The following guidelines are based on personal experiences over many years of helping children learn to read fluently. These basic methods and materials are what worked for me and the children I taught and tutored, and are offered as suggestions for building a foundation for reading success.

Indirect Preparation. I believe that preparing a child for literacy begins during infancy, and even before. The child in the womb hears sounds, so it is important that the baby hear human speech frequently during gestation as well after birth.

A child’s early environment should be rich with sensory experiences–it’s an exciting new world! Verbal interaction with adults and other children is crucial in promoting language competency. For example, describe in complete sentences and with descriptive words events going on around the young child: “Now I am going to get your bottle and bring it to you.” “You really like to splash water while you are taking a bath!” When the child is a bit older, rather than saying, “Put that over there,” you could say, “Please put that yellow crayon on the table next to the sofa.” Finish-the-sentence games are fun: “We will put this soup in a ____.” “I need to mop the _____.”

Being read to daily is essential for the development of a child’s auditory acuity, as well as for fostering an interest in books, words, and letters. Discuss, even if you think your child may be too young to understand, such topics as what the words “author” and “illustrator” mean. Point out that books are read front-to-back, top-to-bottom, left-to-right. Move your finger across the words as you read and allow the child to turn the pages. Encourage him to point to the words as you read them and gradually he will become aware that those marks on the page have meaning. (Do try to use books whose print is large, black and heavy.)

To increase reading comprehension, discuss the story’s subject, the author’s purpose, and the meaning of any new words presented. Encourage the child to draw pictures relating to the story and/or re-tell it. If appropriate, follow up with a trip to the library or museum to find additional information on the subject. There are many ways to promote an early love of books and reading!

Songs, rhymes, syllabic clapping, alliterative verbal play and the like are all effective ways to enhance listening and auditory discrimination skills. You can also call attention to words on signs and storefronts while driving or shopping, and place label cards on objects throughout the home. While children may not actually “read” those words, they will begin to understand that words name things and concepts; i.e., they are speech written down.

Children love to learn “opposites,” such as up-down, big-little, hard-soft, short-tall, hot-cold, wet-dry, heavy-light, in-out, and so on. Help the child think of words that rhyme (cat-hat, dog-frog, car-star, house-mouse, bell-shell, pear-bear, etc.). You can also set up a rhyming activity using picture cards of such items: First randomly go through the cards with the child, naming each one; then separate the cards into two groups, placing one group in a row and the matching ones in a stack; and ask him to go through the stack, placing each card under its match.

Use your imagination to create a language-rich home environment! Start a collection of word cards for the child to keep which have personal relevance, e.g., his or her name; names of family members, friends, and pets; and other “special” words of the child’s choosing.

Classification, sequencing, and "Concentration"-type activities all support reading skills. Simple pattern matching and sorting games with buttons, socks, picture cards, etc., will help develop visual discrimination and a sense of one-to-one correspondence so essential to reading.

One easy way to create a pattern matching game is to use two identical sets of stickers, such as of flowers, trucks, birds, etc.: Make a grid on posterboard with one set, and individual game pieces with the other set; then invite the child place each game piece on its match until the grid is filled.

Manipulative activities in which fine motor skills are honed, especially those requiring the use of the thumb and first two fingers, will help prepare the child for holding a writing instrument. Tracing and the use of knobbed puzzles are just two examples.

Direct Preparation. Bear in mind that the road to literacy is not strictly linear and the phases in which various skills are acquired may overlap in many areas. However, all preparation for language competency should be as interactive and multisensory as possible, utilizing movement, sight, sound, and speech.

Early phonemic awareness and explicit, systematic phonics instruction have long been recognized by certain teaching methodologies as essential to any successful reading program, and are now being strongly recommended in publicized research findings.*

A phoneme is a single unit of speech, a sound, produced by a letter or group of letters; when phonemes are combined, they form words. Letters also have names; their names are how they sound when we recite the alphabet. I do not teach the Alphabet Song until after a child can read simple words well; however, if she already knows it, make certain she is taught, at the appropriate time, that those are the names of the letters and that the letters also have sounds. For example, the name of the letter s is “ess”; its sound is “sssss.” When reciting (or singing) the alphabet, it is important for the child to point to each letter as it is said. It is not necessary to know the letter names in order to learn how to read, but it is necessary to know their sounds.

