Free Phonics Lesson Plan & Calendar — 43 Sounds, 81 Sessions
Every English phoneme, scheduled for you. Pick when you start and how many days a week, preview the whole plan below, and download it as a calendar you can import anywhere.
How this plan is built
This isn’t a generic worksheet calendar — it’s the same 5-stage phonics scope and sequence used across this site, turned into dated sessions. Every one of the 43 English phonemes gets its own session, in the order every major synthetic-phonics programme (Letters and Sounds, Jolly Phonics, Read Write Inc) teaches it: SATPIN first, then the rest of the alphabet by sound, then digraphs and blends, then vowel teams and tricky words.
Interleaved between new sounds are the sessions that make the sounds stick: blending practice (reading real words built from what’s already been taught — never invented, not-a-real-word combinations), spaced review, tricky/sight words, and checkpoints at the end of each stage. Before any letters, the plan opens with Getting Ready — rhyme, syllables, and hearing sounds in words.
FAQ
How long does it take to learn all 43 phonemes?
At 3 sessions a week — the most common pace — the full 81-session plan takes about 6 to 6.5 months. At 5 sessions a week it's closer to 4 months, but most children do better with 2–3 unhurried sessions than 5 rushed ones.
What order are the sounds taught in?
The same 5-stage scope and sequence used across this site: s-a-t-p-i-n first (Stage 1), the rest of the alphabet by sound not by letter name (Stage 2), then digraphs like ch/sh/th and consonant blends (Stage 4), then vowel teams and tricky words (Stage 5). See the full breakdown on the roadmap.
Why does blending start at session 10, not after the whole alphabet?
Because the first blend-and-read session lands right after s, a and t — the three letters needed to build a real word ("sat"). Every major synthetic-phonics programme (Letters and Sounds, Jolly Phonics, Read Write Inc) starts blending in this same early window. Waiting until all 26 letters are known before ever blending a word is a common mistake this plan avoids on purpose.
Is the .ics file safe to import, and does it need an app?
It's a plain calendar file (no app, no account) — download it and open it, and your phone's Calendar app (or Google/Apple/Outlook Calendar) will offer to add all 81 events. Each event is a full-day reminder with a note on what to teach that day.
What if we miss a day?
Nothing breaks — every event just tells you what to do that day. Skip it, do it a day late, or do two sessions in one sitting; the schedule doesn't depend on keeping a streak.
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ABC Phonics — Sounds for Kids