The Phonics Blog
Practical phonics articles for parents and teachers. Research-backed methods, age-by-age guides, free printables, and tried-at-home tips. 44 articles and counting.
Phonics Screening Check Pass Mark: What Score Do You Need?
The exact threshold, how the 40-word score is actually calculated, what a borderline result means, and whether it ever shows up on a permanent record.
6 min readHow to Teach Phoneme Blending: 5 Steps from /c/-/a/-/t/ to Reading
Continuous blending, finger blending, and arm blending — a step-by-step guide for children who know their letter sounds but can't blend them into words.
8 min readHow to Assess Your Child's Phonics Level at Home (Free Checklist)
A 10-minute 6-level phonics screener you can run at home — single letters, CVC, digraphs, blends, long vowels, and pseudo-words. Know exactly where to start.
7 min readBest Decodable Books for Phonics Beginners (By Stage)
Stage-by-stage guide to the best decodable book series — Bob Books, Dandelion Readers, Flyleaf, Oxford Reading Tree — with notes on what makes each genuinely decodable.
8 min readLong Vowels vs Short Vowels: The Rules Every Phonics Parent Needs
All 5 short and long vowel sounds, plus the 5 spelling patterns that make a vowel long — magic-e, vowel teams, open syllables, -igh, and the ld/nd exception.
7 min readConsonant Blends: Full List + How to Teach Them
Complete L-blends, R-blends, S-blends, final blends, and triple blends — 200+ words sorted by blend type, plus a teaching sequence that takes 6 weeks.
8 min readMagic E Words: Full List + How the Silent E Rule Works
The complete magic-e (CVCe) word list for a, i, o, and u — 200+ words sorted by vowel — plus 4 steps to teach the rule to kids who keep pronouncing the e.
7 min readSight Words vs Phonics: Do You Need Both?
Science of reading answer: phonics is the foundation, sight words fill the gaps. When to introduce tricky words, why pure memorisation backfires, and the right ratio.
7 min readHow to Teach Phonics to a 3-Year-Old (A Parent's Step-by-Step Guide)
A practical 8-step plan to start phonics with a toddler — what to teach, when to stop, and what to skip. From a parent who tested it on twins.
8 min readSATPIN Letter Order: Which Letters to Teach First
SATPIN is the first group in synthetic phonics: s, a, t, p, i, n. Here's why these six come first, what words your child can read after them, and which letters come next.
7 min readSynthetic Phonics vs Analytic Phonics: What's the Difference (and Which One Works)?
Plain-English comparison of the two main phonics methods, including UK and US classroom evidence. With a quick at-home test you can try this weekend.
9 min readLetter Sounds vs Letter Names: Which Should You Teach First?
Science of reading TL;DR — sounds first, names second. Why ABC songs aren't enough, plus how to switch a child who already knows letter names.
6 min read
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ABC Phonics — Sounds for Kids