For Teachers

Empower early readers to become students for life.

As an educator, you play a crucial role in children’s literacy development! Effective phonics instruction lays the foundation kids need to become curious, lifelong learners in the classroom and the world beyond.

Whether you’re considering which phonics instruction methods work best or looking for ways to introduce difficult concepts to students, phonics.org is here to support you.  

Phonics Resources for Teachers

Making Phonics Stick: Help Kids Learn Essential Literacy Skills 

Sometimes, it seems like no matter how much you practice with your child or...

Why Explicit Phonics Instruction is So Important

Explicit phonics instruction is vital to literacy development, especially when it’s time for kids...

phonics rules

10 Tricky Phonics Rules to Understand 

The more advanced children become at reading, the more complex certain phonics rules become....

teaching letter sounds effectively to kids

A Guide to Teaching Letter Sounds Effectively

Knowing the connection between letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes) is one of the first...

learn to reach decoding in reading for kids

Methods of Effective Decoding in Reading

When children are learning to read, they must be taught how to “sound out”...

what is phonics?

What is Phonics? An Introduction for Parents and Educators

Anyone who can read and write in an alphabetical language has mastered an important...

kids learning phonemic awareness activities

Classroom Phonemic Awareness Activities for Kids

Before learning to read, children must understand their spoken language. The first step in...

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

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’, and declares, “That’s my letter!” Your heart swells with pride, but then doubt creeps in. Should…

Phonological Awareness vs. Phonics

Phonological Awareness vs. Phonics

Did you know that before children can successfully crack the reading code, they must first develop the ability to hear and manipulate the invisible sounds that make up spoken words?…

Phonics and Executive Function

Phonics and Executive Function

Here’s something that might surprise you: when your child sits down to sound out the word “cat,” their brain is performing an intricate dance that involves far more than just…

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

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

When it comes to teaching children how to read, not all approaches are created equal. Behind classroom doors across America, a quiet battle is taking place between two fundamentally different…

Common Phonics Teaching Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Common Phonics Teaching Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Sarah thought she was doing everything right. She bought colorful phonics workbooks, downloaded popular reading apps, and spent hours each evening helping her six-year-old son with letter sounds. Yet after…

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

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 read, the U.S. Department of Education has announced that evidence-based literacy instruction will be a top…

Teaching Phonics to Children with Hearing Impairments

Teaching Phonics to Children with Hearing Impairments

When five-year-old Maya first entered kindergarten with her hearing aids, her teacher wondered how to help her learn phonics alongside her hearing peers. Like many educators and parents, she assumed…

Decodable Texts vs. Leveled Readers: Making the Right Choice for Your Child

Decodable Texts vs. Leveled Readers: Making the Right Choice for Your Child

Did you know that the books your child reads during their early learning years can make or break their reading success? Many parents assume all “beginning reader” books serve the…

What Are Graphic Novels? Connecting Visual Storytelling to Phonics Instruction

What Are Graphic Novels? Connecting Visual Storytelling to Phonics Instruction

Picture this: Your reluctant reader who struggles with phonics suddenly can’t put down a book. They’re engrossed, sounding out words, making predictions, and actually enjoying reading. What magical transformation has…

What Are Consonants?

What Are Consonants?

Have you ever watched your child sound out a simple word like “cat” or “jump”? Behind those moments of learning lies a fascinating linguistic structure that forms the backbone of…