This approach works

You’re here because you are a caring parent. Your child’s success is top of mind. You’re also here because reading English is tricky. Reading can feel like a daunting journey, especially in English. Endless rules, multiple sounds for the same letter, and confusing exceptions can make it overwhelming for kids—and for you as a parent, too. But you’re here because you care deeply about your child’s success. This is how I felt.

You want to help them build a skill that will open doors for them their whole life. Here’s the good news: Reading is a skill that can be learned in steps. By breaking it down into small, manageable parts, we can make the process fun and engaging for your child. All it takes is five essential skills and a few minutes of practice each day. Soon, you’ll see them light up as they start to recognize sounds, form words, and read on their own.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to teach each of these five skills using three interactive games. Each game builds on the last, making reading feel like a natural, enjoyable experience. You don’t need any special training—just a willingness to explore this new skill together.

Ready to get started?

TL;DR

Your goal is to help your child master these five essential reading skills:

Recognize Symbols as Letters: A symbol is a letter, and each letter makes a sound. Start by helping your child connect the letters they see to sounds they hear.
Understand Each Symbol’s Unique Sound: Each letter represents a distinct sound. Teach your child to differentiate these sounds to build a foundation for blending letters into words.
Learn Upper and Lowercase Letters: Each letter can be written in two ways: uppercase and lowercase. Practicing both versions helps them recognize letters in any form.
Combine Symbols to Form Words: One or more letters come together to form words. Begin with simple, familiar combinations, so your child understands that letters join to create meaning.
Blend Sounds to Read a Word: Teach your child to combine the sounds of letters smoothly, forming words. This step is key for them to read out loud confidently.

Skills 1 to 3 are covered in Game 1 and 4 and 5 in Game 2.

Master these steps, and your child will soon be reading words and enjoying it! From there, introduce them to more complex letter combinations (like ee and eigh) and silent letters to expand their vocabulary. This is all in Game 3.

Start now by learning the sounds a letter makes.

Key Tips

Common pitfall: Many parents start with the ABCs, but this can make reading harder. Skip spelling for now—focus on sounds. Try reading “cat” using the ABCs, and you’ll see why phonics come first.

It takes two, and you’re it. Learn how to be an effective teacher from this article that distills kindergarten teaching tactics into a recipe.

Play-by-play

Game 1: Learn Letter Sounds

Your child learns the fundamentals - how the symbols differ, how a symbol makes a sound, uppercase and lowercase.

Oversimplify: one letter = one sound.
K-I-S-S: start with three. Start with S, A, T.
Start with UPPER and lowercase letters.
Toggle the difficulty to lowercase only.
Click the letter - kids love seeing the picture of the animal.

What makes lowercase tricky?

Your kid needs to learn that orientation matters. The letters p, q, b and d are the same symbol, flipped.

Learn the sounds a letter makes

Game 2: Blend Letters to Make Words

First words. Three letter words in CVC format; consonant-vowel-consonant. The recipe:

Say the sound made by each letter.
Blend the 3.
Blend faster.
Blend faster - until they hear the word. Their eyes light up.
Tap/click the ? to show the image as a reward.

I find the image makes for a nice reward. My kids want to see the image, even the 100th time they read the word.

Why CVC? Does it matter? Trust the process.

Yay, they’re reading words. Mission accomplished. It would be if we were learning Spanish, but this is English which is why we have Game 3.

Learn to blend the sounds

Game 3: Grow Vocabulary

The goal is expanding vocabulary through increasingly complex word patterns. These are introduced gradually over 4 difficulty levels. Each level adds a bit more of that English language flavour: letter combinations, silent letters, and a combination of Latin, French, German, Ole English, Norse to make your head spin.

Let’s lay this out by difficulty level.

Difficulty 1:

The words get longer but we stick to the sounds a letter makes.
Throw in the Sneaky-E every now and then to gradually introduce it.

Sneaky E: It’s the letter e found at the end of a word. Aptly named as it does two things. It’s silent and it makes the earlier vowel say its name, not its sound. For example the word “made”. What’s a letter’s name? Now bring in the ABCs.

Difficulty 2:

The words contain letter combinations.
Learn when 2 or more symbols combine to make a sound.

Focus on related words. Click on a few letters to pin them, then click the next button to see similar words. For example, pin “at” to see cat, bat, mat, that.

Difficulty 3:

I called these sight words as a catch all.
There’s not many.
Difficutly 4: all difficulties at once.

Expand their vocabulary

To summarize: three games to go from symbols to sounds to words, even tricky ones.

Celebrate Progress Together

Learning to read can be challenging, so it’s important to make each small victory feel meaningful. Here are a few ways to keep your child’s motivation high:

• Praise Small Wins: Acknowledge even tiny steps—whether it’s recognizing a letter or sounding out a word. Positive comments like “You worked so hard on that!” build their confidence. Give a high-five. • Set Up Rewards: Use a reward system, like stickers or extra playtime, for reaching milestones. Celebrate when they recognize three letters, read their first word, or master blending sounds. • Make Reading Special: Turn reading into a bonding time. Use a cozy reading spot, add fun voices for characters, or let your child choose the book. Making it enjoyable shows them reading is a treat, not a chore. • Celebrate “Reading Milestones”: Take note of when they sound out their first word or recognize all letters in their name. Mark these moments as achievements, like a “First Word Cake” or “Letter Superstar.”

By reinforcing their progress in positive ways, you’ll encourage them to stick with it. The goal is to make reading a happy, rewarding experience!

Next step

Start with the sounds today.

Troubleshooting Common Challenges

Reading isn’t easy, and it’s normal to encounter some bumps along the way. Here are tips for handling a few common issues:

My child has trouble distinguishing letter sounds. What should I do? Focus on contrasting letters with very different sounds, like “m” and “s.” Start slowly, and use visuals or a song to reinforce the sound-letter connection. Games that involve matching sounds to pictures can help them remember.
What if my child confuses similar letters (like b, d, p, q)? These letters can be tricky since they look alike! Use visual cues or mnemonics (like “b has a belly” or “d wears a diaper”). Practicing with tactile activities, like tracing letters in sand, can also help solidify their understanding.
How can I motivate my child to keep practicing? Create a consistent, short reading time each day, and keep it playful. Offer praise, use small rewards, or play quick, interactive games with sounds or letters. If they seem frustrated, take a break and try again later to keep things positive.
Any recommendations on frequent sight words? Find an age appropriate childrens book. Try to find one that repeats these words on a single page. Have them read out each one, point out how it’s the same letters, same word. Once they get rolling, progress to rapid fire. Pick a new word each day. The next day, review pages with the words they learned so far.
How about blending longer words? Teach them how vowels are their helpers. A, E, I, O, U. To help them recognize these use the focus mode in game 1.