How to teach phonics at home: a simple 10-minute daily routine

To teach phonics at home, teach the sounds letters make rather than their names, a few at a time in a sensible order such as s, a, t, p, i, n, and practise blending them into short words like “sat” and “pin” for about 10 minutes a day. Say each sound cleanly, without an extra “uh”, keep it playful, and keep reading stories aloud together alongside it.

Below: what phonics is, when to start, which sounds come first, a daily routine, games with household things, and how it all works in a Marathi or Hindi speaking home.

What is phonics, and why do letter sounds come before ABC?

Phonics teaches children that letters stand for sounds, and that they can read a new word by saying its sounds in order and pushing them together. Most schools that teach it systematically use synthetic phonics: children learn letter sounds, then blend them to read (c-a-t, cat) and segment spoken words into sounds to spell them.

That is why letter names come later. Saying “see-ay-tee” never turns into “cat”, but saying the sounds c-a-t quickly does. Your child can still sing the alphabet song; they just need the sound, not the name, when reading.

English has around 44 sounds but only 26 letters, which is why some sounds need two or more letters. Children learn the one-letter sounds first and the two-letter ones later.

When should you start? Ages and the steps before letters

Many children are ready for letter sounds somewhere between 3 and 5, and blending often clicks between 4 and 6. In England, government guidance says daily phonics sessions should begin as soon as children start Reception, the year they turn 5. Earlier isn't always better: a child who can't yet hear the sounds inside words will find letters confusing.

Start with listening games, which need no letters at all:

• Nursery rhymes and songs, so your child notices words that end the same way (dock, clock).
• “I spy something beginning with mmm” - using the sound, not the letter name.
• Clapping the beats in names: A-di-ti, Ar-jun.
• Robot talk: you say “c-u-p”, your child says “cup”.

When your child can tell you whether two words rhyme and can hear the first sound of a word, they are ready for letters. Many pre-schools introduce letter sounds in the KG years, so ask the teacher which sounds the class is on and match them at home.

Which letter sounds should you teach first?

Not A to Z. Phonics programmes start with a small group of sounds that make lots of short words straight away. Letters and Sounds, a scheme published by England's education department in 2007, begins like this, and many newer programmes use a similar order:

That is why s, a, t, p, i, n are so often taught first: after six sounds a child can read sat, pin, tap, nap, pit and tin. Some schools use other programmes, such as Jolly Phonics, which starts with s, a, t, i, p, n. If your child's school uses one, follow its order so home and school agree.

Next come the two-letter sounds (sh, ch, th, ng, ee, ai, oa, oo and others) and a handful of tricky words such as “the”, “to”, “I”, “no” and “go”. At home, three or four new sounds a week is plenty. Slow down if older sounds start slipping.

How do you say the sounds correctly?

This is where most parents slip. Say each sound as short and pure as you can, without adding “uh” at the end: “sss”, not “suh”; “mmm”, not “muh”. It is much easier to blend s-p-or-t into “sport” than suh-puh-or-tuh.

• Stretchy sounds can be held: s, m, f, n, l, r, v, z. Hold them - “mmmm”.
• Bouncy sounds can't be held: p, t, k, b, d, g. Keep them as short as you can. A tiny “uh” on b, d and g is hard to avoid, so keep it tiny.

Don't worry about your accent. Phonics works in any accent; what matters is saying each sound cleanly and the same way every time. If the teacher says a sound differently, go with the school's version.

A 10-minute daily routine for teaching phonics at home

Pick a fixed time when your child isn't tired or hungry - after an evening snack works for many families. You'll need letter cards: lower-case letters on squares cut from a cereal box are fine.

1. Review (2 minutes). Flash the cards of sounds already learned. Your child says the sound, not the name. Keep it quick and cheerful.
2. New sound (2 minutes). Show the letter, say the sound, and hunt for things in the room that start with it. Your child traces the letter in the air or on paper while saying the sound.
3. Blend (3 minutes). Lay out cards, s-a-t. Your child touches each card and says its sound, then runs a finger under the word and says it fast. Do four or five words.
4. Segment (2 minutes). You say a word, “pin”. Your child says the sounds, p-i-n, then picks the cards or writes the letters.
5. Finish on success (1 minute). One word or short sentence your child can read easily, or one tricky word. Stop while they are still enjoying it.

Phonics games with things you already have at home

• Sound hunt: “Find three things in the kitchen that start with p” - pan, plate, potato.
• Rice or rava tray: spread a thin layer on a plate and write letters with a finger while saying the sound.
• Bottle-cap words: write letters on bottle caps, build a word, then swap one cap at a time: sat, pat, pit, pin.
• Sticky-note hunt: stick letters around the house; your child brings back the one whose sound you say.
• Robot instructions: “bring your c-u-p”, “sit on the m-a-t”.
• Spot it outside: look for letters your child knows on shop boards and number plates on the way to school.
• Silly sentences: make up sentences where every word starts with the same sound - “Sam sat on a sock”.

