Phonics at Home: What the Reading Research Says to Do in Kindergarten

“Phonics” gets used for everything from alphabet songs to reading apps. The research version is simpler and more useful: kids learn to hear the separate sounds in words, link those sounds to letters, and then blend letters back into words. In that order.

That sequence comes from the US Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse guide on foundational reading skills for kindergarten to third grade. Its panel rated the evidence for this sound-and-letter work as strong, the highest level it gives. All 17 studies it reviewed on this recommendation found positive effects. Here is what it looks like at your kitchen table.

Step 1: hear the sounds (no letters yet)

Before letters, kids need to notice that spoken words come apart. The guide suggests starting big and getting smaller: sentences into words, words into syllables, then single sounds.

Count the words. Say a sentence and have your kid count the words. The guide’s own example: “The boy ate two pieces of pizza.” (Seven.) Silly sentences work best.

Build and break words. Straw plus berry makes strawberry. What’s book plus shelf? What’s left if you take cow out of cowboy?

Rhyme and first sounds. Does can rhyme with tan? With hat? Do duck and dog start with the same sound? Does sheep? Car rides are perfect for this, because there’s nothing to look at.

Stretch a word. Say fan slowly, fffaaannn, and have your kid push a coin forward for each sound they hear. That’s the guide’s sound-box activity. Start with words like fan, sun or mom, where you can hold each sound. The guide recommends these “continuous” sounds first because they’re easier to stretch.

Step 2: link sounds to letters

Once kids can pull sounds apart, connect each sound to its letter, a few at a time. The guide suggests starting with consonants and short vowels that show up in lots of early words. Its sample first group is /s/, /m/, /d/, /p/ and short /a/. Teach the letter in uppercase and lowercase, say its sound, and attach a memorable picture or tiny story, like the guide’s “P is for Pig, who says p-p-please, may I have some pizza?”

Many kids arrive at kindergarten knowing a few letters already, often the ones in their own name. Start there. The Common Core kindergarten standards expect kids to recognize and name every upper- and lowercase letter by the end of the year.

Step 3: build and blend words

With a handful of letter sounds, kids can start reading real words. The guide recommends word building: give your kid magnetic letters, set out f _ n, and have them add the a to make fan. Then swap one letter at a time: fan, can, cap, map. Each swap is a tiny reading lesson.

For blending, have them say each sound left to right and then run them together, sliding a finger under the letters. When a book has words they can sound out with the letters they know (these are called decodable words), let them read those words themselves.

What to skip

Guessing from pictures or the first letter. The guide’s panel discourages guessing strategies, because they stop working as books get harder. If your kid is stuck, help them sound it out, or tell them the word if it’s one of the tricky irregular ones (more on those in our sight words guide).
Too many letters at once. A few sounds at a time, reviewed often, beats the whole alphabet in a week.
Long sessions. Five minutes of sound games most days adds up fast.

A five-minute week

Day	Game
Monday	Count the words in silly sentences
Tuesday	Rhyme or not?
Wednesday	Stretch three short words with coins
Thursday	Two new letter sounds with a picture story
Friday	Build and swap words with magnetic letters

Where Tomorrow Trail fits

Tomorrow Trail, our free course for kindergarten to first grade, mixes short reading, writing, math and nature stops with every line read aloud, so your kid can do a stop on their own and you can play the sound games together later.

Start Tomorrow Trail free →