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^{What does it really mean to teach a child to read?}

Is it enough to point at letters and hope children magically connect them to sounds? Or is there a deeper, more intentional process teachers must guide them through?

This is the foundation upon which reading confidence is built. Yet, many teachers still wrestle with the questions: Where do I start? How do I make sounds meaningful, memorable, and fun for my learners?

Let us imagine this scenario. A nursery teacher introduces the sound /a/. Some children repeat with joy, others mumble, while a few stare, not sure of what is happening.

At that very moment, the teacher has a number of options. Move on quickly, or pause, engage, and make sure every child catches the sound. Which would you choose?

This is the heartbeat of teaching phonics: ensuring no learner is left behind.

Teaching requires explicit, systematic, and engaging instruction where teachers:

• Break words into sounds
• Blend sounds back together
• Equip children with tools to decode new words independently

This means saying sounds correctly, using actions and visuals, and connecting learning to real-life contexts so that phonics feels alive, not abstract.

Here lies the challenge. If learners are expected to win in phonics, teachers must first master it themselves. This includes:

1. Listening carefully to their own pronunciation
2. Planning interactive activities
3. Reflecting on what works and what doesn’t in their classrooms

Phonics is not a one-day lesson. It is a journey that requires consistency, creativity, and commitment.

When teachers are equipped with phonics strategies, they transform reading from a struggle into a joyful discovery.

That magical moment when a hesitant child sounds out “b-a-g” with a smile belongs just as much to the learner as to the teacher who believed in the process.

So, we must ask ourselves. Are we training teachers to simply cover phonics, or to live it, breathe it, and inspire others with it?