For Parents

Help your child strengthen their literacy skills at any stage of development.

Your family plays a big role in helping your child learn to read and write. With the right phonics activities at home, you can support your child’s literacy development and academic success. The more you understand how and why phonics instruction works, the better you can facilitate effective and meaningful learning experiences with your family. 

To help your child practice phonics at home, read our insights for parents below! You can also browse our phonics program reviews for more.

Phonics Education for Families

Learn the perfect timing for introducing phonics to preschoolers. Discover age-appropriate activities and signs your child is ready to start their reading journey.

Phonics for Preschoolers: What’s Too Early vs. Just Right?

Your three-year-old walks up to you holding a book, points to the letter ‘M’,...

Discover practical solutions when your child's phonics progress hits a wall. Learn to identify and overcome common reading roadblocks with expert-backed strategies.

When Phonics Progress Stalls: Troubleshooting Common Roadblocks

Your five-year-old was excitedly sounding out simple words just last month, proudly reading “cat”...

Phonological Awareness vs. Phonics: Understand how these distinct foundational skills build reading success.

Phonological Awareness vs. Phonics

Did you know that before children can successfully crack the reading code, they must...

Can worksheets teach phonics? Discover better alternatives for helping your child master reading skills through engaging, research-backed methods.

Can Worksheets Teach Phonics?

Your child sits at the kitchen table, pencil in hand, dutifully filling in letters...

Phonics and executive function are closely linked—skills like memory and focus shape how children learn to read.

Phonics and Executive Function

Here’s something that might surprise you: when your child sits down to sound out...

When it comes to learning to read, systematic vs. incidental phonics isn’t just a debate—studies consistently show systematic phonics leads to better outcomes. Here's what parents need to know to choose the right approach for their child.

Systematic vs. Incidental Phonics: Which Approach Gets Kids Reading Faster?

When it comes to teaching children how to read, not all approaches are created...

Master 30+ essential phonics terms and methods every parent needs to understand.

Essential Phonics Terms Every Parent Should Know

When you start helping your child with reading, you’ll quickly encounter terms that might...

Get answers to 25+ Phonics FAQs. Learn when kids should start phonics, how to help at home, and what to do if your child struggles with reading.

Phonics FAQs: Let’s Support Young Readers

As a parent, you probably have questions about phonics and how to support your...

Learn evidence-based solutions to avoid these pitfalls and ensure effective literacy instruction.

Common Phonics Teaching Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Sarah thought she was doing everything right. She bought colorful phonics workbooks, downloaded popular...

Explore how the Trump administration's focus on evidence-based reading instruction could transform schools.

Federal Focus on Evidence-Based Reading: What This Means for Your Child’s Education

In a historic shift that could transform how millions of American children learn to...

Hanukkah Books That Support Early Reading Skills

Hanukkah Books That Support Early Reading Skills

The menorah glows on the kitchen counter. Your preschooler watches the first candle flicker and asks, “Can we read a Hanukkah story?” You reach for a colorful picture book, and…

New Year’s Stories That Build Reading Skills

New Year’s Stories That Build Reading Skills

New Year’s brings fresh starts, new goals, and celebrations around the world. You pull out a stack of colorful books. Each one exploring different traditions and the magic of new…

Matching Books to Phonics Features

Matching Books to Phonics Features

You open a picture book with your four-year-old. The words dance across the page in predictable patterns. Your child giggles at silly animal sounds, then surprises you by chanting along…

Christmas Books For Reading Practice

Christmas Books For Reading Practice

Your child snuggles beside you on a cold December evening, eyes bright with anticipation as you open a holiday book. The pages smell like fresh print and possibility. Outside, snowflakes…

Holiday Books With Good Phonics Practice: 10 Festive Reads for Emerging Readers

Holiday Books With Good Phonics Practice: 10 Festive Reads for Emerging Readers

The twinkling lights are up, cookies are baking, and your eager young reader wants to dive into every holiday book on the shelf. But here’s the wonderful secret many parents…

Twice-Exceptional Readers: Phonics for Gifted Students with Dyslexia

Twice-Exceptional Readers: Phonics for Gifted Students with Dyslexia

Picture a seven-year-old who can explain the water cycle in stunning detail, design elaborate engineering projects with building blocks, and engage in conversations that rival those of much older children.…

Phonics Professional Development: Programs That Actually Work

Phonics Professional Development: Programs That Actually Work

Rachel teaches first grade in a suburban elementary school. Last year, she watched five of her students struggle through every reading lesson while their classmates progressed steadily. She tried different…

Homeschool Phonics: Choosing and Implementing Programs

Homeschool Phonics: Choosing and Implementing Programs

You open the package with equal parts excitement and dread. Inside sits your investment in your child’s reading future: workbooks, lesson plans, manipulatives, and a teacher’s manual that could stop…

Letter Reversals: Normal Development or Red Flag?

Letter Reversals: Normal Development or Red Flag?

Your kindergartener writes “doy” instead of “boy.” Your first grader reads “was” as “saw.” The letters b and d seem interchangeable in their writing. You wonder: Is this normal? Should…

Phonics Plateau: Why Some Students Stop Progressing

Phonics Plateau: Why Some Students Stop Progressing

Your child was making steady progress. Each week brought new letter sounds, longer words, and growing confidence. Then suddenly, nothing. The forward momentum stopped. Your once-enthusiastic reader now struggles with…