The full curriculum, nothing hidden
Scope & Sequence (the full lesson list)
This is every lesson, in order. You don’t need to read it to use the program; the app handles it.
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For specialists: every level, step, pattern and irregular word, generated from the program’s own curriculum files.
Every level, every step, every pattern and irregular word, exactly as the program teaches it. This page is generated directly from the program's own curriculum files, so what you read here is what your child gets, always.
Follows the order of skills in UFLI Foundations, with a few vowel sounds introduced early. Each level below names the UFLI Foundations lessons it matches.
Three honest notes for specialists. First: the sequence follows the order of skills in UFLI Foundations, with a few vowel sounds introduced early, and the letter-sound patterns below are what Spalding and Logic of English practitioners will recognize as phonograms. Second: our irregular words carry only the truly odd part, the rest of each word is sounded out, and when a pattern is later taught, the word is reclassified as fully decodable (marked ⟲ below). Irregular words have regular parts, and we teach them that way. Third: every line a child reads in every story is machine-checked against this exact sequence before it ships, a line using an untaught pattern cannot ship. The child's lines stay strictly decodable while the parent reads the rich narration aloud, so the reading diet is decodable practice inside real literature, and the constraint naturally loosens as the scope grows.
The honest census. Across all ten levels we flag 95 tricky words, and the count tells the truth about English. 38 of them are simply early arrivals: the pattern is fully lawful and its own lesson comes later in the sequence (marked ⟲). 50 more belong to small, steady families that behave once you meet the family, would-could-should, walk-talk, bear-wear, through-thought-enough, want-water, head-bread-thread, money-honey. Only 7 words in the entire program are true lone rule-breakers: beautiful, eye, friend, of, once, one, two. And even those are taught through their structure and story, the fri-end who has an end, the b-e-a-u-tiful chant, the o in one that its cousins once and only still carry, never as whole shapes to memorize. No whole word in this program is ever taught by memorization.
The rulesThe main rules of English, as we teach themOpen the list
The rules The main rules of English, as we teach them
Every rule below is taught explicitly at the step shown, practiced in reading and spelling, and reviewed cumulatively after. If a rule is not taught in the program, it is not on this list.
| Rule | In plain words | Taught at | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sound it out, left to right | Every word is built from sounds in order; readers never guess from pictures or shape. | step 1.1 | mat, sat |
| -s at the end says /s/ or /z/ | The plural and verb ending -s has two sounds; the throat decides. | step 2.1 | cats, dogs |
| The FLSZ (FLOSS) rule | A one-beat word with a short vowel doubles a final f, l, s, or z. | step 3.1 | off, hill, miss, buzz |
| The broad a of the -all family | In the all, oll, and ull families the vowel broadens: a goes to /aw/. The broad a is one of a's real jobs in English (water, walk), not an exception. | step 3.2 | ball, tall, roll, full |
| ck right after a short vowel | The /k/ sound directly after a short vowel is spelled ck. | step 3.3 | back, kick, duck |
| Digraphs: two letters, one sound | sh, ch, th, wh, ph are letter teams making one new sound. | step 3.4 | ship, chat, thin |
| The silent e and its many jobs | Add e to the end and the vowel flips long: cap becomes cape. That is its most famous job, but not its only one. The silent e we teach also: makes c and g go soft (face, cage), stands in because English words do not end in v or u (have, blue), and gives the final consonant-le syllable its vowel (table, candle). A few words carry an older, historical e we no longer sound out (come, some, are); those we teach as explained irregular words. Naming all of the silent e’s jobs, not just the long-vowel one, is a mark of the Spalding and Logic of English tradition. | step 4.1 | cape, face, cage, have, table |
