From sounds to words
- Beginning sounds. Hear the first sound of a word and match it to its letter.
- Ending sounds. Listen to the end of the word, which is harder to hear.
- Short vowels. The middle sound: c _ t, p _ g, s _ n.
- Build the word. Write all three sounds, one in each box.
- Rhymes. Hear that cat and hat end the same way.
- Word families. Change the first sound: cat, hat, bat.
- Digraphs and blends. Two letters, one sound (sh, ch) or two quick sounds (fr, st).
Pictures first
Phonics practice works when children say the word out loud. A picture gives them the word without needing to read it, so they can focus on the sounds. Each picture is chosen to have one obvious name, and the letters use simple shapes children learn first, like the single-story a.
Keep going
Pair these with common exception words for the words that can’t be sounded out, with phonics check practice in Year 1, and withpicture puzzles for spelling whole words with pictures.
Curriculum links in England
- ReceptionThe Word Reading goal expects a sound for each letter, at least 10 digraphs, and reading words by blending.
- Writing goalReception children spell words by identifying the sounds in them and writing a letter or letters for each.
- Year 1Pupils give the right sound for each grapheme taught, quickly, and blend sounds in unfamiliar words.
- SpellingYear 1 spelling begins by revising Reception work, including words with adjacent consonants.
In England, phonics is taught through a systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programme from the start of Reception, and the DfE keeps a list of validated programmes, such as Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised and Read Write Inc. Phonics. Each programme has its own order of sounds, so choose the activities and vowels here to match what your class has been taught.
Some terms on this page come from elsewhere: “blends” are usually called adjacent consonants in England. SSP programmes teach children to blend every sound in a word rather than read by word family, so use the word family pages for hearing rhyme, with children still sounding out each word.
Summarised in our own words from the EYFS statutory framework, the National Curriculum in England: English programmes of study and Appendix 1, and the DfE reading framework and validated SSP programmes list.
