How to teach phonics – Giggly's 5 top tips!

Phonics got your head in a spin? No fear! We've pulled together some tips and guidance to help you and your little one at home – whether you want to support what they're already learning at school, or you'd like to get ahead for next year.

As your child is learning to read, they'll discover that every letter makes a sound (sometimes more than one sound, just to make things interesting). As they get to grips with all these different letter sounds, they'll be able to start building words and sentences.

Watch this video or scroll down for five top tips for learning phonics at home, from Giggly's group editor and education advisor Steph Cooper.

How to teach phonics

1 Go at your child's pace

Even if it feels like they're falling behind, or they aren't keeping up with all the sounds and word lists they're getting from school, keep going. They will get there!

2 Sing songs and nursery rhymes

This will allow your child to hear all the sounds they're meeting in lots of different contexts, plus they'll be having fun.

3 Play with dough and building blocks

Use these to get your child's fingers and hands moving, which will help them as they move onto writing.

4 Say the sounds over and over again

When they say the sounds aloud, your child will get used to saying them and hearing them, and they'll become familiar with how it feels to say them too.

5 Turn words into sentences

Place the words into a sentence or a caption, so your child understands the context of the word and how to apply it.

Psst, we've also got lots of fun activities to help your child practice phonics within the Literacy section of our website – plus these free phonics worksheets too!