| Soft c says /s/ | Before e, i or y, c goes soft to /s/. | step 4.7 | face, race, nice |
| Soft g says /j/ | Before e, i or y, g usually goes soft to /j/ (get and give stay hard). | step 4.8 | cage, page, huge |
| The ve convention | English words do not end in plain v, so an e tags along, even after a short vowel. | step 4.9 | have, give, live |
| -es adds a beat after a hissing end | After s, x, z, ch, sh the plural is -es and says /ĕz/. | step 5.1 | boxes, dishes, benches |
| -ed has three sounds | The past-tense ending says /ĕd/, /d/, or /t/ depending on the sound before it. | step 5.2 | planted, filled, jumped |
| Every syllable has a vowel | Big words split into beats, and every beat holds a vowel sound. | step 5.4 | sunset, napkin |
| Open syllables say their name | A syllable ending in its vowel goes long. This is the first of the three ways a vowel says its own name (open syllable, silent e, and the long families below). | step 5.7 | he, go, robot, music |
| tch guards a short vowel | Right after a short vowel, /ch/ is spelled tch; elsewhere plain ch. | step 6.1 | catch, match, pitch |
| dge guards a short vowel | Right after a short vowel, /j/ is spelled dge; elsewhere ge. | step 6.2 | edge, badge, bridge |
| The long families (the third way) | ild, old, ind, and ost run long even without a silent e. The third of the three ways a vowel says its own name. | step 6.4 | wild, cold, find, most |
| y works as a vowel | At the end of a one-beat word y says /ī/; ending a longer word it says /ē/. | step 6.5 | my, sky; happy, baby |
| The r changes its vowel (r-controlled) | A vowel followed by r makes one new sound, and it counts as a vowel sound in its own right: ar, or, er, ir, ur. For the /er/ family, the keepers remember: her first nurse works early. | step 7.1 | car, corn, her, bird, fur |
| w bends ar | After w, the ar team slides toward /or/. | step 7.7 | war, warm |
| Spelling by position | Some sounds pick their spelling by where they sit: ai inside a word, ay at the end; oi inside, oy at the end. | step 8.1 | rain / play; coin / boy |
| igh, the three-letter /ī/ | The igh team says long i. | step 8.5 | light, night, bright |
| oo has two jobs | The oo team says long /o͞o/ or short /o͝o/, and readers flex between them. | step 9.1 | moon, food; book, look |
| au and aw, the yawn sound | The /aw/ sound is spelled au inside a word and aw at the end (position again). | step 9.4 | haul, sauce; paw, draw |
| The six syllable shapes | Every syllable in English takes one of six shapes, and the program teaches all six in order: closed (cat, step 1.1), silent-e (cape, 4.1), open (he, go, 5.7), consonant-le (table, 6.7), r-controlled (car, 7.1), and vowel team (rain, 8.1). Name the shape and the vowel tells you its sound. | step 1.1 | cat, cape, he, table, car, rain |
| Peel the prefixes and suffixes first | Word parts carry meaning; strip un-, re-, -ing, -ed and read the base. | step 10.1 | unpack, replay, jumping |
And one note about speech: unstressed vowels relax to /uh/ (the schwa) when we talk, about, from, the. We treat that as pronunciation, not spelling, and never as "another sound" of the vowel. For writing, the parent gives the clear as-written pronunciation first (a-bout), then the natural one. Specialists have a name for this principle, and it is ours too: sound for spelling, read for reading.
The teamsEvery letter team, every sound, in teaching orderOpen the list
The teams Every letter team, every sound, in teaching order
Specialists call these phonograms. Each team is listed with every sound the program teaches for it, in the order taught (step numbers in parentheses). Where a team has other jobs in English that the program has not yet given a full lesson, the last column says so plainly, those words are carried as explained irregular words until their lesson lands. Sounds are added in the order the reading demands them, one-syllable words before multisyllable ones, and each new job is contrasted with the old one the day it arrives (the er family alone is sequenced strictly by frequency: er, ir, ur, wor, ear).