a as in cat

b b(uh)

c k(uh)

d d(uh)

e as in elephant

f ffff

g g(uh)

h h(uh) - breath only

i as in igloo

j j(uh)

k k(uh) - "the tall k(uh)"

l llll

m mmmm

n nnnn

o as in octopus

p p(uh)

q kw(uh) - always has u after

r rrrr

s ssss

t t(uh)

u as in umbrella

v vvvv

w w(uh)

x ks

y y(uh)

z zzzz

Even before a child is able to recognize written letter-forms, various sound games can be played, e.g., “Let’s think of things that begin with ‘mmmm’. . . mmmom, mmmud . . . .” Household objects can be sorted according to their initial sounds (apple, banana, cookie) or you can use picture cards. These activities may be initiated as soon as the child is beginning to speak in relatively complete sentences and can be done anytime, such as while traveling in the car: “Let’s learn a new sound today–‘b(uh)’. . . b(uh) bag, b(uh) balloon . . . .”

After the child knows several “sounds” well, you can show him that they can be written down. For example, say, “This is what ‘t(uh)’ looks like.” Then carefully print on a piece of paper a large lowercase t as the child watches. Ask him to trace over what you wrote with his finger while he says the sound. Repetition is important, so resist the temptation to hurry things along–two letters a week is sufficient. The concept of a sound-letter relationship should be firmly established before moving to the next phase.

Be sure to include at least one short vowel in this initial selection of “sounds.” One useful introductory group consists of m, s, r, b, c, h, p, f, t and a because from these the child can later build several words: mat, sat, rat, bat, cat, hat, pat, and fat. Regarding the remaining vowels, o and u are relatively easy to learn; I recommend introducing i and e last. You may need to spend extra time with certain sounds and exaggerate their pronunciation–have the child use a mirror, if necessary.

When teaching the letter-sounds, it is not necessary for the child to actually write them down with a pencil or even on a small chalkboard. Most very young children cannot hold a pencil well, but they can draw the letters in a shallow tray of flour or sand, or use a marker to trace over letters you have written on paper in pencil. They can also use thin paper to trace letters that have been printed on card stock, either homemade or purchased. There are other materials for this purpose available commercially.* It is very important that the child say the sound while tracing it–the more senses involved the better! All of your beginning language materials should use the manuscript form of lowercase a and g; i.e., the way children learn to print.

After at least two sounds have been associated with their letter-forms, you may set up numerous and varied games involving sorting picture cards or objects according to their initial sounds. Children often confuse the letters b, d, p, and q, so you may need to devise lessons focusing solely on them. Proceed slowly and keep it simple–sort using only two sounds at first. Teach additional consonants and vowels gradually. Remember that repetition is very important in all phases of the learning-to-read process.

Objects that can be handled by the child are the most effective in committing sound-to-letter relationships to memory. Look around the home or visit a craft or toy store for small objects to use in these activities. (Optionally, you can purchase expensive containers of plastic objects from educational catalogs; however, I feel that many of such objects are of limited value, especially in the way they are segregated for their intended use in the labeled tubs, and are not very attractive. I routinely found everything I needed around the home or in craft shops–for the word soap to illustrate oa, I used one of the small soap bars from a hotel room.)

Word-Building. This phase involves encoding–hearing a phoneme, associating it with its letter-form, and “spelling” a word. One of the most effective ways to develop this skill is “mechanical writing,” wherein the child “writes” (spells) words using cut-out letters. Such letters can be purchased from a variety of sources and range from inexpensive cardboard to more expensive plastic or wood.* The letters can also simply be written on card stock or posterboard with a thick black marker. However, at first, use the largest letters you can find, about 3-5" for a lowercase vowel. It is preferable to have all the letters be the same color, or the consonants one color and the vowels another.

When the child has learned the sounds for 8-10 consonants and at least one short vowel, word-building by dictation can be initiated with three-letter short vowel words. Determine the word you wish to dictate to the child and at the top of your workspace (on a table or on the floor) place in random order the letters necessary to build it. Review the sounds of the letters with the child in an order different from the word to be spelled.

