Phonics: the road to real reading
Forty-four short units in six stages — CVC families, digraphs, blends, magic e, vowel teams and bossy r. Each is a page a class can read TODAY: tap-to-hear words, one decodable sentence, and games already loaded.
A word family is a group of words that share their ending — cat, hat, bat all end in -at. Change the first sound and a child who knows one word can suddenly read five. That switch, from knowing letters to blending them, is the single biggest moment in learning to read.
Each family page keeps every promise this site makes: real pictures and audio, a support gloss in your language, and one tap into games that drill exactly these words. Teach the letters on the alphabet pages first; come here when the class knows a handful of sounds.
What your learners bring
Russian-speaking children read Cyrillic look-alikes the Russian way at first (p as r, c as s, so cat comes out "sat") and turn a final b, d or g into p, t or k: bed becomes bet, which is why -ed is sorted against -et. Spanish-speaking children read vowels the Spanish way (pin as peen, cut as coot) and are new to silent letters, magic e and double letters. Arabic-speaking children are new to reading left to right and often spell from the consonants alone (bt for bat), because Arabic marks its short vowels instead of writing them as letters.
Step 1
Short vowels: CVC families
The first blending: change one sound, read five words.
Short a
Short e
Step 2
Digraphs: two letters, one sound
sh, ch, th, wh, ck, ng — the letter pairs that act as one.
Step 3
Blends: both sounds survive
st, sp, bl, fr… — two consonants said quickly, each still heard.
Step 4
Magic e
The silent e that makes the vowel say its name: cap → cape.
Step 5
Vowel teams
ee, oo, ai, oa, ea, ay — when two vowels go walking, the first does the talking.
Step 6
Bossy r
ar, or, er/ir/ur — r grabs the vowel and changes its sound.
Printable progress checklist
All 44 units on one page: tick “reads” when the child reads the words, “writes” when they can spell them, and note the date. One sheet per child.
My phonics checklist
Name: ______________________
1. Short vowels: CVC families
| Short vowels: CVC families | Reads | Writes | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| -at cat, hat, bat | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -an man, pan, van | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ap map, cap, nap | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ig pig, big, dig | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -in pin, win, bin | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ip lip, zip, sip | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -og dog, log, fog | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -op top, hop, mop | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ot pot, hot, dot | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ug bug, hug, mug | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -un sun, run, fun | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -et net, pet, wet | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -en hen, pen, ten | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ed bed, red, fed | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ut nut, cut, hut | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ub cub, tub, rub | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| -ell bell, tell, well | Reads | Writes | ____ |
2. Digraphs: two letters, one sound
| Digraphs: two letters, one sound | Reads | Writes | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| sh ship, shop, fish | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| ch chat, chip, chin | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| th this, that, then | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| wh when, which, whale | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| ck duck, sock, rock | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| ng king, ring, song | Reads | Writes | ____ |
3. Blends: both sounds survive
| Blends: both sounds survive | Reads | Writes | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| st- stop, star, step | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| sp- spin, spot, spider | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| sn- snap, snack, snip | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| bl- black, block, blob | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| cl- clap, clip, class | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| fr- frog, from, fresh | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| gr- green, grab, grin | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| tr- tree, truck, trip | Reads | Writes | ____ |
4. Magic e
| Magic e | Reads | Writes | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| a_e cake, gate, name | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| i_e five, kite, bike | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| o_e nose, rose, bone | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| u_e cube, tube, mule | Reads | Writes | ____ |
5. Vowel teams
| Vowel teams | Reads | Writes | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ee see, bee, feet | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| oo moon, zoo, book | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| ai rain, train, snail | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| oa boat, goat, coat | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| ea eat, sea, tea | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| ay play, day, say | Reads | Writes | ____ |
6. Bossy r
| Bossy r | Reads | Writes | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ar car, park, farm | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| or fork, corn, horse | Reads | Writes | ____ |
| er · ir · ur her, bird, girl | Reads | Writes | ____ |
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In what order?
Start with -at and the short vowels, one family a week. When CVC blending is easy, move a stage at a time: digraphs, blends, magic e, vowel teams — and bossy r last. The path down this page IS the order.