READING SKILLS FOR CHILDREN AGED 4-8

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words – a critical first step in learning to read. As they progress, they learn to blend sounds together to make words and break words apart into their separate sounds. 

Benefit for your child: Strong phonemic awareness makes learning phonics much easier. Your child will be able to “decode” new words more easily because they already understand how words are made up of sounds, boosting reading confidence from the very start.

Through ReadIQ’s systematic phonics lessons, children learn the relationship between letters and sounds and how to decode written words. The app introduces letter–sound pairs in a logical sequence, starting with simple consonants and vowels, then moving to digraphs (two letter sounds), blends.

Benefit for your child: Mastering phonics gives your child the tools to read any new word they encounter. With each successful decoding, they gain confidence and excitement in reading, helping children become independent readers one step at a time.

  Some common words  don’t follow easy phonics rules – these are often taught as sight words. ReadIQ’s early literacy programme introduces these high-frequency words gradually, helping children memorise them through repetition and context.

At the same time, our reading app expands your child’s vocabulary by exposing them to new words within stories and activities. 

Benefit for your child: Learning sight words makes reading easier because your child can recognise important words at a glance, without having to sound them out every time. 

 Fluency is the ability to read text smoothly, accurately, and with expression. In ReadIQ, once children have basic phonics in hand, the program gently guides them toward reading short stories and sentences to develop fluency. Children practice re-reading texts to become smoother and more confident, with the app providing positive feedback and encouragement. 

Benefit for your child: Developing fluency is crucial because it bridges the gap between decoding individual words and truly understanding a story. You’ll notice your child reading aloud with more confidence and even a bit of expressive voice, which means they are understanding and enjoying what they read.