Learn to read, sound by sound
Crayonbird Phonics
Children learn the sounds of English and the letters that write them in a clear order, blend sounds to read and split words to spell, with a decodable book for every step.
- Stages
- 6
- Weekly steps
- 40
- Sounds and spellings
- 111
- Decodable books
- 32
In plain words
What is systematic synthetic phonics?
Systematic: the sounds are taught one small step at a time, in a fixed order, and every step builds on the last.
Synthetic: children read a new word by saying each sound and blending (synthesising) the sounds into the word: c-a-t, cat.
Phonics: the link between the sounds we say and the letters (graphemes) that write them, like s for /s/ and sh for /sh/.
Children never need to guess: every word in a lesson or book uses only the sounds and the few tricky words taught so far.
Crayonbird Phonics is a systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programme: children learn the sounds of spoken English and the letters that write them, one step at a time, in a fixed order. From the first week they blend sounds all through a word, left to right, to read it, and split spoken words into sounds to spell them. Every step has a short daily lesson (revisit, teach, practise, apply), real words and "alien" words to decode, sentences for dictation, a few tricky words with the tricky part marked, and a decodable mini-book that uses only what has been taught. Children are never asked to guess words from pictures. Quick checks show who needs a daily keep-up session.
Ages 3–720–30 min
The stages
Each stage is a set of weekly steps. Each step has daily lessons, a book and quick practice games.
Listening and sound play
Listening to everyday sounds, beat and rhythm, rhyme, words that start with the same sound, then blending and segmenting spoken words — all oral, before letters.
Children tune in to sounds, enjoy rhyme and rhythm, hear first sounds, and can blend and segment simple spoken words.
First sounds
Single letters and the first double letters (ck ss ff ll, qu) — 32 GPCs at four a week. Children read and spell short words like "sat", "dog" and "duck" and their first decodable books.
Children know one sound for each letter and the first double letters, and read and spell short words (CVC words like "sat", "dog", "duck").
Alternative spellings and pronunciations
More ways to write the same sound (ay a_e ea ie i_e ou oy ir ue ew aw au wh ph ey …) and graphemes with more than one sound (ow, ea, ie, c, g, y …).
Children learn other ways to spell sounds they know, and graphemes with more than one sound — and how to choose.
Every day
How a lesson works
About 20–30 minutes. Short, brisk and the same shape every day, so children know what comes next.
Step 1: Revisit and review
4–6 min- Flash the grapheme cards taught so far — the child says the sound for each, quickly. Mix old and new.
- Blend three or four words from earlier steps, and re-read one or two tricky words.
Step 2: Teach
5–8 min- Introduce the new GPC: show the grapheme, say the pure sound, show the keyword picture, and the child copies.
- Use the adult tip for the mouth shape. Write the grapheme in the air, on the table, then on paper (see the formation cue).
Step 3: Practise
5–8 min- Reading: the child blends the step's words — and a few alien (pseudo) words, so they decode rather than remember.
- Spelling: say a word, the child repeats it, says the sounds (counting on fingers), then writes a grapheme for each sound.
Step 4: Apply
5–8 min- Read one or two of the step's sentences together, then the decodable book (from Stage 2 week 3).
- Dictation: say one sentence from the dictation list; the child writes it, then checks it with you, sound by sound.
Free resources