| Team | Sounds, in teaching order | Other jobs, coming later |
|---|---|---|
| a | /ă/ (1.1) → /ā/ (1.5) → /aw/ (broad a) (1.17) → /aw/ (9.4) | |
| o | /ŏ/ (1.12) → /ō/ (2.3) → /o͞o/ (2.3) → /o͞o/ (9.1) | |
| d | /d/ (1.13) | |
| c | /k/ (1.14) | |
| u | /ŭ/ (1.15) → /o͝o/ (3.2) → /yū/ (its name) (4.5) | |
| g | /g/ (1.16) | |
| b | /b/ (1.17) | |
| e | /ĕ/ (1.18) → /ē/ (1.18) | |
| m | /m/ (1.2) | |
| s | /s/ (1.3) | |
| t | /t/ (1.4) | |
| p | /p/ (1.6) | |
| f | /f/ (1.7) | |
| i | /ĭ/ (1.8) → /ī/ (1.8) | |
| n | /n/ (1.9) | |
| -s | /s/ (2.1) → /z/ (2.2) | |
| x | /ks/ (2.10) | |
| qu | /kw/ (2.11) | |
| v | /v/ (2.12) | |
| z | /z/ (2.13) | |
| k | /k/ (2.3) | |
| h | /h/ (2.4) | |
| r | /r/ (2.5) | |
| l | /l/ (2.6) | |
| w | /w/ (2.7) | |
| j | /j/ (2.8) | |
| y | /y/ (2.9) → /ī/ (6.5) → /ē/ (6.6) → /ĭ/ (6.6) | |
| ff | /f/ (3.1) | |
| ll | /l/ (3.1) | |
| ss | /s/ (3.1) | |
| zz | /z/ (3.1) | |
| ng | /ŋ/ (3.10) | |
| nk | /ŋk/ (3.11) | |
| all | /awl/ (3.2) | |
| oll | /ōl/ (3.2) | |
| ull | /o͝ol/ (3.2) | |
| ck | /k/ (3.3) | |
| sh | /sh/ (3.4) | |
| th | /th/ (voiced) (3.5) → /th/ (unvoiced) (3.6) | |
| ch | /ch/ (3.7) → /k/ (3.7) → /sh/ (3.7) | also /k/ (school) and /sh/ (machine); machine is taught now as an explained irregular word, the /k/ and /sh/ jobs are beyond Level 10, so we teach each of those words as an explained irregular word when it comes up |
| wh | /w/ (3.9) | |
| ph | /f/ (3.9) | |
| a_e | /ā/ (4.1) | |
| i_e | /ī/ (4.2) | |
| o_e | /ō/ (4.3) | |
| e_e | /ē/ (4.4) | |
| u_e | /yū/ and /ū/ (4.5) | |
| ce | /s/ (4.7) | |
| ge | /j/ (4.8) | |
| ve | /v/ (4.9) | |
| -es | /ĕz/ (5.1) | |
| -ed | /ĕd/, /d/, /t/ (5.2) | |
| -ing | /ĭŋ/ (5.3) | |
| tch | /ch/ (6.1) | |
| dge | /j/ (6.2) | |
| old | /ōld/ (6.4) | |
| ild | /īld/ (6.4) | |
| ind | /īnd/ (6.4) | |
| ost | /ōst/ (6.4) | |
| olt | /ōlt/ (6.4) | |
| le | /ul/ (6.7) | |
| ar | /ar/ (7.1) | |
| or | /or/ (7.2) | |
| ore | /or/ (7.2) | |
| er | /er/ (7.3) | |
| ir | /er/ (7.4) | |
| ur | /er/ (7.5) | |
| wor | /wer/ (7.6) | |
| air | /air/ (7.7) | |
| are | /air/ (7.7) | |
| war | /wor/ (7.7) | |
| ai | /ā/ (8.1) | |
| ay | /ā/ (8.1) | |
| ee | /ē/ (8.2) | |
| ea | /ē/ (8.3) → /ĕ/ (8.3) → /ā/ (8.3) | also /ā/ (great, break, steak), taught now as an explained irregular word; its own lesson is beyond Level 10. The /ĕ/ job is NOT deferred: it is taught at step 8.3 as the flex (read long first, drop to short if the word sounds odd), and because no rule predicts which words take it, every short-ea word the child meets there (head, bread, thread) is additionally named as an explained irregular word, so nothing is left to guesswork |
| ear | /ēr/ (8.3) → /er/ (8.3) | |
| oa | /ō/ (8.4) | |
| ow | /ō/ (8.4) → /ow/ (8.4) → /ow/ (9.2) | |
| igh | /ī/ (8.5) | |
| eigh | /ā/ (8.5) | |
| gh | /g/ (8.5) | |
| ie | /ī/ (8.6) → /ē/ (8.6) | |
