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Phonics | the bridge between sounds and print

By: Keara Holmes | Revised 2/10/2026

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🛑 STOP. If you missed my previous post on the first component of reading—Phonological Awareness—I highly recommend you pause right here, go back, and read that post first. Seriously! Without a solid foundation in phonological awareness, students are going to struggle with phonics. It’s like trying to build a roof before you’ve poured the foundation.

Okay, are you caught up? Great. Let's dive in!

In this blog post, I am going to break down what "phonics" means, common mistakes made when teaching phonics, and what to look for when searching for a phonics curriculum.

So, What Exactly is Phonics?

In simplest terms, phonics is the understanding that letters represent sounds, and when you put those letters together, they form words. It is the connection between the sounds we hear (phonemes) and the written symbols we see (graphemes).

Think of it this way: Phonics is to written language what phonological awareness is to oral language.

If a child doesn't understand how to manipulate sounds with their eyes closed (oral language), asking them to attach those sounds to abstract squiggles on a page (letters) is going to be a nightmare. This is why we never skip step one.

THE GOLDEN STANDARD | SYSTEMATIC SYNTHETIC PHONICS

So what should you be looking for in a good phonics curriculum? There are so many options to choose from, and it's so hard for me to sit back and watch parents go for the wrong ones. Well, maybe not wrong, but key elements sure are missing to make it a comprehensive phonics curriculum. The cutesy, glittery, and tactile content may be tempting to purchase, but as an expert in this area, I want you to look for one specific phrase: Systematic Synthetic Phonics.

This is the method supported by the Science of Reading.

"Systematic" means we follow a specific, logical scope and sequence—starting with the simplest concepts and moving to the complex.
"Synthetic" means we teach children to convert letters into sounds (phonemes) and then synthesize or blend those sounds together to form recognizable words.

The goal is to explicitly teach the code of English so that students are not guessing at words based on pictures, but are orthographically mapping the sounds to the print.

THE "TUH" TRAP | WHY PRONUNCIATION MATTERS

However, before we dive more into the complex stuff, we have to fix a common mistake. Phonics instruction can be tricky. It wasn't until I took my first "Teaching Reading" class in college that I learned how to teach Synthetic Phonics. Before that class, I just thought back to how I first learned the sounds that letters made. I remember learning the alphabet song, but I didn't remember learning specific sounds, or the order the sounds were introduced.

While taking that class, I was shocked—and I mean shocked—by how some letter sounds are actually pronounced versus how we think they are pronounced. I had to laugh at myself and even briefly questioned my career choice once I realized I had been doing it wrong😆! (Thanks again for the tough love, Dr. Darch!).

Try this: Go through the alphabet right now and say the sound each letter makes.

Did you say /buh/ for B? Did you say /tuh/ for T?

If so, you fell into the "schwa" trap! (More on that next). It's important to know how to say the letter sounds before diving into any curriculum, even if it's one you put together. Students must learn how to say the sounds the correct way, or blending will be a struggle for them later.

And so this brings me to the two most common errors I see students (and well-meaning parents) make. 👇🏽

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COMMON PHONICS ERROR #1 | THE "SCHWA" PROBLEM

The most challenging part of phonics is helping students pronounce Stop Sounds correctly.

A Stop Sound is a sound that cannot be held or extended (like /t/, /p/, /b/). The sound /t/ is a quick burst of air. It is NOT pronounced /tuh/. When you add that "uh" sound at the end, it's called a schwa.
A Continuous Sound is a sound you can hold until you run out of breath (like /m/ or /s/). You can say /mmmmm/ forever!

The Fix: When you teach letters like T, B, or P, clip the sound. Don't add the "uh" at the end. If a child reads "cat" as /cuh/ - /a/ - /tuh/, they will blend it together and say "cuhatuh." That doesn't sound like a cat; it sounds like a sneeze🤔.

COMMON PHONICS ERROR #2 | NOT BLENDING SMOOTHLY

The second error is stopping between sounds. This makes decoding choppy and hurts reading fluency.

The Fix: Be like Dory. Do you know how Dory sounds when she is speaking "whale" in the movie Finding Nemo? She stretches the sounds out and connects them smoothly.

Don't say: /m/ ... /a/ ... /t/ (choppy)
Do say: /mmmaaaat/ (smooth)

When students practice "singing" or stretching the sounds, they can hear the word form. Modeling this is key!

Knowing these common mistakes is half the battle. When you are intentional about teaching pure sounds and smooth blending, you ensure that you are teaching with fidelity. This prepares you for the next step: choosing a curriculum that follows the right path. Speaking of paths, let's look at the roadmap—or Scope and Sequence—you need to follow.