Then say, for example, “Let’s make the word ‘hat.’ I like my blue hat. Hat.” Say the word slowly and drawn out. “What sound do you hear first? H(uh) . . . aaaaa . . . t(uh).” Please note that the sound for h is made with the breath only. If the child does not respond with the correct sound for h, you can say, “I hear ‘h(uh)’ first. Can you hear it?” And say the word again slowly. Ask the child to find “h(uh)” among the letters you have set out. Continue as above with the next sound, short a–tell the child that you now hear “ha” and, if necessary, help her find the correct letter. Make sure she lays out the letters in a straight line, left to right. Then say the word again, note that you have already made “ha,” and ask what sound comes last. When the word is built, say something like this: “Look, you made the word ‘hat’! Good job!”

Do not ask the child to read the word back to you at this point. Actual reading is decoding, a skill to be developed later. If he or she seems receptive and alert, continue with another word. Two words are sufficient for this first word-building lesson. The next day you can repeat the lesson with the same two words. On the third day, you may build one or two new words. Proceed slowly, be flexible, and include a lot of repetition.

When the child is able to build several words from dictation, you can begin to use small objects. For example, you can place three small objects such as a fan, a cat, and a hat in a basket or on a tray with the appropriate letters. Have the child line up the objects vertically in front of him and lay out the letters randomly at the top of the workspace. If necessary, first review the sounds of the letters and what the objects are (he may call the hat a cap) and then commence word-building beginning with the object at the top. It is important to always set up your lessons top-to-bottom and left-to-right, since those are the directions in which we read. Picture cards may also be used for word-building, but do try to find objects–learning is greatly enhanced when it’s “hands-on”!

Filling in the missing letter is another helpful exercise: Draw or paste a picture of a three-letter word on a card, such as a dog or a cup, and write two letters of the word on it, leaving a space for the third, e.g., d_g, _up. Write the letters by tracing around your cut-out ones and then filling them in so they match the others as closely as possible. Invite the child to find the missing letter and place it in the space.

Reading. After the child’s word-building skills are firmly in place, you may begin to teach decoding–the determination of the consecutive sounds in a word, leading to the understanding that those sounds, when considered as a whole, constitute a symbol (the word) for a thing or concept. It is very helpful to have an extensive word list arranged by phonetic elements, such as the one we publish, to use in creating your decoding lessons.

Here is an example of a beginning decoding exercise: In a straight horizontal line lay out the letters of a three-letter short vowel word, such as sit. Say something like, “Let’s figure out what these sounds say when we put them together.” Put your finger under the first letter and say its sound with the child; proceed to the second and third, moving your finger slowly under the letters and drawing out their sounds. Then say, “Let’s say the sounds a little faster this time,” and repeat the procedure slightly faster and run the sounds together a bit more. Ask what word he or she can hear.

At this point, you will probably be told the correct word. If not, repeat the procedure focusing on the first two sounds only, and say, “I hear ‘ssss...iiii...si, si. Can you say ‘si’?” Then move to the last sound: “So far we have ‘si’ and then ‘t(uh)’ comes last . . .si . . .t(uh). What word do you hear?” It would be rare for a child to not answer correctly at this point but, if so, tell him you hear “sit” and draw out the sounds as you say the word. Then say the word in a sentence–“I like to sit on the floor”–to emphasize the word’s meaning.

Then proceed to another word, remaining sensitive to how much the child can assimilate during one session. I recommend using no more than three words during the first several lessons. Encourage the child to move her finger under the letters in sequence while “sounding out” each word letter by letter, saying the sounds faster and sweeping her finger under the word as she says it.

Don’t worry, the child will eventually “get it”! Occasionally, he may tell you what the word is as soon as you lay out the letters, as he has most likely internalized the process during the encoding phase. No matter–go through the exercise anyway to bring it to outer awareness. If you suspect the child has simply memorized a word, choose one he has not encountered before.

Flip books are a very effective learning tool which can be easily made. These are ringed booklets in which the words end in the same letters and only the first letter changes. For example, the longer, bottom card would have a space followed by ot, and shorter cards placed on top would have h, p, n, d, g, and l.

