Starting phonics with your little one? Keep it simple and fun..
Starting the education journey is a huge milestone for anyone, there's so many new things to learn … and suddenly your child is hearing lots about phonics, and perhaps this is your first time hearing about it too!
If you’re wondering what oral blending is, how many sounds your child needs to know, or whether you should be saying “m” or “em”, don’t worry, you’re definitely not alone.
The good news is that supporting early phonics at home doesn't need to mean sitting at a table with worksheets or constantly flipping through flash cards. Some of the most valuable phonics learning can happen through simple, playful games.
And one thing I would really encourage you to remember is: Don't rush ahead!
When children first start learning phonics, it can be tempting to think that more is better.
More sounds. More letters. More words. More reading.
But early phonics is not a race. Honestly, it is better to slow down and get the foundations right, a few sounds that they can understand, recognise, blend and write is so much more beneficial than a list of sounds learned, that they can't apply.
Before expecting children to read lots of words on a page, it is really valuable for them to develop the ability to hear sounds and blend them orally.
What is oral blending?
Oral blending means hearing individual sounds and putting them together to work out a word...without seeing the letters written down.
For example, you might say:
c – a – t
and your child works out:
cat!
Or:
s – u – n
becomes:
sun!
This is an important skill because it helps children develop the listening and blending skills they will eventually use when decoding (sounding out and blending) written words.
And the great thing is that you don't need a pile of flashcards or worksheets to practise it.
Start with ears before eyes
It can be really tempting to show children the letters straight away. Instead, spend time playing games where they simply listen to sounds and blend them together.
For example:
“Can you find the c-u-p?”
Your child hears the sounds, blends them and finds the cup.
No letters required.
This gives them valuable practice in hearing the sounds within a word and putting them back together.
Once children have a secure foundation of sounds and oral blending skills, the transition to blending sounds represented by letters becomes much more meaningful.
My top tip: follow your child's phonics journey
Your child's school will introduce sounds in a particular order and at a particular pace.
Try to follow this rather than racing ahead at home. In fact, introducing lots of sounds before they are ready can make things unnecessarily confusing. Instead, make the sounds they have already learned really familiar and give them lots of opportunities to hear, recognise, say and blend them. Like I said, a few sounds used confidently and playfully can be much more useful than a huge collection of sounds that your child is still unsure about.
Pure sounds really matter
This is one of the most important things parents can do when supporting phonics at home and something I'm always shouting about!
When we say a sound, we want to use the pure sound as much as possible.
For example:
m → “mmmm”
s → “ssss”
f → “ffff”
t → “t”
p → “p”
Rather than saying:
“muh”
or:
“tuh”
Adding an extra “uh” sound can make it harder for children to blend sounds together.
Imagine trying to blend:
muh – a – tuh
It doesn't sound very much like mat!
But:
m – a – t
is much easier to push together.
If you're unsure about how your child's school pronounces the sounds, ask them. Different phonics programmes may have slightly different approaches, so using the same pronunciation at home is really helpful. There are some great resources available online to support each phonics scheme so take a look at these too if you want anything to use at home. Having consistency of the resources between home and school can really help cement your child's understanding and lessen any confusion.
And remember: when we're talking about early phonics, we're focusing on sounds rather than letter names.
So:
m → “mmmm”
rather than:
“em”
The letter name can be learned too, but the sound is what children need when they are learning to blend for reading. If I were you I'd leave letter names until later in the phonics journey, keep it simple.
Let's make oral blending a game!
Oral blending can be practised almost anywhere.
Below I have shared an oral blending bingo game to help you turn this important skill into something fun and interactive. It is a lovely example of how you can practise listening and blending without immediately putting lots of written words in front of your child. It's quick and simple to set up and can be adapted to different stages of the phonics journey (oral blending, sound recognition, simple words, sentences... the opportunities are endless!). Use coins, counters or simply cross off the picture/sound/word with a pen!
There are three boards in the download:
Oral blending- Sound out the word. Can your child blend the sounds together and find the matching picture?
Letter Sound recognition- say the sound. Can your child find the letter that matches the sound?
Blank- make up your own game. Use the sounds they have learnt that week, rhyming words and pictures, practise the tricky words they need to learn, simple sentences to read...
Download here:
Here are some more easy oral blending games that you can play at home
The Silly Robot
Pretend you're a robot who can only speak in sounds.
“Can you get your h-a-t?”
Your child blends the sounds:
hat!
Try:
c-u-p → cupp-e-n → pend-o-g → dogs-u-n → sun
Then swap roles and let your child be the robot!
Feed the Monster
Grab a teddy or puppet and announce:
“The monster is hungry!”
Place a few familiar objects nearby.
“The monster wants c-a-r!”
Can your child listen, blend the sounds and feed the monster the correct object?
Don't be afraid to get it wrong sometimes.
“Hmm… did you say c-a-t?”
Children usually LOVE correcting grown-ups!
Soundy Shopping
Playing shops?
Turn it into an oral blending game.
“I'd like a p-e-n, please!”
Can your child work out what you want?
Keep the words familiar and simple, particularly when children are just getting started.
Phonics on the go
You don't even need to sit down for this one.
While you're walking or travelling:
“Can you find the b-u-s?”
Or:
“I can see a d-o-g!”
It's a tiny activity that can fit naturally into everyday life.
What about written words?
When your child begins looking at written words, remember that they don't need to guess what the word says from the picture.
The aim of phonics is to help children use the sounds they have been taught to decode words.
But there is no need to rush to this stage before your child has had plenty of opportunity to develop their listening and oral blending skills.
Think of it as building a little pathway:
Hear the sounds → recognise the sounds → blend the sounds → connect sounds to letters → blend written words
And give your child time to build each step.
Keep it playful
You don't need a 30-minute phonics lesson at home.
Five minutes of playful listening can be plenty.
Try oral blending:
in the car
in the bath
in the supermarket
while playing
around the dinner table
on the walk to school
And keep talking, singing, rhyming and sharing stories too. Phonics is just one part of becoming a reader, developing language, vocabulary and a love of books are incredibly important as well.
The biggest message?
Don't feel you have to rush.
Your child doesn't need to know every sound before they start school. They don't need to be reading lots of words and you don't need to turn home into a classroom.
Instead, help them become brilliant little listeners.
Build those foundations first, follow the sounds your child's school is teaching, use those lovely pure sounds, and let reading develop step by step. And most importantly.....have fun!
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