If you’re teaching phonics from scratch and you started at the letter A, stop. The single biggest accelerator in early reading is the order you teach sounds in. The right first 6 unlock dozens of words; the wrong first 6 unlock almost nothing.
This is Stage 1 of the full learning sequence — see the SATPIN stage in the phonics roadmap for what comes right after it.
Download the SATPIN order chart
SATPIN Order Chart (Free PDF) — the full teaching order on one sheet, print and pin to the wall. No email required.
The magic 6: s, a, t, p, i, n
Letters and Sounds, the UK’s most widely used scheme, starts with these 6 letters in this order: s, a, t, p, i, n. Jolly Phonics uses the same six (teaching i before p); Read Write Inc starts with m, a, s, d, t.
Here’s why they win:
- s — a sound you can stretch (ssssss). Easy to model.
- a — the most common short vowel in English CVC words.
- t — a short, punchy stop sound that contrasts s.
- p — another stop that adds 8+ new word possibilities.
- i — a second vowel, doubles your CVC options.
- n— completes the set so kids can read “in,” “an,” “tin,” “sin,” “pin,” “nap,” “tap.”
Count the words the first 6 unlock
After s, a, t: sat, at.
After s, a, t, p: sat, pat, tap, sap, at.
After s, a, t, p, i: sat, pat, tap, sit, pit, tip, sip, pip, it, at.
After all 6: sat, pat, tap, sit, pit, tip, sip, pip, in, an, tin, pin, nap, tan, pan, nip, spin, snap…
Compare with starting at a, b, c (the alphabet order): you have “a”, “cab” (silent C? hard C?), and not much else. The kid gets bored, the parent gets frustrated, the lesson gets skipped.
Download the SATPIN word-building worksheet (Free PDF) — the exact word lists above, laid out with a blank line to sound out and write each one. No email required.
The full order, sound by sound
This is the order the free phonics plan and the 5-stage roadmap on this site use for all 44 sound-spellings. Blending starts as soon as s, a, t are known and runs through every group.
- Stage 1. s, a, t, p, i, n
- Stage 2. m, d, g, o, c, k (+ ck), e, u, r, h, b, f, l (+ ff, ll, ss), j, v, w, x, y, z
- Stage 4. Consonant blends (st, fr, nd…), then digraphs — qu, ch, sh, th, ng, nk
- Stage 5. Vowel teams — ai, ee, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure — plus the first tricky words
(Stage 3 — blending and segmenting — has no new letters: it’s the skill practiced alongside Stages 1 and 2.) After these, most programs move on to igh and er, magic-e words (a-e, i-e, o-e, u-e) and alternative spellings of sounds already known (ay, ea, ie, ow).
See the full 44-letter-sound map with audio for the complete set, including sample words for each — or read our explainer on English phonemes and the 44 letter sounds if you want the concept first.
What comes after SATPIN?
Once s, a, t, p, i, n are solid, the next group is m, d, g, o, c, k. Together with the first six, that’s enough to read words like “mad,” “dog,” “cot,” and “pig.” From there, the order finishes the single letters, then moves on to consonant blends like st, cl, and fr and digraphs such as ch, sh, and th, then vowel teams like ai and ee, and finally magic e / silent e patterns that turn “cap” into “cape.”
How fast should you move through the stages?
Rule of thumb at 5–10 minutes a day, 5 days a week:
- Stage 1 (6 sounds): 1–3 weeks
- Stages 1–2 (all single letters): 8–12 weeks
- All 44 sound-spellings: 6–9 months
Don’t race. The win is a child who can decode any word, not a child who has “been taught” every sound but can’t blend them.
If you’re in the UK, this same sequence is exactly what feeds into the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check — see our full guide for what it tests and when. And once the first few units are solid, spelling patterns like hard vs soft C and silent letters are the natural next step.
What if your kid already knows some letters in the “wrong” order?
It’s fine. Drop the SATPIN sequence and use whatever sounds they already know as the seed. The key insight is “teach blendable sounds first, alphabet order last.” If they know S, M, A, and T — start there. Add the next high-frequency letter (P) and you’ve unlocked “sat, mat, map, tap, sap, sam.”
Once your kid has the first 6, jump to Flashcards with those 6 sounds only, or play Sound Match to drill sound-to-image recall. Both are free in the browser, no sign-up.