Many parents believe that learning to read means learning to recognise words by looking at them. A child sees "cat" enough times, and they remember it. This works well at first. But it has a limit.
English contains hundreds of thousands of words. No child can memorise all of them. At some point, a reader needs a way to work out words they have never seen before. That is exactly what phonics teaches them to do.
What phonics actually teaches
Phonics is the study of how letters and groups of letters connect to spoken sounds. When a child learns phonics, they learn that s makes a /s/ sound, that sh makes a /sh/ sound, and that patterns like igh say /eye/. They are not memorising a word — they are learning a system.
Once a child understands that system, they can use it on any word they meet. They can look at "sprint" or "clench" and work through it, sound by sound. That ability to decode is the foundation of independent reading.
This matters especially for children learning English as a second language. They may not have years of English listening to draw on. Phonics gives them a reliable way to approach any written word, even one they have never heard spoken before.
Why memorising alone is not enough
Children who rely only on memorising words often hit a wall around age seven or eight, when books become longer and vocabulary becomes wider. They slow down, lose confidence, or start to avoid reading. Children with strong phonics skills move through this stage more easily. They have a strategy to fall back on whenever a word is unfamiliar.
Phonics also supports spelling. When children understand how sounds map to letters, they can make reasonable attempts at writing new words — not just ones they have already practised.
What this looks like in practice
Good phonics instruction moves in clear stages. Children start with simple, single sounds and short words. Gradually, they learn more complex patterns — blends, digraphs, long vowel sounds. Each new pattern is practised in both reading and writing before the next one is introduced.
Progress is usually visible within a few months. Parents often notice their child has stopped guessing at unfamiliar words and started sounding them out instead. That shift — from guessing to decoding — is a sign that the skill is taking hold.
Parents can support this at home without needing to be teachers. Reading together regularly, pointing to words as you say them, and letting children attempt to sound out new words before you supply the answer — these small habits reinforce what is being taught at school.
If you would like to know more about how reading is taught at SSELC, visit our programs page.