, ask questions, make predictions and chat about what might happen next.

And perhaps most importantly, keep it positive. Learning to read takes time, and children will all progress at different rates. A little encouragement and lots of opportunities to celebrate their successes can go a long way.

Making phonics part of a love of reading

Phonics is a really important part of learning to read, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Alongside teaching children how to decode words, we want to help them discover that books are exciting, funny, interesting and full of wonderful things to explore. Whether it’s a carefully planned phonics activity in the classroom, a quick sound hunt in the garden or five minutes reading a bedtime story together, all of these little experiences help children build their confidence.

And that’s really what we’re aiming for not just children who can read, but children who want to read. Because when phonics gives children the skills and confidence to pick up a book and have a go, we’re helping to build readers for life.

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