| ei | /ē/, /ā/, /ĭ/ (8.6) | |
| oe | /ō/ (8.7) → /o͞o/ (8.7) | |
| ue | /o͞o/ (8.7) → /o͞o/ (9.5) | |
| ew | /o͞o/ (8.7) → /o͞o/ (9.5) | |
| ey | /ē/ (8.7) | also /ā/ (they), taught now as an explained irregular word (a rare job for the team) |
| oo | /o͞o/ (9.1) → /o͝o/ (9.1) → /ō/ (9.1) | |
| ou | /ow/ (9.2) → /ō/ (9.2) → /o͞o/ (9.2) → /ŭ/ (9.2) | also /ū/ (soup), /ŭ/ (young, touch) and /or/ (four); young, touch and four are taught now as explained irregular words, the remaining jobs are beyond Level 10, so we teach those words as explained irregular words when they come up |
| oi | /oy/ (9.3) | |
| oy | /oy/ (9.3) | |
| au | /aw/ (9.4) | |
| aw | /aw/ (9.4) | |
| ui | /o͞o/ (9.5) | |
| kn | /n/ (10.1) | |
| wr | /r/ (10.1) | |
| gn | /n/ (10.1) | |
| ough | /ō/ /o͞o/ /ŭf/ /ŏf/ /aw/ /ow/ (10.2) | |
| augh | /aw/ /ăf/ (10.2) | |
| gu | /g/ (10.3) | |
| bu | /b/ (10.3) | |
| tion | /shun/ (10.6) | |
| sion | /shun/ (10.6) | |
| ci | /sh/ (10.6) |
The suffix spelling rules, taught when they are needed. Dropping the silent e before a vowel ending (make → making) is taught at Step 5.3, the 1-1-1 doubling rule (hop → hopping) at Step 5.4, and changing y to i (cry → cried) at Step 6.6, each in our literacy advisor's own script and each followed by word sums the child writes on paper and the grown-up checks. The rule for words of more than one syllable (refer → referred) comes towards the end of the program. What the program does not teach yet, and knows it: the final stable syllables -ture and -sure (picture, structure, measure), the o that says /ŭ/ (love, mother, does), and a few rarer letter teams such as sc (science) and ce for /sh/ (ocean). Where a word from one of those not-yet-taught patterns is genuinely needed earlier, it is carried as an explained irregular word with its odd part named, never as a shape to memorize. We would rather name the edge of the map than pretend there is no edge.
The registerEvery irregular word, by stepOpen the list
The register Every irregular word, by step
The register counts each word once: 95 words. Twelve of them are listed twice, because we meet them again at a later step. The complete register of explicitly taught irregular words: where each is introduced, which part is odd (the regular parts are always sounded out), the exact explanation the parent gives, and the step where the underlying pattern gets its own lesson and the word becomes lawful (⟲). Three standing rules apply to every word here. First, a word may appear in child-read story lines only from its teaching step onward, enforced mechanically before any line ships. Second, any word a child misses returns on the spaced-review schedule until it is beaten twice. Third, mastery gates hold a child at a step until its material is genuinely secure, so nothing on this list is ever left behind.
