How to Teach Decoding

how to teach decoding

How to Teach Your Child to Decode (Read Words)

Teaching your child to read doesn’t have to be stressful. Reading develops just like walking—some children move ahead quickly, while others need more time and practice. Do NOT panic! Children truly do catch up, and many surpass their peers once they receive consistent, structured support.

Even if your child has a reading disability, they can become successful readers. They simply need a multisensory, structured approach, and these methods are incredibly effective.

My Kindergarten and 1st Grade Science of Reading and/or 2nd and 3rd Grade Science of Reading page will also help you!

Disclaimer: I’m an Amazon Associate and may earn from qualifying purchases, but I only share products I truly recommend.

Table of Contents

Is Your Child Ready to Learn to Read?
Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
Articulation Cards
Letter Names and Sounds
UFLI
Say it, Stretch it, Spell it, Change it
Print Immersion
Sight Words
Rimes
Lexia Core 5
Have Fun With Books
Consider a Multi-Sensory Tutor
Decodable Texts
Tips
A Final Note to Parents

Is Your Child Ready to Learn to Read?

Before decoding (reading words) can happen, your child must have two foundations:

  1. Phonological and phonemic awareness

  2. Letter-name and letter-sound knowledge

Once these are in place, your child is ready to read!

1. Phonological & Phonemic Awareness: The Ears-Only Skills

These skills involve hearing and manipulating sounds in words—no print should be present.

The two most essential skills are:

⭐ Segmenting — the foundation of spelling

You say a word, and your child says all the individual sounds.

  • “cat” → /c/ /a/ /t/

  • “plant” → /p/ /l/ /a/ /n/ /t/
    (Avoid letting your child say /pl/ and /nt/ as one sound—each sound must be separate.)

⭐ Blending — the foundation of reading

You say the sounds, and your child blends them into a real word.

  • /d/ /o/ /g/ → “dog”

  • /b/ /l/ /o/ /ck/ → “block”
    (Expect blend omissions at first. This is normal.)

Start with Continuous Sounds

Continuous sounds—/s/, /m/, /n/, /f/, /v/, /z/, /l/, /r/, all vowels—can be stretched.
This makes blending MUCH easier, especially for beginners.

Articulation Cards are available on Amazon for $26.

Why Articulation Cards Help With Blending

Articulation cards show how a sound is made—tongue, lips, airflow. These visuals help children link:

How they move their mouths → The sound they hear → The letter that represents it

Benefits:

  • Makes abstract sounds tangible

  • Aids blending and segmenting

  • Strengthens sound discrimination (e.g., /b/ vs. /p/)

  • Helps kids self-correct because they understand “how the sound should feel.”

These are sturdy alphabet cards from Amazon. Approx. $20. These are great because the uppercase and lowercase letters are on separate cards, and the “a” is formed the way your child will learn to form it.

2. Letter Names & Sounds

Your child must know:

  • All 26 letter names

  • All common sounds for each letter

  • How to produce them clearly (especially short vowels)

Once your child has both pieces—the ear skills and the letter-sound knowledge—they’re ready to begin decoding.

My Step-by-Step Recommendations for Parents

1. Follow the UFLI Foundations Decodable Curriculum (Lessons 1–128)

This FREE, research-aligned program starts with the letter a and builds one new skill per lesson. By lesson 128, children can decode and spell confidently.

Do one lesson per day—slow and steady wins the race.

  • If the full lessons feel overwhelming, move directly to the UFLI decodable texts.

  • Reread each story multiple times.

  • Your child should also be able to spell every word from the story.

Consistency is key. Use the program through the summer for outstanding results.

2. “Say it, Stretch it, Spell it, Change it”

This activity boosts both reading and spelling. Children manipulate one sound at a time to form new words:

cat → cot → hot → hop → hip → sip → sit → sat…

This teaches:

  • Phonemic manipulation

  • Blending

  • Spelling flexibility

  • Awareness of how small changes create new words

Tip: Short /e/ vs. short /i/ is extremely hard.
Have your child place their hand under their chin:

  • “pig” (chin barely drops)

  • “peg” (jaw drops farther)

Tip: Children often confuse b and d. 
Teach that on the b, the baseball bat comes first. On a d, the doughnut comes first.

how to teach decoding

3. Immerse Your Child in Print

The more print your child sees, the faster the brain develops reading pathways.

Try:

  • Closed captioning on ALL shows (Finland uses this widely!)

  • Labels around your home: bed, door, sink, closet, fridge, Legos…

Your child’s brain needs to see print everywhere.

