Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart

You’re ready to teach your child the alphabet? Use this free alphabet phonics sounds chart to teach the letter names and sounds.

You know your child needs to know their ABCs.

But if you’re not a teacher, you might be wondering how.

My oldest two children just picked up the alphabet without much help from me. But my youngest son needed more help learning the letters.

When I taught second grade, I knew the importance of connecting letter names and sounds with a visual and verbal cue. This helps children remember better.

So if you’re not a teacher, this helps you do that.

Using an alphabet phonics sounds chart makes a good starting place for you. It is a tool that will help you teach your child the sounds the right way.

Your child needs alphabet knowledge to be a good reader and writer. This includes letter names, letter phonics sounds, letter shape, and letter formation.

By using the alphabet phonics sounds chart, you’ll work on letter names and sounds.

Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart

You can grab this free alphabet phonics sounds chart in the box below. It’s a free gift for email subscribers.

It will be sent straight to your inbox. You just open the email and there it is.

This is convenient because you won’t need to remember where you saved it on your computer. If you need another copy in a few months, just search your email inbox.

Please note this is for your personal home use only. Classroom teachers are also welcome to use it in one classroom.

You may not distribute it widely or post it online. Feel free to share this link, though!

How to Use an Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart

This free printable alphabet chart is a reference for you as a parent. When you are teaching your child the letter sounds, use the alphabet phonics sounds chart to guide you.

Here are the steps you can use:

Practice pointing to letters
Say the letter name
Name the keyword
Make the sound

You would point to the letter A. Then you would say “A, apple, /a/.”

Just start with a few letters at a time. Once your child knows a few, add in a few more!

Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart Activities

You can do fun learning activities with the Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart.

Alphabet Sounds Memory

Skip the expensive games in big box retailers and play Alphabet Sounds Memory.

Here’s what you need to do:

Print two copies of the Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart.
For best results, use card stock.
Cut along the lines so you have 26 cards on each piece of paper.
Place all the cards face down on a table or the floor.
Turn them over two at a time.
Say the letter sounds as you turn them over.
If your child gets a match, they get to keep them.
Play until all the cards are matched.

Note: for beginners, just do 5-6 sets of letters at a time. Then you can add more letters as your child learns their sounds.

Alphabet Sounds Puzzle

A more simple activity than the Alphabet Sounds Memory is to make an Alphabet Sounds Puzzle.

Here’s how you can make this simple game:

Print one copy on cardstock.
Print another on regular paper.
Laminate the Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart on regular paper.
This will be your puzzle base.
Cut apart the chart you printed on cardstock.
Your child will match the letters on the cards to the puzzle base.

Like I noted above, beginners can just work on 5-6 letter sounds at a time.

Alphabet Sounds Cover Up

The easiest game to play? Alphabet Phonics Sound Cover Up.

In this game, your child just covers a letter sound as you say it aloud.

Here’s how to play:

Print a copy of the Alphabet Phonics Chart.
Place in a dry erase sleeve or laminate it.
Give your child 5-10 pom poms or plastic counters.
As you say each letter name or letter sound, your child covers it up.

If your child is already pretty skilled, let them “be the teacher.” They can tell you the sounds and you cover them up.

When I do this, I make mistakes. Children love to catch and correct these errors.

How many alphabet phonics sounds are there?

Most alphabet phonics sounds charts include 23 basic sounds, but there are 44 phonemes, or sounds in English.

When you see a letter between slashed like this /a/, it means to say the sound not the name.

The letters c and k both spell the /k/ sound. The letter q spells the sounds /k/ /w/. The letter x spells the sounds /k/ /s/.

A spells /a/ like apple.
B spells /b/ like ball.
C spells the /k/ sound like in cat.
D spells the /d/ sound like in dog.
E spells the /e/ sound like in elephant.
F spells the /f/ sound like in fish.
G spells the /g/ sounds like in goat.
H spells the /h/ sound like in house.
I spells the /i/ sound like in igloo.
J spells the /j/ sound like in jam.
K spells the /k/ sound like in kite.
L spells the /l/ sound like in ladybug.
M spells the /m/ sound like in mitten.
N spells the /n/ sound like in nest.
O spells the /o/ sound like in octopus.
P spells the /p/ sound like in pig.
Q spells two sounds together: /k/ and /w/ like in queen.
R spells the /r/ sound like in robot.
S spells the /s/ sound like in
T spells the /t/ sound like in turtle.
U spells the /u/ sound like in umbrella.
V spells the /v/ sound like in vase
W spells the /w/ sound like in watermelon
X spells two sounds together /k/ and /s/ like at the end of fox.
Y spells the /y/ sound like in yoyo.
Z spells the /z/ sound like in zebra.

So while there are 26 letters they really only represent 23 distinct sounds:

C spells the same sound as K: /k/
Q represents the sound combination /kw/
X represents the sound combinations /ks/

So some people might argue there are 25 sounds since the /kw/ and /ks/ combinations are so common.

We can leave that debate to academic linguists and instead focus on how to teach your child to read the letters.

Mistakes with Alphabet Phonics Sound Charts

It is very common to see alphabet charts with pictures that are poor representations for the letter sounds.

Beware of alphabet phonics sounds like using the less frequent soft sounds for the letters c and g. Cycle and giraffe are not good choices.

Same with X-ray for the letter X. The sounds of X are /k/ /s/ so it needs to be represented appropriately.

What letter sounds do I teach first?

There is no hard and fast rule for this. It depends on your goal.

Two ways you can teach letter sounds first:

Reading and writing your child’s name
Start to decode and blend words

Reading Child’s Name

Many children are naturally familiar with and motivated by reading and writing their name.

So for my son Andrew, we started with those letter names. A, n, d, and r all represent the most common sounds. Ew was easy to teach him because we can make the sound “EW!” when we see something gross.

If your child has a more complicated name it might be better to start with other letters.

Start Blending Words Fast

Teach the consonant sounds for s, t, n, p, and vowel sounds a and o first. These letters make some common and very easily decodable words.

With these phonics sounds your child can read words like:

phonics worksheets and games

In the Printable Parents’ Shop, you’ll find a ton of worksheets and games to help your child with alphabet phonics sounds.

Beginning Sounds Worksheets

The worksheets are fantastic to help your young reader learning the phonics sounds. First, they include all the basic alphabet sounds but also additional sounds like ch, th, sh, and the long vowel sounds!

The Beginning Sounds Worksheet Printables are best done by identifying each picture for your child. This is not independent work!

You can also find these Initial Sound Worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers.

blending phonics sounds worksheets

Once your child knows the alphabet phonics sounds, you can move onto blending words. These CVC Words Blending Worksheets show your child exactly how to sound out words.

You can also find these Successive Blending Worksheets on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Read and spell phonics games

These Read and Spell games are so motivating. They move your child through the alphabet phonics sounds all the way through complex rules like how ch spells /k/ in words like chemistry and Christmas.

It’s truly a complete resource for practicing phonics with your child!

Find the Read and Spell Phonics Games in the shop or find the Phonics Games on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Conclusion

Teaching your child the alphabet phonics sounds gives them a big advantage going into school. All you need is the printable alphabet chart and a few minutes a day.

You can play some simple games with your child and know that you’re supporting their pre-reading skills. Grab the free printable today.

Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart

Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart

How to Use an Alphabet Phonics Sounds Chart