For parents and carers
Pull up a chair. You don't need to be a phonics expert to help your child read at home — five gentle minutes most days will do more than an hour at the weekend. This page is the friendly version.
Say the sounds the way your child's teacher does: pure, short, no extra "uh".
Listen to the tiles on the Reception and Year 1 pages — tap one and the browser will say the sound aloud.
This is the most-asked-about moment, and there's a lovely simple recipe.
Three or four seconds of silence. They might be working on it. Resist the urge to jump in.
Run your finger under the word. Say each sound: sh-o-p. Then sweep and blend: shop.
Reading at home should feel warm. Tell them the word, re-read the sentence so it makes sense, and carry on. They're learning by doing.
"Sound it out!" on its own — most children already know they should. "Look at the picture" — guessing isn't reading. Encourage decoding first; the meaning will follow.
"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with mmm." (Not "M".) Sound first; letter-name later.
You speak in a robot voice: "Get your sh-oo-z." Your child translates. Brilliant for ear-training.
Change one letter at a time. cat → cot → dot → dog. Lots of phonics in a tiny game.
Choose a sound — say sh. Cut it out wherever you find it in an old magazine. Stick them on a page. Done.
Foam letters in the bath. Say a word; your child builds it. Add silly bath-time accents for free.
School reading books are usually closely matched to the sounds your child has been taught. A good five-minute routine:
Re-reading the same book is a feature, not a bug. Confidence comes from familiar text.
Your child should start to hear sounds in words, recognise the letters they've been taught, and read very simple words like cat, map, got.
Reading whole sentences. Spotting digraphs like sh, ai, oa. Having a go at words they've never seen, including made-up ones.
Reading more fluently and less aloud. Spelling longer words by listening for each sound, even if not perfectly.
Reading is now mostly silent and quick. Focus shifts to spelling rules and understanding what they've read.
Talk to your child's class teacher. They'll have observed your child every day for weeks — they're the right first port of call. Ask: "Where would you put my child on phonics? Is there anything I can do at home?" Most teachers will be delighted you asked.