| Step | Word | Odd part | What we teach | Becomes lawful |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.3 | as | s | Regular, not tricky: s can say /s/ and /z/, and we teach both from the start. Here s says /z/ (as = /ă/ /z/), so it is sounded out, flex the s to /z/, never memorized. | not yet |
| 1.4 | I | I | Regular, not tricky: an open syllable, a lone vowel says its name, so I says /ī/. We teach this simply from the start. | not yet |
| 1.5 | a | a | Regular, not tricky: an open syllable, a lone vowel says its name (/ā/); in speech it relaxes to the schwa /uh/. We teach this simply from the start. | not yet |
| 1.5 | the | e | Not a tricky word, just a regular word with a small twist: th is a letter team you meet at Level 3 ⟲, and the e says its name, 'thee', the way we spell it and sing it. When we talk fast it relaxes to 'thuh'. Before a vowel we still say 'thee': the egg | not yet |
| 1.5 | read | ea | The e-a team says /ē/ here, and that team is formally taught at 8.3. From 1.5 the reader meets read in every story, so the child sounds out the regular parts and we hold only the e-a, never the whole word as a shape; read becomes fully decodable at 8.3. | ⟲ 8.3 |
| 1.8 | is | s | Regular, not tricky: s says /z/ here (is = /ĭ/ /z/). We teach s = /s/ and /z/ from the start, so flex the s and sound it out. | not yet |
| 1.9 | his | s | Regular, not tricky: s says /z/ here (his = /h/ /ĭ/ /z/). We teach s = /s/ and /z/ from the start, so flex the s and sound it out. | not yet |
| 1.12 | to | o | Regular, with one part you meet later: o has three sounds, /ŏ/, /ō/ and the long /o͞o/ of to and do. The third sound is taught at 2.3 ⟲; until then say the word whole, then flex the o and sound it out | ⟲ 2.3 |
| 1.13 | of | f | f says /v/. The only English word where it does | not yet |
| 1.13 | and | nd | Regular, not tricky: every sound is already yours (/ă/ + /n/ + /d/), so you simply blend it. We do not teach n-d as a special blend and never memorize it; it reads as soon as a, n and d are known. | not yet |
| 1.16 | has | s | Regular, not tricky: s says /z/ here (has = /h/ /ă/ /z/). We teach s = /s/ and /z/ from the start, so flex the s and sound it out. | not yet |
| 1.17 | was | a·s | Regular, not tricky: w + a's third sound, the broad /aw/ you hear after w (was, want, wash), + s saying /z/. Flex both and sound it out: was. | not yet |
| 1.17 | out | ou | Regular, with one part you meet later: o-u together say one sound, /ow/, the sound you make when a bug bites; the t behaves as usual. The ou team is taught at 9.2 ⟲ | ⟲ 9.2 |
| 2.1 | they | ey | Regular, with one part you meet later: e-y says /ā/ here, ey's second sound (ey usually says /ē/, key; both are taught at 8.7 ⟲). Say 'thay' | ⟲ 8.7 |
| 2.1 | reads | ea | read plus the -s taught at 2.1. | ⟲ 2.1 |
| 2.2 | are | a·e | Regular, with one part you meet later: the r sounds out. a-r together just say /ar/ (that pattern arrives at 7.1 ⟲), and the e is silent | not yet |
| 2.3 | do | o | Regular, not tricky: o's third sound, the long /o͞o/, taught this step. Try /ŏ/, /ō/, then /o͞o/: do. | not yet |
| 2.4 | have | e | Regular, with one part you meet later: the v-e convention makes this decodable at 4.9 ⟲ | ⟲ 4.9 |
| 2.5 | from | o | every letter behaves; the o only relaxes in fast speech. For spelling, wake it: say 'from' with a clear /ŏ/, rhymes with Tom | not yet |
| 2.6 | said | ai | say + d: said is just say wearing its past-tense coat, the y trades places with i inside the word. Speech clips it to 'sed'; for spelling, think 'say-d' | not yet |
| 2.7 | what | wh | Regular, with one part you meet later: wh comes at Level 3 ⟲. The a after w goes broad, a's third sound you met in was (1.17); for spelling, wake it: say 'what' with a clear /ă/ | not yet |
