About LearnPhonics.co
LearnPhonics.co is a free phonics reference site for parents, kindergarten teachers, and early childhood educators in the United States and India. We provide Elkonin sound-box breakdowns for over 12,000 English words — a method grounded in the Science of Reading that helps children aged 3–8 learn to decode words one sound at a time.
Who's Behind This Site
LearnPhonics.co is an independent phonics reference run by an editorial team of educators, parents, and literacy researchers. We've spent years working with kindergarten classrooms, homeschooling families, and Science of Reading practitioners to understand how children actually learn to decode words — and built this site to put that expertise in every parent's pocket, free.
Our editorial approach is informed by the National Reading Panel (2000), the Science of Reading research corpus, and the structured literacy principles adopted by most US state literacy standards since 2019. Pedagogy guidance on individual word pages follows the grapheme-chunking conventions used in Jolly Phonics and Orton-Gillingham–based programmes.
Why We Built This
Learning to read is one of the most important milestones in a child's life. The Science of Reading makes clear that phonics — systematic, explicit instruction in how letters map to sounds — is the most effective approach. Yet many parents don't have easy access to good phonics tools outside the classroom, and most commercial phonics apps lock the fundamentals behind a paywall.
LearnPhonics.co is our answer: type any word, see exactly how to break it into sounds, and hear it pronounced at a child-friendly pace. No account, no subscription, no ads targeting children. Free forever.
Our Editorial Standards
- No IPA or linguistic jargon — just visual sound boxes that parents and children can read together
- Dialect-neutral grapheme chunking — breakdowns based on how letters map to sounds in written English, not on any specific accent. Works equally well for US, UK, and Indian English speakers
- Science of Reading aligned — every teaching sequence follows structured literacy principles validated by peer-reviewed research
- No ads targeting children — the site is supported by affiliate commissions on our phonics app pages (clearly disclosed), not by advertising
- Editorial independence on app rankings — we do not accept payment for placement on our Best Phonics Apps pages; rankings reflect our testing and research
How We Review Phonics Apps
Every app featured on our Best Phonics Apps guides is tested over at least two weeks with children in our target age range (4–8). We evaluate each app against four criteria: alignment with systematic phonics instruction, engagement and retention, value for money, and whether the app gives parents visibility into progress. We update our rankings every quarter.
Affiliate Disclosure
Our Best Phonics Apps pages contain affiliate links. If you purchase through one of our links, we may earn a small commission — at no cost to you. All recommendations are editorially independent, based on pedagogy, age-appropriateness, and value. We do not accept payment for placement or ranking on our Best Phonics Apps pages.
Contact
Have a question, a correction, or a word you'd like us to add? Reach us at [email protected]. We reply to every message from parents and teachers — usually within two business days.