Your precursor to decodable stories. The Practice Books ensure synthetic phonics skills are easy and automatic before children move on to the complexities of sentences, grammar and stories.
“The children loved the books. They are colourful and targeted, and the children really liked the fact they could read a book by themselves.”
Why Practice Books?
Think about the levelled guided reading books you currently use. Do they introduce phoneme code children haven’t learned yet? Are children sounding out to read — or simply guessing from the pictures? The Practice Books solve these problems by design:
Truly Decodable
Every word is 100% decodable using only the phonemes children have already learned. No unknown code is ever introduced ahead of time.
No Picture Clues
Children must genuinely decode each word — there are no pictures to guess from. This builds real reading, not guessing.
Single Word Focus
No complications of grammar, sentences or storylines. Children focus on mastering one skill first: decoding.
Builds Confidence Fast
The simplicity and reliability of these books means children quickly experience the wonderful feeling of reading a whole book by themselves.
Expands Vocabulary
The more unusual decodable words are a great opportunity to expand vocabulary and spark classroom discussion.
Camera Word Books Included
Each unit comes with a camera word book for those essential irregular high-frequency words, using the look-cover-write-check method on every page.
See the Books in Action
Three Ways to Use Them
In the Classroom
Use six copies of the same book and let children practise and apply their synthetic phonics skills in real books — during guided reading sessions or phonics rotational activities.
As a Home Reader
Give parents the same consistent message at home that you’re giving at school: decode to read and segment to spell. Parents love hearing their child experience real success, and they quickly grasp the intuitive techniques explained on the inside cover of every book.
For Learning Support & One-on-One
Use a one-to-one set and give children success with reading a real book. Many children experiencing difficulties find levelled books too challenging. The Practice Books, with their simplicity, give every child the wonderful feeling of reading a whole book.