| 2.8 | one | o·e | the o hides a /w/ nobody wrote, and the e is silent. Its cousins once and only keep the same o, one family, one strange old spelling | not yet |
| 2.8 | no | o | Regular, not tricky: an open beat: the o says its name, /ō/, o's second sound, taught at 2.3. Sound it out: no. | ⟲ 2.3 |
| 2.9 | two | wo | the w is not random: two keeps the tw of its family, twin, twice, twenty, twelve. o says /ū/ | not yet |
| 2.10 | were | ere | Regular, with one part you meet later: sounds like 'wur'. Fully sounds out from Step 7.3 ⟲ | not yet |
| 2.12 | little | le | Met at 2.12 (used in the First Readers): the child reads the regular l-i-tt and we hold only the -le ending, never the whole word as a shape. The -le ending is taught at Level 6, where little becomes fully decodable. | not yet |
| 2.13 | he | e | Regular, not tricky: an open beat: the e says its name, /ē/, e's second sound, taught at 1.18. Sound it out: he. | ⟲ 1.18 |
| 2.17 | for | or | Regular, with one part you meet later: o-r together say /or/ (that pattern gets its own lesson at 7.2 ⟲). Until then the child sounds out the rest and we hold only the o-r, never the whole word as a shape; for becomes fully decodable at 7.2. | ⟲ 7.2 |
| 3.1 | who | o | Regular, with one part you meet later: the o says its third sound, the long /o͞o/ you learned at 2.3. The wh part says /h/ here, an odd job for it; wh gets its lesson at 3.9 ⟲ | not yet |
| 3.2 | want | a | Regular, not tricky: w + a's broad third sound /aw/ (taught with was at 1.17) + n + t. Sound it out: want. | not yet |
| 3.3 | your | our | Regular, with one part you meet later: y + ou + r. The ou says long /ō/ here, ou's second sound, taught at 9.2 ⟲, and the r sounds out: 'yor' | ⟲ 9.2 |
| 3.4 | some | o·e | O says /ŭ/. The silent-e story comes at Level 4 | not yet |
| 3.5 | there | ere | th is regular as of today! ere says /air/ ⟲ | not yet |
| 3.5 | here | ere | h is regular; ere says /ear/ | not yet |
| 3.6 | come | o·e | o says /ŭ/. Just like some | not yet |
| 3.8 | would | oul | sounds like 'wo͝od'. For spelling, march the letters: w-o-u-l-d, and its twins could and should march the same way | not yet |
| 3.9 | where | ere | wh is regular at this very step! ere says /air/ ⟲ | not yet |
| 3.10 | could | oul | rhymes with would, same oul. March the letters: c-o-u-l-d, the twins always match | not yet |
| 3.11 | so | o | Regular, not tricky: an open beat: the o says its name, /ō/, o's second sound, taught at 2.3. Sound it out: so. | ⟲ 2.3 |
| 3.11 | you | ou | Regular, with one part you meet later: the o-u team says long /o͞o/ here, ou's third sound, taught with all four ou sounds at 9.2 ⟲. Say 'yoo' | not yet |
| 4.1 | away | ay | Regular, with one part you meet later: a + way, two words you know holding hands. ay says /ā/, its team lesson arrives at 8.1 ⟲. The first a relaxes only in speech; for spelling, wake it: say 'A-way' | not yet |
| 4.2 | very | er | Regular, with one part you meet later: er says /er/. Decodable at 7.4 ⟲ | not yet |
| 4.3 | how | ow | Regular, with one part you meet later: ow says /ow/, ow's second sound. Decodable at 8.4 ⟲ | not yet |
| 4.4 | been | ee | be + en, the -en ending that taken and given wear too. Speech clips it to 'bin'; for spelling, wake it: say 'BEE-en' | not yet |
| 4.5 | now | ow | Regular, with one part you meet later: ow says /ow/, ow's second sound. Decodable at 8.4 ⟲ | not yet |
| 4.6 | many | a | a says /ĕ/, say 'menny' | not yet |
| 4.7 | any | a | a says /ĕ/. Rhymes with many | not yet |
| 4.8 | again | ai | a + gain. In speech it softens to 'uh-GEN'; for spelling, wake it: say 'a-GAYN', rhymes with rain, and the letters spell themselves | not yet |
