Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and 

write. It helps children hear, identify and use different 

sounds that distinguish one word from another in the 

English language.

Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing 

the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound 

when they’re combined will help children decode words 

as they read.

Understanding phonics will also help children know 

which letters to use when they are writing words.

Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English 

with individual letters or groups of letters. For example,

 the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck or ch.

Teaching children to blend the sounds of letters together 

helps them decode unfamiliar or unknown words by 

sounding them out. For example, when a child is taught

 the sounds for the letters t, p, a and s, they can start to

 build up the words: “tap”, “taps”, “pat”, “pats” and “sat”.

How to teach is phonics

Introducing young children to the joy and wonder of books 

and reading requires a systematic teaching of phonics.

 It's important to teach phonics to children in order to 

build a foundation from an early age and provide a 

framework for early years children to match the 

sound of a word with the letter.

Types of phonics

There are four main types of phonics which are used 

within teaching to support children learn how to read 

and write. The four types of phonics are:

Synthetic phonics

The most widely used approach associated with the teaching 

of reading in which phonemes (sounds) associated with 

particular graphemes (letters) are pronounced in isolation 

and blended together (synthesised). For example, children 

are taught to take a single-syllable word such as cat apart 

into its three letters, pronounce a phoneme for each letter

 in turn /k, æ, t/, and blend the phonemes together to 

form a word.

Analytical phonics

A popular approach in Scotland, this method is associated 

with the teaching of reading in which the phonemes 

associated with particular graphemes are not pronounced

 in isolation. Children identify (analyse) the common 

phoneme in a set of words in which each word contains

 the phoneme under study. For example, teacher and 

pupils discuss how the following words are alike: pat, 

park, push and pen.

Analogy phonics

A type of analytic phonics in which children analyse 

phonic elements according to the phonograms in the word. 

A phonogram, known in linguistics as a rime, is composed 

of the vowel and all the sounds that follow it, such as –ake

 in the word cake. Children use these phonograms to learn 

about “word families” for example cake, make, bake, fake.

Embedded phonics

An approach to the teaching of reading in which phonics 

forms one part of a whole language programme. 

Embedded phonics differs from other methods in that the 

instruction is always in the context of literature rather 

than in separate lessons, and the skills to be taught are

 identified opportunistically rather than systematically.