Simple words like "the" and "of" are everywhere, but don't follow regular phonics patterns. How should teachers approach them?

Today, children are taught to read using phonics, which is all about the sounds that make up words. Children start by learning the letters and the sounds they make, and how to put them together to ...

We are continuing our long vowel and short vowel sound series, and today is all about long e words! Download and print our long “e” word worksheets to help children distinguish between long e ...

Learn about the tricky words in Phase 3 Phonics with this fun song. © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach ...

Phonemes are the building blocks of language. Represented by letters of the alphabet, they are the component sounds of spoken words. Most people automatically hear, for example, that the word ...

Teaching children how to identify and combine parts of words is an important component of a comprehensive approach to reading ...

If a word is unfamiliar it can be skipped, guessed at, or picked up from context. Phonics theory takes exactly the opposite position: the proper analogy for learning to read is learning music ...