Common mistakes when teaching a child to read English

• Adding “uh” to sounds. It makes blending much harder.
• Rushing to sight-word lists. England's reading framework says pupils “should not be asked to learn lists of high frequency words”. Most common words, like “and” or “can”, are easy to sound out once the letters are known; only a few, like “said” and “was”, need learning as tricky words.
• Guessing from pictures. If your child says “pony” for “horse” because of the picture, gently point back to the letters. Choose simple books where your child knows the sounds in most words - schools call them decodable books.
• Capital letters only. Most of what children read is lower case, so give lower-case letters plenty of practice, not just the capitals on an alphabet chart.
• “A for apple” as the only method. Picture charts are fine for vocabulary, but your child also needs to say the sound on its own. Some pairs mislead: “X for xylophone” starts with a z sound.
• Long sessions that feel like a test. Ten happy minutes beat forty tense ones. If it turns into a battle, stop and try again tomorrow.
• Stopping read-aloud once your child can decode. Listening to books above their reading level is still how children build vocabulary.

Phonics in a Marathi or Hindi speaking home

Speaking Marathi, Hindi or another language at home is an asset, not a problem. Growing up with two or three languages does not by itself cause reading difficulties, and research on bilingual children suggests the core skill phonics builds - hearing the separate sounds in a word - carries across languages. Rhymes, songs and word games in your home language count as practice too.

A few differences are worth knowing:

• English spelling is less regular. Marathi and Hindi are written in Devanagari, where spelling closely reflects pronunciation. English has far more exceptions, so expect English spelling to take longer, and tell your child that some English words are simply tricky.
• Some English sounds aren't separate in Marathi or Hindi. Both use one sound where English has v and w, and neither has the two “th” sounds in “thin” and “that”. When you teach v, w and th, say them carefully, and play with pairs like “vet” and “wet” or “tin” and “thin” so your child links each sound to the right letters.
• Reading a word isn't knowing it. England's reading framework notes that children learning English as an additional language often need more explicit vocabulary teaching. Talk about what words mean as you read, and use pictures to explain new ones.
• Keep your home language strong. Don't switch the house to English-only for the sake of phonics. Rich talk in any language builds the vocabulary and understanding that reading depends on.

How do phonics and handwriting work together?

Writing a letter while saying its sound helps both stick, and spelling is phonics in reverse. As each sound is learned:

• Teach the correct letter formation from the start - where the letter begins and which way the pencil moves. Habits formed at 4 are hard to undo at 8.
• Check the pencil grip. A tripod grip (thumb, index and middle finger) makes writing more comfortable.
• Start with print letters, and follow your school's style for when joined (cursive) writing begins.
• Dictate words your child can spell with the sounds they know: you say “pin”, they write p-i-n.

If grip or letter formation is a real struggle, handwriting is a subject in its own right - you can look for a handwriting tutor on TutorUp as well as one for phonics and reading.

When should you get a phonics tutor?

Most children get there with patient, regular practice. Consider a phonics tutor when:

• after a few months of regular practice, your child still can't blend three-letter words by around age 6
• sounds learned one week are forgotten the next, again and again
• reading time has become a fight, and a calm adult who isn't the parent would help
• you aren't confident of the sounds yourself, or your child has moved from a Marathi-medium to an English-medium school
• your child is in Class 2 or above and still guesses words rather than sounding them out

Look for a tutor who says sounds cleanly, teaches in a set order, keeps sessions short and playful, and tells you exactly what to practise in between. For a 4 to 6 year old, 30 to 45 minutes with a break is plenty. Our phonics and reading tutors page explains what good tuition looks like at this age, and the English tuition page covers what comes after reading is fluent.

On TutorUp you can post a requirement for phonics, from Nursery upward, and verified tutors near your home can apply. Before a tutor is visible to families, a person on our team checks their identity on a short call or by reviewing a photo ID and a selfie (how verification works). It is not a police or background check, so stay at home during sessions with a young child and go through our home tutor safety checklist. TutorUp is free to start for parents.

When to talk to a professional, not just a tutor

• Your child often doesn't seem to hear clearly, or has had frequent ear infections - ask your paediatrician about a hearing test.
• They squint, rub their eyes or lose their place on the page - get an eye test.
• Their speech is hard to understand for their age - a speech therapist can assess it.
• Reading stays unusually hard despite good teaching and regular practice - ask the school or your paediatrician about an assessment for a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia by a qualified professional. Tuition can support a child, but it doesn't treat these.

If sitting still for even ten minutes is the real obstacle, our guide to improving your child's concentration has practical ideas to try first.