Is your child stressed out over the idea of reading? Are you worried about how to support them when you’re not exactly sure how phonics is being taught in the first place? Don’t worry! We identify the key problems and pick them apart in this article.

Let’s dive into 5 common phonics challenges children encounter and strategies to overcome those common phonics mistakes.

Letters that look the same

Certain groups of letters look similar, such as “b”, “d”, “p”, “g” and “q”. Teach these letters separately, then help your child invent their own way of remembering. We’ve seen P5 students still struggling with this problem, so start building a good phonics foundation young.

Problematic words

Make your child identify words that they find challenging before they read. Doing this ensures they are ready for the tricky words and will improve fluency.

Confusing concepts

Phonics theory contains several technical definitions to describe words. You may have encountered some of them before – homophones, homonyms, and homographs. Tap into our online grammar videos, where we break down these difficult concepts in parts.

Blends that look similar but sound different

“ch”/ “sh”/ “th” is an example of a blend that may appear confusing. It’s important to teach these blends separately and remind your child of the ones they already know every time they learn a new one. Don’t forget to keep practising!

Guessing word sounds

Encourage your child to think of the context of what they’re reading. The best way to avoid guesswork is to split up the word into individual letter sounds and repeat them before re-blending them together.

Not only does our phonics curriculum teach practical know-how to reinforce your child’s foundation, but it also develops future-ready communication skills that go beyond the classroom. Explore our programmes here.

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