After Letter Sounds: A Parent’s Guide to the Next Phonics Steps

Your child can point to letters and say their sounds. What comes next? A useful next step is learning to put those sounds together to read words. Keep practice manageable, follow the sequence your child’s teacher uses when possible, and let what your child can do guide the pace.

This is a flexible starting point, not a deadline or a promise of results. You do not need to finish the whole alphabet before trying a few simple words made from sounds your child already knows.

1. Move from separate sounds to simple CVC words

CVC means consonant-vowel-consonant. Words such as mat, sat, and sit are useful examples, with a short vowel sound in the middle.

First, try blending aloud without letters: say the sounds /m/ /a/ /t/ and model bringing them together into mat. Then show the printed word. Point under each letter from left to right, say its sound, and blend the sounds into the word. Use letter sounds rather than letter names, and avoid adding an extra “uh” to consonant sounds.

Try just a few words. Change one letter, such as mat to sat, and ask your child to read the new word. For spelling practice, say a word, help your child hear its sounds, and build it with letter tiles.

For practice organized by short vowel, the Look Mommy, I Can Read This Word! CVC Sight Word 5-Book Series provides five volumes with 25 CVC words in each. Start with Volume 1 for short A, then continue with Volume 2 for short E, Volume 3 for short I, Volume 4 for short O, and Volume 5 for short U. The series offers practice in word recognition, sentence structure, reading fluency, spelling, and writing. Work with a few words at a time, and revisit familiar words before moving to the next vowel sound.

The Ultimate Reading Bundle includes Word Pop for CVC words and sound blending, alongside sight-word materials. Begin with the CVC activities that match the sounds your child knows; there is no need to tackle every part at once. If letter-sound review is still helpful, Phonics for Kids Ages 4–8 offers letter-focused activities for that earlier practice.

2. Add decodable reading alongside word practice

A decodable reader gives children opportunities to read words using letter-sound patterns they have already been taught. Look inside before choosing one: “decodable” does not mean every book starts with CVC words.

Choose a short text with mostly familiar patterns. Before reading, explain any unfamiliar word or spelling the text requires. During reading, encourage your child to look through the word and blend, rather than guess from a picture. Afterwards, ask a simple question about what happened. Rereading the same text is fine.

Keep reading richer stories aloud together, too. Books you read to your child do not need to be limited to the words they can decode independently.

3. Introduce consonant blends without skipping sounds

When simple short-vowel words are becoming more manageable, try words with adjacent consonants, such as stop, frog, and hand. In a blend, each consonant sound can still be heard. Help your child include every sound instead of treating “st” or “fr” as a single new sound.

A blend is different from a digraph: in ship, “sh” represents one sound. Introduce new patterns in a clear sequence, with review, rather than adding several unfamiliar patterns together.

4. Choose later readers by the patterns inside

As your child learns more spellings, match reading practice to those specific patterns. Grade and age labels are a starting point, not a placement test.

Decodable Phonics Passages Grade 2 includes passages and comprehension questions covering blends and more complex spelling patterns. It is a later resource to consider after checking that a passage matches what your child has learned, not an automatic next step after letter recognition.

The listed edition of Learn to Read with Orton Gillingham Decodable Readers focuses on vowel patterns such as “oy,” “oo,” and “ow.” Save it for practice with those patterns rather than using it as a first CVC reader. The title alone does not establish that a book is the right match for a particular learner.

5. Add grammar through conversation, then simple print

You can talk about language from the beginning: name people and things, describe actions, and speak in full sentences. Formal grammar worksheets do not need to come before blending and early word reading.

As your child reads and writes simple sentences, point out a capital letter at the beginning and a full stop at the end. Later, introduce nouns as naming words and verbs as words that can show actions. Keep grammar brief and connected to a sentence your child understands, without replacing phonics practice.

A simple practice routine

Try five to ten minutes as a starting point: review a few familiar sounds, blend a handful of words, read a short matching text, and build or write one word. Shorten the session if your child is tired or frustrated.

If blending remains difficult, return to an easier example and model it together. Ask your child’s teacher or a reading specialist for guidance if difficulties persist. The aim is a clear, supportive next step, not a race through a book or a fixed timetable.