Play to Read — Scope & Sequence

Pre-Ready · Lit Letters · Blending 1–20 · Phonics 1–15 · Mastery-based, not grade-based

Teaching cycle: Introduce Spelling Games Heart words Move on when ready
Every level follows the same cycle: introduce the skill → practice spelling → play games → learn the heart words tied to this pattern → when your child is reading sentences with that pattern, move on. Some kids move through a level in a week. Some take a month. Both are correct.
Pre-Ready
Free course · Ready to Read · Phonological awareness before letters
Before letters
Level
Skill
What kids learn
Teaching cycle
PR-1
Rhyming
Hearing word families
Recognize and produce rhyming words. cat/bat/hat.
IntroduceGames
PR-2
Beginning sounds
Isolating the first phoneme
What sound does "sun" start with? Bridge to letter sounds.
IntroduceGames
PR-3
Oral blending
/s/ /u/ /n/ → "sun"
Push sounds together before any letters. Keep your motor running.
IntroduceGames
PR-4
Segmenting
"sun" → /s/ /u/ /n/
The spelling secret. Kids who can segment learn to spell.
IntroduceGames
Ready to move on? Your child can blend 3 sounds into a word without seeing letters and can isolate the first sound in a spoken word.
↓   introduce Lit Letters   ↓
Lit Letters
Lit Letters product · letter names + sounds taught simultaneously
Letters
Level
Skill
What kids learn
Teaching cycle
Lit Letters
Letter names + sounds
All 26 · simultaneously
Name and sound together, anchored by the picture inside the letter. Cards used as word tiles — not just isolated drills.
IntroduceGamesMove on when ready
Ready to move on? Your child knows the name and sound of each letter and can use the cards to build simple words.
↓   Play to Read — Blending course   ↓
Play to Read — Blending
Skool course · Blending 1 through 20
Blending course
Level
Skill
What kids learn
Teaching cycle
Blending 1 and 2 are the entry point — review for kids coming from Lit Letters, starting point for kids who already knew their letters.
Blending 1
entry / review
2-sound words
VC · closed syllable
at, in, up, it, on. Two phonemes. Simplest decoding entry point.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 2
entry / review
CVC words
Short vowels · closed syllable
ham, pig, cat, sit, hop. Lit Letters cards as word tiles.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Digraphs + early spelling patterns
Blending 3
Digraphs + open syllables
sh, ch, th, ck, wh · he, she, we
Two letters, one sound. Common open syllable heart words introduced alongside.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Blending 4
Adding s · s says z
Plurals + verb endings
cats, dogs, runs, has. When s makes /z/ vs /s/.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 5
Double letters
ff, ll, ss, zz · the floss rule
bell, puff, miss, buzz. A spelling pattern, not a new sound.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 6
Dge and tch
Trigraphs after short vowels
match, catch, badge, bridge. 3 letters, 1 sound.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Blends
Blending 7
R blends
br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr
brag, crab, drip, frog, grab, prim, trim.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 8
L blends
bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl
blob, clap, flip, glad, plan, slim.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 9
S and T blends
sc, sk, sm, sn, sp, st, sw · tw
scab, skip, smog, snip, spin, stop, swim, twin.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 10
Ending blends
-st, -nd, -nt, -mp, -lt, -lk, -sk, -ft
last, hand, hunt, jump, melt, silk, desk, left.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Blending 11
Long vowel exceptions
-old, -olt, -ost · -ind, -ild
cold, bold, colt, most · mind, kind, wild, child. Long vowel without silent e.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Glued sounds
Blending 12
Vowel-l glued sounds
all, ull, al
call, fall, full, pull, talk, walk.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Blending 13
Nasal blends — ng
ang, ing, ong, ung
bang, ring, song, lung, sing, long.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 14
Nasal blends — nk
ank, ink, onk, unk
tank, think, honk, skunk, bank, pink.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
2-syllable words
Blending 15
-ing words
Present participle · doubling rule
running, jumping, sitting. Doubling rule introduced.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 16
-ed words
Past tense · 3 pronunciations
jumped /t/, jogged /d/, melted /id/. Same spelling, three sounds.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 17
-er and -es words
Comparative + plural suffixes
faster, bigger, wishes, boxes.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 18
Words with y
y as a vowel · 1 and 2 syllables
my, fly · happy, funny, baby. y says /ī/ in short words, /ē/ in longer ones.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Blending 19
2-syllable words + schwa
Unstressed vowel · rabbit, button
rabbit, basket, chicken, button, tiger. Blending across syllables with schwa.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Silent e — intro
Blending 20
Silent e words
VCe · no soft c/g yet
bake, kite, hope, cute, name, ride. The e makes the vowel say its name. Soft c/g patterns introduced in Phonics 1.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Ready to move on? Your child is reading and spelling silent e words fluently and reading short sentences with these patterns.
