Reading in English is taught from the sound to the word. First a child learns the sound each letter makes, not its name. Then they blend three sounds into a short word like cat, add letter pairs such as sh and ch, and learn a few common words by sight. A few minutes every day, in that order, lead step by step to reading simple sentences.
By TutorNest · Updated 5 October 2026
Why start with sounds and not letter names?
The name of the letter C is see, but in the word cat it sounds like k. A child who knows only letter names tries to read cat and gets see-ay-tee, which leads to no word at all. A child who knows the sounds says k-a-t, and hears the word.
That is why the most common sound of each English letter is taught first. Letter names and the ABC song can be learned alongside or later. They are useful for spelling, but they are not what makes reading possible.
What is different from reading Hebrew?
A child who already reads Hebrew knows the most important thing: marks on a page stand for sounds. That does not need teaching again. But a few differences between reading Hebrew and reading English are worth saying out loud.
In Hebrew
In English
You read from right to left
You read from left to right
Vowels are points, and without them you work the vowels out from context
Vowels are letters written inside the word: a, e, i, o, u
Each letter has one shape, and five letters also have a final form
A teacher every week, practice every day
TutorNest joins a weekly one-to-one English lesson to about ten minutes of practice at home each day.
A pointed word is almost always read the way it is written
Some very common words are not read the way they are written
The difference that confuses children most at the start is the direction of reading. In the first weeks it helps to slide a finger under the word, from left to right, while reading.
How do you teach blending sounds into a word?
As soon as a child knows a few sounds, they can read. There is no need to wait for all twenty-six letters. With the letters s, a, t, p, i, n you can already build words like sat, pin, tap and nap.
To blend a word, say each sound separately and slowly, then slide them together: c-a-t becomes cat. At first you say the sounds and your child only joins them by ear. Later they do both steps alone.
Write three letters on three slips of paper and lay them far apart. Your child says each sound and moves the slips closer until they touch, then says the word. Swapping one slip, from cat to hat for example, turns it into a game.
What about sh, ch and th?
Some English sounds are written with two letters. The pairs sh and ch each make one sound that Hebrew speakers already know, and th is a sound Hebrew does not have, made with the tip of the tongue between the teeth. Each pair is taught as one unit, as if it were a single letter.
Letter pairs are best started only once a child blends three-letter words comfortably. Then words like ship, chip and thin are a natural next step and not brand-new material.
What about words that are not read the way they are written?
English has some very common words that the rules do not work on, such as the, was, said and you. They appear in almost every sentence, so children learn to recognize them by sight, as whole words.
Sight words are learned only a few at a time, and it helps to show which part of the word behaves normally and which part is the surprise. In said, for example, the first and last letters are perfectly regular. Only the middle needs memory.
What order should we follow?
In teaching English reading, the order matters more than the speed. Each step rests on the one before, and you do not move on until the current step comes easily.
Listen for sounds in words: what sound does sun start with, and what sound does it end with.
Learn the sound of each letter, a few letters at a time.
Blend two sounds and then three into short words like at, in, cat, sit.
Add letter pairs: sh, ch, th.
Learn a few common words by sight: the, I, is, was, you.
Read short sentences built from words your child can already sound out.
Move on to short books, and keep adding new letter combinations gradually.
Five to ten minutes of reading a day is enough. Reading is built from frequent repetition, not from one long lesson.
How does TutorNest teach reading?
TutorNest starts with a short starting-point check, so practice opens at the child's level, and a child starting from zero begins with the first letters and sounds. The teacher teaches in a private 45-minute weekly lesson, and the daily practice in the app, about ten minutes, is built from what she is working on.
Every TutorNest teacher also speaks Hebrew, so the differences from Hebrew can be explained in a language the child understands.
Questions parents ask
At what age should a child start reading in English?+
There is no single right age. It is usually easier to start once Hebrew reading is steady, because the child already understands what reading is. Sound games and songs can start much earlier.
Which comes first, capital letters or small letters?+
Small letters. Almost everything a child will read is written in them. Capitals are added gradually, starting with the ones that look like their small versions.
My child guesses words instead of reading them. What should we do?+
Cover the picture and ask them to say each sound in order, with a finger under the letters. Guessing usually means the text is too hard, so it is worth going back to shorter words.
Will reading English confuse my child's Hebrew reading?+
For a child who already reads Hebrew with confidence, usually not. The letters look completely different and the direction is opposite, so the two are easy to keep apart. If Hebrew reading is not yet steady, you can wait a little.