Soft C and Soft G are spelling patterns that often confuse students at first. Many children learn the hard sounds of C  and G  early on, so it can be surprising when those same letters suddenly make different sounds in words like city  or giant . Once students understand the pattern, however, these sounds become much easier to recognise while reading. In the classroom, I’ve found that students learn these patterns best when they see them repeatedly in word work, reading practice, and short...

Digraphs are one of those phonics concepts that can look simple on paper but take time for students to truly master. When two letters combine to make one sound, early readers often try to pronounce each letter separately before they realise the letters work together. Once students understand the concept, however, digraphs become an important stepping stone for reading many common words. In this guide, I’ll share some practical ways to introduce digraphs, along with simple classroom activities...

Three-letter blends can look intimidating to young readers at first. When students see several consonants at the beginning of a word, they often try to skip sounds or guess the word instead of blending each sound carefully. With the right instruction and practice, however, students quickly learn that these blends follow predictable patterns. Once they recognise the patterns, reading words like street, splash, and scrub  becomes much easier. In the classroom, I’ve found that a mix of explicit...