First Phonics Readers {Book 1}

I am so excited to share our First Phonics Readers with you today.  This printable download is for the youngest set of readers.  They are for children who know their letter sounds and progressively want to begin blending these sounds to make words.

Every child’s reading journey is different

These First Phonics Readers move very slowly.  They are perfect for children who know their sounds, but aren’t yet ready to read a book that begins solely with words.  For example, “The cat sat. Mat sat.”  This is too much text for beginning readers.  I am finding great success with one picture and one word per page.  And many of the “words” are only the letter introduction (Aa) or a partial word (ha for hand).  The child uses both their learned phonetic sounds and the pictures to decode the text.

How to begin reading?

The National Reading Foundation established unanimously in 2000 that phonetic teaching is the best approach to early reading.  Teaching patterns in words and sounding it out is how you can set your child up for success.  I do support immersion, or whole reading, and activities such as reading to your child and including sight word practice and guided reading.  However, teaching the patterns to phonics is the goal for the beginning.

Children can be successful at sounding out those consonant – vowel – consonant (CVC) words!  This is considered a “kindergarten” skill, but can certainly for older or younger children, when each individual is developmentally ready.  Next comes vowel digraphs, silent e, and consonant digraphs!

My son’s reading journey

My son is at the beginning of his reading journey.  (He is currently a couple months shy of five years old.)  He is at the cusp of something so beautiful and magnificent.  As we build his phonological awareness, he is also recognizing that letters make sounds and has entered into the beautiful world of phonics. The sound of a child sounding their first words out is pure joy!

c – a – p

c- a – p 

c – ap

cap!

It’s cap!

These moments, for me as a teacher and a parent, are those that I will cherish for a lifetime.  My son is beginning to sound out his three letter CVC words.  But he only has had success with focusing on one word at a time.

We are building words, particularly word families that rhyme, with our Montessori moveable alphabet.  This hands-on activity has also helped his hands work while his mind works.

He is not yet ready to write his words, as his reading is more advanced than his handwriting, so workbooks and many printables that may seem useful, would just produce frustration, and frankly a “no!” and animosity towards reading.

We are beginning to work with our many Phonics Readers that we have in our home.  As a former kindergarten teacher, I have the privilege of having many different readers, all starting at this early reading stage.  Every child, and every circumstance, calls for a different route in learning.  Every child will need something different.  I explain and introduce 10 Phonics Reader Sets over at This Reading Mama today, so make sure to look at them all to see what may be best for your child!!

As you can see, I have studied many Phonics Readers and critiqued them for my own child.  I found that I couldn’t find the right reader set for him at this very beginning moment.  This is why I’ve created the First Phonics Readers.

My First Phonics Readers

My son needs to start reading very, very slow.

Only one word at a time.  

Sentences are too overwhelming for him.  

I imagine this may be the case for your preschooler or kindergartener.  I created 10 Phonics Readers that introduce the alphabet and sound out words.  Each little page includes an exciting picture, so there is definitely an aid for children who need a little help.  My son loves the interesting illustrations.  I hope these little books will boost confidence and excitement and will act as a beginning step towards success in reading.

Each First Phonics Reader book contains:

• each book contains 14 pages
• a review page focusing on the 3-4 letter sounds from the previous book
• a list of letter sounds that are used in each of the 10 books
• vibrant illustrations to give your child a picture clue while reading
• large font to help your child focus on the text
• words that are only 1-3 letters long
• two irregular patterns are introduced: ck in “duck” and ll in “will”
• a few pages have short sentences, to build confidence, such as “Sit Dan.” and “I can.”
• only two sight words are introduced: the, I

Book 1 focuses on letters s, a, m, t.

Here are some sample pages of the First Phonics Readers Book 1:

How to create your phonics books….

Simply print them out, two pages per sheet. (You may also choose to print out two sheets per page, so four pages can fit on one page.)  Then, I simply cut them and put two staples down the left hand side.  (I made the margins a bit thicker so you could fit two staples down the left side nicely.)

Download the First Phonics Readers Books now!

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More Early Reading Suggestions:

After these books are confidently read with your child, I strongly recommend:

Learning to Read with Living Books

5 Ways to Improve Your Child’s Language Development

What is Phonological Awareness?

10 Phonics Readers for Early Reading

5 Ideas for Teaching Early Reading without Overwhelming Beginning Readers

Using the Montessori Moveable Alphabet

3 Important Skills Needed for Early Reading