When the child is able to decode three-letter short vowel words easily and if he is able to use a pencil fairly well, invite him to write down the words he has just read. Alternatively, he may trace over them using word cards you have previously prepared or trace over (using a fine-line marker) the words which you have written on manuscript paper in pencil. Writing reinforces what the child is learning.

This is a good time to begin teaching the capital letters, if you haven’t already done so. Explain that names always begin with capital letters and provide a card with the student’s name for him to copy or trace over. You can also set up exercises in which capital letters are matched to lowercase ones.

The child may now move right into word-building with four- and five-letter short vowel words containing consonant blends, such as flag, drum, sand, nest, plant, utilizing the same procedures described in the previous section, and then proceed to decoding. It is not necessary to teach consonant blends (e.g., fl, dr, st) separately as children seem to have no problem encoding and decoding such words–they simply move through the sounds in sequence just as with the three-letter words. You can devise numerous exercises similar to those suggested for three-letter words. Visit a classroom which has a strong phonics approach to the language arts, such as Montessori, to get ideas for activities designed to develop reading skills.

When the child is decoding individual words well, you may introduce the reading of simple sentences by writing on strips of posterboard, one per strip, sentences such as: The cat sat on a mat. The sun is hot. A frog can jump. The dog ran fast. I can swim. When the child encounters common “sight words” such as the, a, and I, simply tell him, for example, “This word is ‘the’.” After being told what the word is two or three times as it is encountered, he will most likely remember it; you can also make flash cards for such words. Also explain to him that a sentence always begins with a capital letter, and that the dot at the end of each sentence is called a period which tells you when to stop.

Help the child move through the sentence, sounding out each word (except the sight words), if necessary, followed by saying the complete word, and ending with saying the complete sentence: “The d(uh)...ooo...g(uh) dog rrr...aaa... nnn ran fff...aaa...sss...t(uh) fast. The dog ran fast.” You can also have her match the sentence to a corresponding picture. Another extension is to prepare duplicate sentence strips, cut them into words, and invite the child to reassemble the sentence. (Later, you can create similar exercises using familiar poems and songs, such as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.)

Now it is time for your student to read a real book! Choose easily decodable readers such as those in Set A of our Early Phonetic Readers which have only three-letter short vowel words and a few basic sight words. First books should have large, heavy, black print and be reality-based so that the child can derive meaning and his comprehension can be easily assessed. Sit next to or across from the child and use the eraser end of a pencil or similar object to move across the top of the words; he can use his finger to move across the bottom of the words.

If the book you are using has large, splashy, distracting pictures on every page, you can cover them with a piece of paper while reading with a student. Do not rush the child–allow her time to assimilate and think about what she is reading. After reading a couple of sentences with her, you may gauge comprehension by asking a question or making a comment and noting her response. True reading is interpretive and is achieved when the child understands the meaning of what she has read.

Most children “sound out” while reading for a very long time. However, if you sense that a student is “stuck” you can return him to decoding single words and gently encouraging him to “say the sounds a little bit faster.” This, and much patience, usually works.

After the student has read several three-letter short vowel books, he may move to readers containing short vowel words with consonant blends. Once he is able to read these books by sounding out without too much difficulty, usually by around age 4-1/2, you may begin to teach additional phonetic elements.

My preference is to teach the two-letter phonograms (e.g., sh, oo, ay) before teaching the long vowels with silent final e pattern (e.g., lake, rope, bike). Reading a word containing a two-letter phonogram involves the same left-to-right sequence as reading a word with only one-letter phonogram–the only difference is that the two “joined” letters make one sound. In reading a word having the long vowel with silent final e configuration, the child’s eye must jump ahead to note the silent e and then go back to the vowel and say it with its long sound.

Some years ago, I made my own two-letter phonogram sets by using white cardboard cut-out letters, sandwiching each set between clear contact paper, and then carefully cutting around it. Thus, each could be handled as a unit–the child could actually pick up “sh” in one piece. You may teach these sounds just as you did the short vowels and consonants, proceed to word-building, and then decoding, setting up similar exercises. Be sure to have your word list handy! You may then move to readers which emphasize these phonetic elements, such as our Set C.

