If you’ve ever heard your child guess at a word while reading or skip over a tricky one entirely- Congratulations-you’re a parent! These behaviors are typical since many beginning and struggling readers rely on guessing because they haven’t yet mastered decoding skills—one of the most essential building blocks of reading success.
But here’s the good news: decoding can be taught, and when taught explicitly and systematically, it gives kids the confidence to read independently and accurately. As a reading teacher, I firmly believe parents need to know what decoding skills in reading are, why they matter, and seven effective ways to teach them at home.
What Are Decoding Skills in Reading?
Decoding is the ability to translate written words into spoken language by recognizing letters (graphemes) and converting them into their associated sounds (phonemes). In short, it’s sounding out words.
For example, when a child sees the word “sun,” they decode it by connecting the letters to their sounds: /s/ /ŭ/ /n/. Beginning readers will need to sound out every letter, but eventually their brain will recognize patterns and reading becomes more automatic. When kids develop decoding skills, they can read unfamiliar words without guessing or only relying on memorized words.
Decoding is rooted in the Science of Reading, which tells us that children learn to read best through structured, explicit instruction that builds strong connections between letters and sounds.
Why Is Decoding So Important?
Decoding is critical for:
✔ Reading fluency – decoding automatically helps children read smoothly and quickly.
✔ Reading comprehension – fluent readers can focus on meaning instead of figuring out each word.
✔ Spelling and writing – decoding supports encoding (spelling) because kids have learned to hear and break apart sounds.
Without decoding skills, children may:
- Rely on pictures or context clues to guess at words.
- Struggle with unfamiliar or longer words.
- Become frustrated or discouraged while reading.
Ready to help your child strengthen their decoding skills? Here are seven effective ways to do it at home.
1. Teach Letter-Sound Relationships Clearly and Explicitly
Before kids can decode, they need to know that each letter (or group of letters) represents a specific sound.
✔ Start with common consonants (m, s, t, p are common in words, while z, x, and q are less frequent) and short vowel sounds.
✔ Use flashcards, songs, and picture cues to reinforce letter-sound connections. Throughout your day, point out items and what sound they begin with. (e.g. Would you like an apple? Apple starts with an /a/ sound.
✔ Teach digraphs (like “ch,” “sh,” “th”) once basic sounds are mastered.You can create a chart with common digraphs and a matching picture (e.g. sheep for “sh” and a chicken for “ch”) to help them remember the sounds.
📌 Tip: Focus on sounds, not just letter names. Saying “/b/” is more helpful for decoding than saying “bee.”
2. Practice Sound Blending Every Day
Sound blending is what turns individual sounds into real words. It’s the heart of decoding!
✔ Say each sound slowly: /c/ /a/ /t/ and have your child blend them smoothly: “cat.”
✔ Use your hands to model stretching words out like a rubber band, then snapping them back together.
✔ Use your finger or a marker to slide across the letters as you blend.
📌 Tip: Try a “mystery word” game where you give the sounds and your child guesses the word.
3. Use Word Families to Teach Patterns
Word families (like -at, -op, -am) help kids recognize repeating sound and spelling patterns. Once they decode “cat,” it’s easier to read “hat,” “bat,” and “sat.”
✔ Create a word family chart with colorful visuals.
✔ Write a base word and swap out the first letter to make new words.You could make a word family ladder that starts with a word family at the base and then switches out the beginning sounds to climb up the ladder (e.g. hop, pop, stop, plop).
✔ Use rhyming games and songs to reinforce patterns. You could play Memory with pictures of items that rhyme, or have them match just the words.. You can teach classic nursery rhymes like Mary Had a Little Lamb and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or search for more modern rhyming options. A quick YouTube search by age or grade level will provide a good variety of tunes.
✔ Read rhyming books and have your child fill in the familiar rhymes (Hop on Pop, Green Eggs and Ham).
📌 Tip: Try writing word families on index cards or a whiteboard and let your child see how many words they can make. You could play a simplified game of Boggle by choosing a few different letters and seeing how many words your child can make.
