Phonics Blog

Welcome to the phonics-blog!

Teaching alphabet letters?

Fun activities for teaching alphabet letters

Water Balloon Alphabet Fun

Outdoor activity: Fill a laundry basket with water balloons. Write one letter on each balloon, repeating letters often. I do a group of 8 children

Alliteration for Early Readers

Using alliteration to learn Phonics and the Alphabet.

Close watch of the mouth and face

The best way for a child to understand phonics is asking the child to come close to your face and watch your mouth move when making sounds. This will

A to Z Tongue Twisters

An agile, angry ape addled up the avenue. Beware, the bee buzzed boistrously, Beware the bitter brew. Crying came the crone creeping from the cold

"A" alliteration

Alligators attacked and ate all animals.

Beginning Letters Alphabet Game

Place 4 letters around the room on adjacent walls. eg) a, b,c and d Tell the children to stand in the middle of the room and run to the letter which

Fridge Phonics Reviews

I love Fridge Phonics - but it lacks one thing!

Free phonics printable worksheets

Updated! free phonics printable worksheets for teachers and homeschool

word blends

Using word blends to teach phonics. Free printables

Free Alphabet Printables

Print this adorable printable alphabet frieze for the classroom or home. Lots of free alphabet printables at A to Z phonics

Phonics Sitemap! We didn't get #1 Google page rank for nothing!

Find your way around our phonics site by clicking on the sitemap

Are you teaching phonics?

Phonics facts and articles to help you in your quest in teaching phonics

Educational Magazines

How to get Educational Magazines full of educational aids and resources delivered direct to your door

ClickN read Phonics Review

compare ClickN Read with other phonic reading programs

Help! Which Phonic Reading Program?

What makes a good phonic reading program?

Hooked on Phonics Reviews

Read what others have to say about Hooked on Phonics - the good, bad and ugly!

Blends, Consonant ClustersBlends, Consonant & Digraph Clusters

Free blends flashcards. What is the difference between a consonant & digraph cluster?

44 phonic sounds of the English Language

Consonant & Vowels make up our phonic sounds. Listen to them here..

Free Lesson Plans

More Free Phonics lesson plans for teaching letter sounds.

Printable Reading Games and More!

Here are your Reading Games just for visiting A to Z Phonics!

The Alphabet

Everything you will ever need to teach the alphabet..

What are the high frequency words?

Does your child need to learn the high frequency words?

Monster or Mouse?

When my grandson Bradley was learning the alaphabet we sang the song as either the Monster or the Mouse, in a deep monster voice or in a high-pitched

Online Phonics Magazine

Step by step phonics for early reading success

Reading Lesson Plans

Follow how one mother uses the reading lesson plans to teach her two sons how to read..step by step..

Phonics International Review - An honest review - try before you buy!

I purchased Phonics International - was it worth it?

What phonics programme do I use?

I have been looking for a phonics reading programme that does not heavily rely on sightwords. I have purchased many for review purposes - but they never live up to my expectations and fall short of what I look for to teach my students to read...until now..

Dancing Donkeys Alliteration

Daring Donkeys danced during Darla's diet Dr. Pepper drinking dog

Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read

It is the perfect fit for us! I began homeschooling my son in Kindergarten last November. In only 8 months- 20 minutes a day, 5x a week- he is now

Phonics Printables

Phonics Printables - all you need to teach phonics for early reading success

Is it time to buy a reading lamp?

You know it's time to buy a reading lamp when...

Reading Software

Guidelines to help you choose reading software to teach phonics. I have found the only programme that does NOT use sightwords. The first unit is FREE

Frontline Phonics

A to Z Phonics Reading Programs. All about Frontline Phonics

Learn to Read

Follow our 6 Steps to help your child learn to read.

Phonics Rules

Do you need to teach phonics rules?

Phonics Resource

Click here to find the best phonics resource...and the best thing is..you already own it!

Teaching Phonics - what to teach and when

Teaching Phonics - what to teach and when to teach it!

Phonics Definition & Glossary

Search for a phonics definition including related terms in our linked referenced phonics glossary

Teaching the Alphabet

What you need to know before you start teaching the alphabet

New Look and Feel

I am re-designing the phonics site, so you may find that some pages are not the same - a long process, but one for the better - thank you for your patience xxx

New! PowerPoint Phonics Games!

I have just added a phonemic awareness game for little ones to learn the art of rhyming! This is my first attempt at making a powerpoint - I am so excited - many more to come! It is only a short game so go find your little one and try the rhyme game. Let me know what you think!

The link to the game is right at the bottom of the page - link to it here:

Phonics Lessons

which letters should you teach first in your phonics lessons?

Learning the alphabet

Helping you decide which toys will aid in learning the alphabet letters - What to look for.

Printable Alphabet

I have just added a printable alphabet to my alphabet printables page!

I have made a colour & a black/white version to save on the ink. They are large A4 size.

Check them out...

Jolly Phonics Lesson Plan 2 is here!

I have had so many people asking me when Lesson Plan number 2 will be arriving, that I thought I would let you all know via the Blog! So...

It is here! Over 30+ pages, covering the letter sounds: c, k, ck, e, h, r, m, d.

I follow the Jolly Phonics order of letters being taught at any one time.

Check it outhere!

Thanks for all the comments I am receiving - you are obviously enjoying them!

Enjoy - Blessings, Jane

printable worksheets just added...

I have just added a few more worksheets for the beginning consonants: /g/ /h/ /j/ /k/ /l/ and /m/.

Let me know if you find them useful!

Print them here!

phonics worksheet for /ch/ and /sh/ initial sounds

I have been introducing Caleb to digraphs today - the /ch/ and /sh/ sounds.

Here is a printable you can use to help teach them.

Print it here!

We discussed how the /sh/ sound can come at the beginning of a word such as: ship, shell, and also at the end of a word: gush, rush,

He was very please with himself! Anyway, let me know how you get on with this printable. It is very simple - but then they are usually the best ones!

Have a great day - Jane xx

Teach your children well

Today I found a useful website created by Manda from Teach Your Children Well.

"You homeschool, we help. A non-profit homeschool site with unit studies, lesson plans, printables, and forums."

Visit the Teach your children well site today

Is your reading programme synthetic phonics based?

How does synthetic phonics deal with tricky words that cannot be decoded?