Although knowing spelling rules is not required in order to learn how to read, there are a few that may be appropriate for the child to learn while working with some two-letter phonograms. The easiest are: ay usually comes at the end of words, ai is not used at the end of words; oy usually comes at the end of words, oi is not used at the end of words; aw usually comes at the end of words (except before final k, l, and n), au is not used at the end of words. The same applies to ew/ui, and ey/ei. Sorting exercises are particularly useful when working with these phonograms.

By this time, your student should know the difference between vowels (a-e-i-o-u) and consonants. All words must have a vowel sound–a vowel “sound” because in a word such as my, the y sounds like long i. He should also know the Alphabet Song, be able to recite the alphabet, and know the names of the letters.

When first teaching the long vowel with silent final e pattern, show the child on a small chalkboard or on paper that when he sees an e at the end of a word, such as gate, it is silent (we don’t say it)–but it makes the vowel, a, say its name, not its sound. Its name is the way it sounds when we say the alphabet. Draw an arrow curving up from the top of the e over the t and pointing down to the a, and then double-underline the e to stress that it is silent. (I found that it is very helpful to the child that silent letters in all words be double-underlined, such as the w in two and the u in guess.)

Demonstrate this pattern using several more words. The following words are useful for illustration: at-ate, cap-cape, bit-bite, hid-hide, rip-ripe, fin-fine, hop-hope, not-note. You may then set up word-building and decoding lessons similar to those described earlier, and then proceed to appropriate readers, such as our Set D. The Set E readers integrate the previously-taught phonetic elements and serve to consolidate meaningfully the child’s newly acquired reading skills.

You may also teach additional sounds of certain phonograms if you think your student is ready. There are 45 sounds in the English language represented by 70 phonograms. For example, there are actually four sounds for the letter a, as in cat, baby, ball, and above; ow has two sounds, as in cow and mow. Some teachers use specially-prepared phonogram flash cards which have the letter on the front and all its sounds detailed on the back for teacher reference.* When children see the a card, for example, they recite all four sounds. When writing a word having a phonogram with more than one sound, it is recommended that a small numeral be placed above the phonogram to denote whether it’s the second or third or fourth sound. When working with a two- or three-letter phonogram, it is also helpful to draw a line under it to indicate that the phonogram represents one sound, i.e., for the word mow, you would draw a line under the “ow” and write a small “2” above it. Exercises similar to those described earlier can be used to help teach these additional sounds.

When the child is reading fairly well, although with some sounding out, he may move to readers such as our Four Seasons Readers set and the School Days reader which have mostly decodable text, an occasional two-syllable word, and a few new “sight words.” These readers provide much-needed practice and are essential for increasing comprehension and achieving fluency.

One group of two-syllable words which are particularly easy to learn are those ending in le (e.g., little, puddle, tickle, candle). Our Word List includes 72 such words, as well as twice that many additional easily decodable two-syllable words, such as summer, cabin, planet, etc. The list also includes a large number of common “sight words” and compound words. Children love to work with compound words! Lessons are simple to set up–just break down the words and have your student put them together (e.g., cupcake, fireman, peanut).

There are other spelling and pronunciation rules which, while not essential to reading, you may choose to teach, such as q always being followed by a u, soft c and g occurring when followed by e, i, or y (pencil, age), vowels usually being long at the end of syllables (me, paper), i and o being long when followed by two consonants (find, old), and l, s, and f usually being doubled at the end of one-syllable words (tell, sniff, class). Another rule you may wish to teach, for words such as have, give, and blue, is: Words don’t end in u or v, so you must add a silent e. (Children love to recite this one!)

Do encourage a generous amount of independent silent reading, both of individual words and of books. Daily reading to a friend, teacher, or parent is essential to attaining fluency. Most students need a lot of practice with decodable readers before they become truly fluent and are able to read library and store-bought books with ease.

Although these guidelines are narrowly focused on the acquisition of beginning reading skills, all areas of the language arts–such as dramatic play, poetry, song, discussion, storytelling, listening, memorization, vocabulary development, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and composition– reinforce each other and should be integrated and taught across all curriculum areas. Writing is especially important. The lessons and materials suggested here are what I consider to be the “basics”–there are numerous additional activities that can assist your student on the road to literacy. We hope these guidelines are helpful.