How to teach a child to read at home with phonics

Phonics in a nutshell

Phonics teaches children that letters stand for sounds, and that sounds join up to make words. Most schools in the UK teach early reading this way, and many schools elsewhere do too, so phonics at home fits with what your child does in class.

• Letter sounds: knowing that s says “sss” (not “ess”).
• Blending: joining sounds together to read a word: c-a-t → cat.
• Segmenting: splitting a word into its sounds to spell it: dog → d-o-g.
• Tricky words: common words that don’t follow the rules your child knows yet, such as the, said and was.

Is my child ready?

Most children start to read somewhere between 4 and 7 – a wide, normal range. Good signs: enjoying stories, noticing letters on signs, spotting rhymes and playing with words. If letters don’t click yet, play listening games first: rhymes, clapping out syllables, and “I spy” with sounds.

Step by step at home

1. Pure sounds. Say letter sounds short and clean: “mmm”, not “muh”; “t”, not “tuh”. It makes blending much easier.
2. A few letters at a time. Many phonics programmes start with s, a, t, p, i, n – enough for words like sat, pin and tap. Add a few new sounds each week.
3. Blending out loud first. Before reading, play “robot talk”: you say “h-a-t”, your child says “hat”.
4. Read simple words. Three-letter words made from sounds your child knows. Point under each letter, then sweep your finger along to blend.
5. Two letters, one sound. Next come sh, ch, th, ck, ng, ee, oo.
6. Segmenting and spelling. Your child says a word, splits it into sounds, then writes it or builds it with magnetic letters.
7. Short books. Decodable books (from school or the library) use only the sounds your child has learned, so success comes quickly.

If your child is already at school, ask which sounds they’re learning this week and follow the same order.

Little and often

• 5–10 minutes a day is plenty for a 4- or 5-year-old.
• Stop while your child still wants more.
• Read to your child every day as well: stories build vocabulary and a love of books in a way phonics alone can’t.
• Praise effort: “You worked that out sound by sound!”
• If your child gets stuck, sound the word out together, then read it again smoothly.

Reading games for 4–7-year-olds

• Sound I spy: “I spy something beginning with mmm.”
• Robot talk: give instructions in sounds: “Pat the c-a-t”, “Find your h-a-t”.
• Treasure hunt: hide word cards; each word your child reads points to the next hiding place.
• Silly sentences: build funny sentences from word cards: “A pig sat on a hat.”
• Letter hunt: spot today’s letter on cereal boxes, shop signs and number plates.

When to ask for help

If reading seems much harder for your child than for classmates, if sounds are still getting mixed up after a year of school, or if your child struggles to hear rhymes or the sounds in words, talk to the class teacher. Hearing and eyesight checks are a sensible first step. Speech and reading are closely linked, so if your child’s speech is unclear too, a speech and language therapist (SLT) can help.

How Chatterbox helps

The Reading lessons in Chatterbox take a few minutes a day: letters, “sound trains” that join letters together, Read and find, colour-by-letter colouring pages, and a reading diary for your child’s own book. A friendly animal reads every task aloud, and stars and streaks keep the habit going.