What is Phonics? The Best Way to Teach Reading -

If you are wondering ‘What is phonics?’, I’m guessing that you are beginning your journey of teaching a child or children to read. You’re in the research stage and there are so many ideas and strategies out there that your head might be spinning!

It doesn’t matter if you’re getting ready to teach a class of children or your own child, teaching someone to read can be a daunting task and a big responsibility. And knowing where to start can be equally as daunting.

Don’t worry! I’ve got you! Let me show you what phonics is and why it is the most effective way to teach a child, or anyone for that matter, how to read.

What is Phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching reading and writing. It is a method where you teach the sounds associated with different letters or letter combinations. You will teach your child groups of sounds together and they will use these sounds and blend them together to form words.

Before you ever try to approach teaching your child to read, you should make sure that they have all of the relevant Pre-reading Skills. These skills are super important to have before you start your child’s reading journey. Download this simple checklist to assess your child’s pre-reading skills. If you want to help your child to improve their pre-reading skills, you can try some of these activities to give them a little boost.

Young child holding up a 'D' beside a picture of a donut and an 'A' beside a picture of an apple

Why is Phonics Important?

Phonics has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to teach a child to read English. By teaching children the phonemes, sounds, to go with each letter, we give them the ability to decode, figure out, a wide variety of words.

It gives children the opportunity to read words within a very short period of time which then motivates them to learn more. It becomes a wonderful cycle of positive feedback and achievement for the child.

The English language is complex and obviously we know that many words do not follow the conventional rules. It is important that phonics is combined with a certain amount of whole word reading of high frequency words and sight words. High frequency words are words that appear frequently in text, e.g., ‘the’ and ‘and’, it is very beneficial if a child can recognise these on sight as it will improve their fluency early on.

Sight words are words that do not follow the usual phonics rules but that your child will come across often in text, e.g., ‘said’ and ‘you’. Again, it will be beneficial to know these words on sight as your child would find it difficult to sound them out.

How to Get Started

Ok, ok, bear with me! I know that sounds like a lot!! But, you didn’t think teaching a child to read was going to be easy did you! Well, here’s the good news, it can be easy!

As long as you follow the right steps and do the right foundational work, you will be amazed at how each step will flow into the next and all of a sudden you will have a reader on your hands!

You are not far away from arguments about turning off the lights and going to sleep!!

I’ve said this earlier but it’s important, so I’m going to say it again! Preparation is everything! I don’t mean how fancy your worksheets are or the reading program that you’ve invested in. I mean, your child needs to be prepared or ready to read. If they are not then it will be an uphill battle. This will not be good for you or your child.

Ensure that they are proficient in their pre-reading skills. The better they are at these, the better grasp they have, the easier it will be to move on to actual reading. Assess their pre-reading skills using this checklist. Help them to develop their skills by trying out some of these activities when you’re at home or out and about.

Once you are sure that they are reading-ready, it’s time to introduce them to phonics. You will begin with the sounds of ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, ‘p’, ‘i’, and ‘n’. It will take 2 or 3 weeks to effectively introduce these to your child. Some people will recommend a new sound every day, I recommend 2-3 sounds per week. Once they have these 6 sounds they will already be able to read so many words! Sat, pat, pin, tin, it, at, pan, tan, sip, pip, tip, as, an, in and more! Imagine how excited your child, and you, will be when within 2/3 weeks your child can read almost 20 words!

Along with the sounds, you will also introduce some high frequency and sight words, again 2- 3 per week.

Tips for Success

Ensure the foundation is strong. Solidify those pre-reading skills before you approach reading
Make sure you know your sounds! This may seem like an unusual tip but you would be amazed at how many people trip over certain sounds. Check that you know them before you start to teach them to your child.
Go at your child’s pace. You know your child best. If they go faster or slower than the recommended time frame, that’s fine. You want to challenge them so they do not get bored but you don’t want to push them so far that they start to dislike it.
Make it fun! Use worksheets, games and songs.
Bring it into everyday life, ask them about letters on shop signs or on food packaging, ensure that they see reading as a useful skill
Know that the journey will not be linear. They will learn some sounds no problem and some will take longer. That’s normal. Blending can be tricky but they will get there
Never forget that you are giving them the gift of a lifetime in teaching them to read

Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely not. Yes, teachers go through a lot of training to learn this stuff. However, they are also training to learn how to teach it on a large scale to a large group of differing abilities. You can absolutely learn how to teach phonics and tailor it to your child’s needs

Phonemes are sounds that letters or combinations of letters make. Graphemes are the sounds in their written form. For example, the phoneme, or sound, ‘k’ can be represented using any of the following graphemes; c, k, ck, ch, cc, que

I totally understand that it does seem like a lot! There are a lot of moving parts and factors at play. It can seem extra intimidating if you are at the beginning of your homeschooling journey. But don’t worry, while it may seem daunting, you will get the hang of it very quickly and it will be worth it. This is the best way to teach your child to read.

There are 42 sounds that you will need to teach your child. These will come from individual letters and letter combinations.

Phonological awareness is a pre-reading skill. It is an awareness of sound. A person that is phonologically aware could tell you that there is an ‘mmm’ sound at the start of ‘mat’ or that ‘hat’ rhymes with ‘mat’. They will not necessarily know what hat or mat look like.

Phonics is associating a specific sound with a letter or group of letters. So your child would see ‘m’ and say ‘mmm’.

The Last Thing You Need to Know About Phonics

The ability to read is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to our children. Phonics is the most effective way to get them to read.

It can seem like a lot of work on our part but it is worth it. And once you have figured out an effective way of teaching your child each sound, you will be able to transfer these skills to all the remaining sounds.

You will be so proud of yourself and your child when they are reading to you instead of the other way around!