You can buy sight word flashcards. These flashcards are great because they are divided by grade level.

4. Master Sight Words (In Context)

You may use sight word flashcards, but the BEST way to learn sight words is in meaningful sentences and repeated reading.

Have your child:

Students’ word recognition, fluency, and comprehension improve significantly when they practice reading text or phrases repeatedly.

  • If stuck on a sight word, your child should attempt to sound it out. Even though many sight words have irregular spellings, parts of most are regular. Teach your child to memorize the “irregular” part. For example, the “ai” in said makes the short /e/ sound.

If you’re following UFLI, the necessary sight words are already embedded, so you can skip this step.

 

Click here for a printable download of the above chart.

5. Teach the 37 Most Common Rimes

Rimes (word families) are powerful for pattern recognition.

Examples:

  • -at → cat, hat, sat, flat

  • -ight → light, might, night, sight

Teaching the 37 most common rimes unlocks 500+ high-frequency words.

Write them on index cards and practice:

  • Reading them

  • Spelling words with them

  • Building new words by swapping the beginning consonants or blends

Reminder:
A rime is not the same as a rhyme.
Rimes are spelling patterns.

6. Try Lexia Core 5 (If You Want a Strong Digital Option)

Lexia Core 5 is:

  • Evidence-based

  • Sequential

  • Individualized

  • Excellent for decoding AND comprehension

Use 60 minutes per week.
Do not give answers—Lexia teaches missing skills directly.

Cost: ~$175/year for the home version.

7. Make Books Fun—Not a Battle

Let your child choose joyful, high-interest reading materials such as:

  • Pokémon

  • Barbie

  • Star Wars

  • Captain Underpants

  • National Geographic Kids

  • Comics

Reading aloud is NOT cheating.
It builds vocabulary, motivation, and a love of books—critical for long-term reading success.

8. Consider a Trained Tutor (If Feasible)

If your child struggles or resists reading with a parent, a tutor can help. The best tutors are trained in:

These methods are structured, sequential, and essential for children with reading difficulties. They align closely with UFLI.

If you hire a general tutor, simply ask them to follow the steps on this page.
(They may also contact me—I’m happy to support.)

9. ONLY Use Decodable Texts for Early Readers

Avoid predictable, patterned books such as:

“I like to jump.
I like to climb.
I like to dance.”

Children “read” these by guessing from the pictures—not by decoding.

Decodable texts:

  • Match the phonics your child has learned

  • Avoid advanced patterns too early

  • Require true decoding (real reading!)

The Orton Gillingham Readers are about $20 each on Amazon.

Highly recommended:
The Orton-Gillingham 13-book decodable series—affordable, systematic, and parent-friendly.

Remember:
Decoding the letters IS reading.
Guessing is not.

A faulty method of teaching reading is comprehension first (guided reading), which involves having the child use context clues to read. However, the science of reading has taught us that children need phonics first to learn how to look at the letters in words. When children encounter difficulties, they must utilize phonics to solve problems!

Tips

  • Motivation and praise are important! Celebrate small wins: “Every word read correctly deserves praise—this builds confidence and enjoyment.”

  • Reading should be joyful, not stressful.

  • Daily Short Practice: 5–15 minutes per day of focused practice is often more effective than long sessions.

Montessori Sandpaper Letters

An additional multi-sensory option to consider is sandpaper tracing letters. Approx. $20 for each set – uppercase and lowercase.

Tile Board

Have your child create words using the various graphemes! Great for 1:1 work. Approx. $29.

  • Use letter tiles or magnetic letters for building words.

  • Finger-tapping words can reinforce phonemic awareness and spelling.

  • Encourage children to pause and think about the story: Who, What, Where, Why?

  • Ask simple questions about illustrations or text to reinforce meaning.

  • Parent modeling:  Kids imitate fluent reading and intonation.

  • Games like “I Spy” with sounds, rhyming games, or building words with blocks can reinforce skills.

  • Letter hunts in books or around the house make it interactive.

  • When a child can’t decode a word, model tapping it out, then let them try again.

  • Confusing letters (b/d, p/q, m/n): repeat multi-sensory strategies.

  • Tracking progress—Keep a reading log for each session: words mastered, skills practiced, and new sight words learned. Create a motivational graph!

A Final Note to Parents

Reading is one of the greatest gifts you can give your child.
There is no “late” reader—only a child who hasn’t yet received the right kind of instruction.

If you follow the steps on this page—slowly, consistently, and joyfully—you will be amazed at how quickly your child grows.

 

How to Teach a Struggling Reader

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Edited on 12/07/25

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