↓   Play to Read — Phonics Masters   ↓
Play to Read — Phonics Masters
Skool course · Phonics 1 through 15
Phonics Masters course
Level
Skill
What kids learn
Teaching cycle
Silent e review + long vowel pairs
Phonics 1
Silent e review + soft c/g
VCe review · c→/s/ · g→/j/ before e, i, y
Review bake, kite, hope · introduce face, page, giant. Soft c/g as a natural extension of silent e.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 2
Long a vowel pairs
ai · ay
sail, rain, day, play. ai in the middle, ay at the end.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 3
Long e vowel pairs
ee · ie · ea · ei · ey
bee, field, eat, receive, key.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 4
Long o vowel pairs
oe · ow · oa
toe, snow, boat. oa in the middle, ow often at the end.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 5
Long u and i vowel pairs
ui · ue · igh · ie
fruit, blue, light, pie. igh/ie for long i; ui/ue for long u.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
R-controlled vowels
Phonics 6
Ar and or
The two most distinct r-controlled vowels
car, star, corn, born.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 7
Ur, ir, er words
Three spellings, one /er/ sound
burn, bird, her. All say /er/. Long vowel r words follow: fire, more, care.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Diphthongs
Phonics 8
Ou and ow
Two spellings, one /ou/ sound
out, cloud, cow, town. Both spell the /ou/ sound.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 9
Oo, ew, and ou
Two sounds of oo · ew · ou=/oo/
moon vs look — oo has two sounds. flew, soup also spell /oo/.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 10
Oi and oy
Two spellings, one /oi/ sound
coin, foil · boy, toy. oi in the middle, oy at the end.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 11
Au and aw
Two spellings, one /aw/ sound
haul, cause · saw, draw. au in the middle, aw often at the end.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Advanced patterns
Phonics 12
Ph and silent letters
ph=/f/ · kn, wr, gn, mb
phone, graph · knock, write, gnaw, lamb.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 13
-le words
Consonant + le syllable
table, apple, little, puzzle. The le syllable goes with the consonant before it.
IntroduceSpellingGamesMove on when ready
Phonics 14
-tion and -tious
Suffix patterns
nation, action, cautious, infectious. Unlocks a huge chunk of academic vocabulary.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Phonics 15
Schwa + multisyllabic words
Unstressed vowels · syllable division
about, pencil, animal. Schwa in longer words. Strategies for decoding unknown multisyllabic words.
IntroduceSpellingGamesHeart wordsMove on when ready
Ready to move on? Your child is reading multisyllabic words with these patterns in connected text. They're a reader.
↓   future unit   ↓
Morphology
Future unit · not yet built · prefixes, suffixes, roots
Coming later
re-, pre-, dis-, un-, mis- and other high-frequency prefixes · common suffixes (-ful, -less, -ness, -ment) · Latin and Greek roots for academic vocabulary. Planned as a standalone advanced unit once Phonics Masters is complete.