THE ROADMAP | SCOPE & SEQUENCE

When evaluating a phonics curriculum, the most critical element to look for is a cumulative Scope and Sequence. A high-quality curriculum will not ask a student to read a word containing a sound pattern they have not yet been explicitly taught.

Consonants and Short Vowels: Introduction of high-utility letters (e.g., s, a, t, p, i, n).

CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant): Words with short vowels (e.g., cat, pig, hot).

Digraphs: Two letters making one sound (e.g., sh, th, ch, ck).

Blends: Two consonants where both sounds are heard (e.g., fl, st, tr).

CVCe (Silent E): The split digraph where 'e' makes the vowel long (e.g., made, like).

R-Controlled Vowels: (e.g., ar, or, er, ir, ur).

Vowel Teams (CVVC): (e.g., ai, ay, ee, oa).

Diphthongs & Variant Vowels: (e.g., oi, oy, ow).

The ultimate goal is to get students reading connected text as soon as possible. You don't need to wait until they master every single sound on the scope and sequence to introduce books! In fact, students can start reading simple decodable texts after mastering just a few consonant and vowel sounds. Once they can blend CVC words, they are ready to read. Just remember the golden rule of explicit instruction: Never ask a student to read a sound pattern you haven't taught them yet. Stick to decodable books that match their current skills and avoid 'leveled readers' for now—that is a whole other battle for another blog post!

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FROM SIMPLE WORDS TO BIG WORDS| CRACKING THE CODE

Okay, so your student has mastered the sounds and is blending "rat (CVC)," or "like (CVCe)" perfectly. However, what happens when they encounter a word like "fantastic" or "picnic"?

They hit a wall.

This is where the Six Syllable Types come in. Knowing these types helps students break words down for decoding and spelling. I use color-coded letter tiles at Holmes Tutoring to demonstrate this, and it works very well as a visual aid.

Here is a breakdown of the six types (definitions adapted from the amazing All About Learning Press:

Closed Syllable: Ends with a consonant and has a short vowel sound (e.g., mat, pic-nic).
Open Syllable: Ends with a vowel and the vowel makes a long sound (e.g., no, she, a-pron).
Vowel-Consonant-e (VCe): The silent 'e' at the end makes the first vowel say its name (e.g., make, bike).
Vowel Teams: Two vowels working together to make one sound.
- Teacher Tip: You might have heard "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." While catchy, this actually only works about 40% of the time! But for beginners, it’s a starting point for words like rain or boat. This category also includes diphthongs (gliding vowels like in cloud or boy).
Consonant+l-e: Found at the end of words like candle, puzzle, and bubble.
R-Controlled: The vowel is followed by an "r," which changes the sound. The "r" is bossy! (e.g., car, bird, fern).

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES FOR PARENTS & TEACHERS

Like any complex task, reading should be taught from simple to complex. A good reading program introduces actual reading (using decodable books) as soon as students master a few letter sounds. You don't have to wait until they know every sound combination!

Here are the tools I trust and use:

1. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons I cannot recommend this book enough. The late Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann, the father of Direct Instruction, co-authored this specifically for parents. It’s affordable, scripted, and effective. I’ve personally used it, and it takes the guessing game out of teaching phonics. This book combined with a good phonological awareness program and decodable books, makes for a solid reading program.

👉🏽 Grab the book here

2. Funnix Reading Program If you prefer a digital approach that still uses the Direct Instruction method, Funnix is a fantastic option. It follows a similar logic to 100 Easy Lessons but is computer-based. Again, I would add decodable books to go along with this program for extra reading practice.

👉🏽 Purchase it here

3. Holmes Tutoring Courses I’ve put together an e-course to help you navigate Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (because let's be honest, the manual can be intimidating!)

👉🏽Purchase it here

4. All About Reading & Spelling offers a comprehensive, multisensory curriculum that is strictly evidence-based in its teaching of reading and spelling. It is one of my top picks for turning struggling readers into confident ones through their step-by-step mastery program.

👉🏽Purchase it here

This guide is just the beginning. As you search for (or create) a phonics curriculum, remember that your delivery is the magic ingredient. Stick to pure sounds, model smooth blending, and follow a proven scope and sequence to ensure your student builds a rock-solid reading foundation.

FREEBIE

You can also grab my FREE Google Slides Grapheme Phoneme Cards to give your child extra practice with letter identification, which is a phonics skill.

👉🏽Grab your copy here

ILLUSTRATED VERSION

Want an illustrated version of the flashcards. Grab a copy below. These flashcards come with 26 unique grapheme cards with beautifully illustrated pictures to help with phoneme sounds. No ambiguous pictures, aligned perfectly with the Science of Ready. Grab your digital download today!

A-Z Flashcards

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