expected to 'read' text which is beyond them, and the method does not involve guessing at words from context, picture and initial letter clues. Typical programme learning letter sounds (as distinct from the letter names); For example, mmm not em, sss not ess, fff not ef. The letter names can be taught later but should not be taught in the early stages. learning the 40+ sounds and their corresponding letters/letter groups; The English Alphabet Code 'Key': 40+ phonemes with their common 'sound pattern' representations. (This is based on the British pronunciation. The number and mixture of the 40+ phonemes will vary for other English speaking countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States). Vowels: a - mat a-e - ape, baby, rain, tray, they, eight air - square, bear ar - jar, far e - peg, bread ee - sweet, me, beach, key, pony eer - deer, hear er - computer, doctor i - pig, wanted i-e - kite, wild, light, pie o - orange, quality oa - oak, rope, bow, piano oi - coin, boy oo - (short) book, would, put oo - (long) moon, crew, blue, fruit, few ow - down, house or - fork, ball, sauce, law, u - plug, glove ur - burn, teacher, work, first u-e - tune, unicorn, hue uh - button, hidden Consonants: b - boy, rabbit c / k - cat, key, duck, school, quit ch - chip, watch, statue d - dog, ladder f - fish, coffee, photo, tough g - gate, egg, ghost h - hat, whole j - jet, giant, cage, bridge k-s - box l - lip, bell, sample m - man, hammer, comb n - nut, dinner, knee, gnat ng - ring, singer p - pan, happy r - rat, cherry, write s / c - sun, dress, house, city, mice sh - ship, mission, station, chef t - tap, letter, debt th - thrush th - that v - vet, sleeve w - wet, wheel, queen y - yes, new z - zip, fizz, sneeze, is, cheese g-z - exist zh - treasure learning to read words using sound blending in which each individual sound is joined together to form a word (e.g. c - a - t= cat).; reading stories featuring the words the students have learned to sound out; demonstration exercises to show they comprehend the stories; Systematic phonics Systematic phonics is not