Your Child Knows Their Letter Sounds. What Should You Teach Next?
Your child knows the alphabet. They can tell you that m says /m/ and s says /s/. Maybe they even know most of their letter sounds pretty well. So what comes next?
Once children have a foundation of letter sounds, the next step is helping them put those sounds together to read simple words. This is called decoding, and it is one of the most important skills a beginning reader develops.
The good news is that you don't need to jump into complicated reading lessons. You can start very simply.
Start with blending sounds together
A child may know that m says /m/, a says /ă/, and t says /t/ without yet knowing how to read the word mat.
That's because knowing individual sounds and blending those sounds into a word are two different skills.
You can practice by saying the sounds slowly:
/m/ /ă/ /t/
Then encourage your child to put them together:
mat
At first, it may help to stretch the word out a little:
mmmm-ă-t
Then gradually make it smoother until the sounds come together naturally.
The goal isn't to have your child memorize the word mat. You want them to learn that they can look at the letters, say the sounds, blend them together, and figure out the word.
That skill can then be used with hundreds of other words.
Begin with very simple words
When children are first learning to decode, simpler really is better.
Words such as:
-
mat
-
sat
-
Sam
-
map
-
tap
-
sit
-
lip
-
pin
give children an opportunity to practice the process without having to remember a lot of exceptions.
This is one reason CVC words are so useful for beginning readers.
CVC stands for consonant-vowel-consonant, as in:
cat
sun
pig
hot
Once a child knows the sounds represented by the letters, these words can be sounded out and blended.
Don't rush into harder books
This is one of the places where beginning readers can get frustrated. A child might know quite a few letter sounds, so it seems reasonable to hand them a beginner book and ask them to read it.
But knowing letter sounds doesn't automatically mean a child is ready for every "beginning reader" book.
Some books labeled for beginning readers still contain lots of words that a child cannot yet decode. The child may end up relying on the pictures, guessing from the first letter, or simply waiting for an adult to tell them the word.
Instead, look for books that match the phonics skills your child has actually learned. These are often called decodable books.
A decodable book gives beginning readers an opportunity to use the letter-sound relationships they have been practicing.
That matters because reading practice should give children a chance to read, not just look at a picture and guess what the sentence might say.
Let them sound out the words
When your child gets stuck on a word, it can be tempting to immediately tell them what it says.
Sometimes the simplest thing is to give them a little time.
You might say:
"Look at the first sound."
Or:
"Let's sound it out together."
Then help them work through the sounds.
For example:
s - a - t
sat
The goal is not to make every reading session a test. You are teaching your child what to do when they don't know a word.
Keep practicing words they already know
Beginning readers need repetition. A child may read sat perfectly one day and hesitate over it the next. That's normal. Keep bringing familiar words back instead of constantly introducing something new. You can make very simple games out of this.
Write a few words on scraps of paper:
mat
sat
map
tap
Have your child read them.
Then change one letter:
mat → sat
sat → sit
sit → sip
This helps children notice that changing one letter changes the word.
It also gives them practice paying attention to every letter instead of guessing from the first one.
Once they can decode words, put those words into books
Reading isolated words is useful practice, but children also need to see those skills working in actual sentences and stories. This is where simple decodable books can be especially helpful.
A child who has been practicing short a words might be ready to read a story containing words like:
ram
has
jam
sat
Sam
Suddenly those little words have a purpose, they're part of a story. And when a child realizes, I can actually read this, their confidence starts to grow.
That doesn't mean every reading session will be easy. Beginning reading takes a lot of practice. Some days a child will breeze through a book, and other days the same book may feel harder. The goal is steady progress, not perfection.
Read aloud even when your child can read
One thing I wouldn't change about teaching beginning reading is making sure children still hear lots of books read aloud.
Learning to decode is only one part of becoming a strong reader.
Children are also building vocabulary, background knowledge, comprehension, listening skills, and a love of stories.
So you can have a child read a short, simple decodable book to you and then read a much more advanced story aloud to them.
Those two things serve different purposes, and both are valuable.
Your child doesn't have to be able to decode a book independently for it to be worth reading together.
A simple routine for beginning reading
If you're wondering what this can actually look like at home, it doesn't have to take long.
Try a routine like this:
1. Review a few letter sounds.
Keep practicing sounds your child already knows.
2. Practice blending.
Read a few simple words together.
3. Build or change a word.
Try changing one letter at a time.
4. Read a short decodable book.
Choose a book that matches the skills your child has practiced.
5. Read something aloud to them.
End with a story they can simply enjoy.
You can do all of that in about 10 minutes.
Some days you'll do less. Some days you'll read longer because your child is enjoying it.
Consistency matters much more than making every lesson elaborate.
What if my child is still guessing?
If your child looks at a word and immediately guesses based on the picture, don't panic.
Simply bring their attention back to the letters.
You can say:
"Let's look at the word."
Then help them identify the sounds and blend them together.
If they're struggling with nearly every word, the book may simply be too difficult right now.
That's useful information.
Go back to something easier and give them more practice with the skills they already know.
A beginning reader doesn't need to be pushed into harder books just because they're eager to move ahead.
Sometimes the fastest way forward is spending a little more time becoming confident with the basics.
The next step isn't more complicated. It's more practice.
Once your child knows their letter sounds, the next stage of learning to read is not about immediately memorizing hundreds of words.
It's about learning how those sounds work together.
See the letters.
Say the sounds.
Blend the sounds.
Read the word.
Then do it again, and again.
Looking for simple books for a beginning reader?
Ram Has Jam Books creates phonics-based decodable readers for beginning readers, with books that progress from early letter sounds and CVC words into more advanced phonics patterns.
The goal is simple: give children books they can actually read while they're learning how reading works.