4. Read Decodable Books That Match Their Skill Level
Decodable books use words that align with the letter-sound relationships your child has learned, making them the perfect tool for independent practice. For example, if your child is learning the /ch/ sound, then they can search the sentence or paragraph for words like “cheese” or “beach” and highlight the /ch/ spelling pattern.
✔ Look for books with vocabulary that reinforces recent phonics lessons.
✔ Avoid leveled readers that encourage guessing based on pictures. While learning to look at pictures is a helpful skill for new readers, you want your child to focus on decoding the actual words and not just substituting a word that makes sense in the story.
✔ Celebrate when your child reads a book all by themselves!
📌 Tip: Great resources for decodable texts include Flyleaf Publishing, Learning A to Z, and UFLI Foundations. Scholastic also provides leveled books that match reading assessments commonly used in schools. Check with your child’s teacher to find out what level books would be just right for them.
5. Teach Sound Segmentation and Spelling Together
Segmenting is the reverse of blending—it’s breaking words apart into their individual sounds. It supports both decoding and spelling.
✔ Say a word and ask your child to identify each sound. A helpful kinesthetic connection is to have them stretch an arm out straight and use the opposite hand, starting at the shoulder and tapping down the arm, one tap for each sound in a word.
✔ Use letter tiles, magnetic letters, or Elkonin boxes to represent each phoneme. (Elkonin boxes are simple to use. Give students a few chips or small items that they can use to represent the sounds in a word. As they hear a word, they listen for individual sounds and then move a chip for each sound into a separate box. As learners progress, they can then move to writing the letter or letters for each sound in a separate box.)
✔ Practice spelling simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words aloud.
📌 Tip: Say “dog” and ask your child: “What’s the first sound you hear? The middle? The last?” Once they can identify the sounds in different parts of the word, try switching sounds to make a new word (e.g. Change the /d/ in dog to /h/. What’s the new word?)
6. Make It Multisensory
Children learn best when multiple senses are involved. Multisensory activities help strengthen connections between letters and sounds.
✔ Trace letters in sand, shaving cream, or on a whiteboard.
✔ Use playdough to form letters and say the sound as you build.
✔ Use sidewalk chalk to make letters and words. Try creating pictures around the letter to help your child remember the sound (e.g. a monkey swinging from the “m”).
✔ Have your child “skywrite” a letter in the air while saying the sound.
✔ Sing songs or learn chants to help them remember letters and sounds.
✔ Make a hopscotch board outside with different letters or words. Movement will make learning fun AND help strengthen the reading pathways in the brain.
📌 Tip: These approaches are especially helpful for children with dyslexia or other learning differences, but all children benefit from multi-sensory activities.
7. Keep Practice Short, Consistent, and Encouraging
Learning to decode takes time, repetition, and patience. Short daily practice sessions are more effective than long lessons.
✔ Aim for 5–10 minutes a day of focused practice. Start small and build up endurance. Remember, our brains need to be strengthened, much like our muscles.
✔ Mix it up with games, movement, and praise.
✔ Celebrate small wins—every new word read is a big step forward! You know your child better than anyone else, so find the “rewards” that are meaningful to them-it could be a sticker, a special note, a hug, or special time with you!
📌 Tip: Create a sticker chart or reading log to show your child how much they’ve learned. Challenge them to set their own goals and beat a previous “personal best”. You could also set up a family challenge to work towards a reward when everyone has read a certain number of books, pages, or even tracking time spent reading. .
How Do You Know If Your Child Needs Help with Decoding?
Watch for these signs:
- Frequent guessing at words instead of sounding them out.
- Difficulty reading simple, decodable words, despite frequent practice.
- Struggles with spelling or writing words phonetically.
- Avoiding reading altogether due to frustration.
📌 If these sound familiar, it might be time for additional support. Savvy Learning’s online reading tutors use structured, science-based phonics and decoding instruction to help your child become a confident reader.
Final Thoughts
✔ Decoding skills in reading are essential for helping kids unlock the words on the page.
✔ With explicit teaching, daily practice, and encouragement, your child can become an independent, joyful reader.
✔ Start with the basics—letter sounds and blending—and build up to more complex patterns and words.
📚 Want expert help teaching decoding at home? Contact Savvy Learning today and let our experienced reading tutors provide the guidance and tools your child needs to thrive.
