PARENT RESOURCE
Does your child look at the first letter of a word and guess the rest? Or use the picture to guess what the word might be?
This is common with beginning readers. Your child is trying to make sense of the word using the strategies they know. The goal is to gradually teach them a more reliable strategy: using the sounds in the word to read it.
Key Takeaway
When children guess, bring their attention back to the letters and sounds.
Instead of asking “What word would make sense?” or “Look at the picture,” help your child look closely at the word, say the sounds they know, and blend them together.
From Guessing to Reading
Start With the Sounds
When your child gets stuck, resist the urge to immediately tell them the word.
Point to the letters and encourage them to say the sounds they know.
For mat:
m → /m/
a → /a/
t → /t/
This brings their attention back to the information that is actually in the word.
Blend the Sounds Together
Once your child has identified the sounds, help them bring those sounds together:
/m/ → /a/ → /t/
mat
At first, your child may need to do this slowly. With practice, blending becomes smoother and more automatic.
Give Them Time
Children often guess because guessing is quicker than working through the sounds.
Give your child a few extra seconds to think, try the sounds and persevere before stepping in.
That small struggle is valuable. Your child is learning that when they meet an unfamiliar word, they have a strategy for working it out.
⚠️Common Mistakes
Using the Picture to Guess the Word
Pictures are wonderful for understanding a story, but they shouldn't replace reading the word. If your child is stuck, avoid prompts such as: “Look at the picture. What do you think it says?” Instead, bring their attention back to the word:
“Let's look at the sounds.”
Pictures can help children understand what they have read. The letters and sounds help them read the word itself.
Try This Next
The next time your child guesses a word:
1. Point back to the beginning of the word.
2. Ask them to say the sounds they know.
3. Encourage them to blend the sounds together.
4. Give them time before offering the answer.
Keep it positive. The goal isn't perfect reading — it's helping your child develop a strategy they can use independently.
From Sounds to Reading teaches children how to move from recognizing sounds, to blending them together, to reading words, sentences and decodable books — one manageable step at a time.
Try Lesson 1 Free
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