| 4.9 | because | au | Regular, with one part you meet later: be + cause. be behaves, an open syllable saying /bē/; au says /aw/, its team lesson arrives at 9.4 ⟲. Nothing to memorize, just one team met early | not yet |
| 4.9 | people | eo | Eo says /ē/. The -ple chunk becomes regular at 6.7 | not yet |
| 5.1 | says | ay | say + s, the sister of said. Speech clips it to 'sez'; the spelling is simply say plus s | not yet |
| 5.2 | walk | al | Regular, with one part you meet later: for spelling, sound the sleeping l: say 'wal-k'. In speech it hides, 'wawk'. The broad a behind it is taught at Step 1.17 ⟲ | ⟲ 9.4 |
| 5.3 | talk | al | Regular, with one part you meet later: for spelling, sound the sleeping l: say 'tal-k'. Rhymes with walk, same hidden l. The broad a behind it is taught at Step 1.17 ⟲ | ⟲ 9.4 |
| 5.4 | also | o | Regular, with one part you meet later: al says /awl/ and o says /ō/. Fully decodable at 5.4 ⟲ | ⟲ 5.4 |
| 5.5 | their | eir | th is regular; e-i says /ā/ here (ei's second sound, taught at 8.6 ⟲) and the r sounds out: 'thair' | ⟲ 8.6 |
| 5.6 | gone | o·e | o stays short /ŏ/. The e is silent but not magic | not yet |
| 5.7 | done | o·e | o says /ŭ/. Like some and come | not yet |
| 5.7 | goes | es | go is regular as of this step! -es just adds /z/ ⟲ | not yet |
| 5.8 | today | ay | Regular, with one part you meet later: to + day, a compound of two words you know. ay says /ā/, its team lesson arrives at 8.1 ⟲. For spelling, keep the o awake: say 'to-day' | not yet |
| 5.8 | July | u·y | Regular, with one part you meet later: ju- is open; y says /ī/. Decodable at 6.5 ⟲ | not yet |
| 6.1 | once | o | o says /wŭ/, say 'wunss'; the ce is your regular soft c | not yet |
| 6.2 | friend | ie | think fri-end to spell it: your friend has an end. In speech the ie softens to /ĕ/, 'frend' | not yet |
| 6.3 | only | o | O says /ō/, 'OWN-lee'; the y is /ē/, decodable at 6.6 ⟲ | ⟲ 6.6 |
| 6.4 | work | or | Regular, with one part you meet later: w+or says /wer/. Decodable at 7.6 ⟲ | not yet |
| 6.4 | word | or | Regular, with one part you meet later: same w+or pattern as work. Decodable at 7.6 ⟲ | not yet |
| 6.5 | eye | e·e | the y does its usual /ī/ job, just like my and sky (taught this very step). The two silent e's stand guard on each side, a nose between two eyes | not yet |
| 6.6 | busy | u | u says /ĭ/, 'BIZ-ee'; the final y is the regular /ē/ | not yet |
| 6.7 | beautiful | eau | eau says /ū/, 'BYOO-tuh-ful'. Spell it with the old chant: b-e-a-u-tiful; the rest of the word behaves | not yet |
| 6.8 | learn | ear | Regular, with one part you meet later: e-a-r says /er/ here, ear's second sound, taught at 8.3 ⟲. Say 'lern' | ⟲ 8.3 |
| 6.8 | world | or | Regular, with one part you meet later: w+or says /wer/ again. Decodable at 7.6 ⟲ | not yet |
| 7.1 | are | e | ar sounds out now, it was taught this very step. Only the leftover silent e is odd. Not 'air' | not yet |
| 7.1 | about | ou | Regular, with one part you meet later: ou says /ow/, taught at 9.2 ⟲, and the first a is a lazy beat, the schwa taught at 9.8 ⟲ (where about is reclassified as sounded out). Introduced here where it is first needed on the page | ⟲ 9.2 |
| 7.2 | four | our | Regular, with one part you meet later: o-u says long /ō/ here, ou's second sound, taught at 9.2 ⟲, and the r sounds out: 'for'. The number four | ⟲ 9.2 |
| 7.2 | your | our | Regular, with one part you meet later: o-u says long /ō/ here, ou's second sound, taught at 9.2 ⟲, and the r sounds out: 'yor' | ⟲ 9.2 |
| 7.3 | were | ere | e-r-e says /wer/, say 'wer', rhymes with her | not yet |
| 7.4 | door | oo | Regular, with one part you meet later: the oo team says /ō/ before r, oo's third sound, taught at 9.1 ⟲. Say 'dor' | ⟲ 9.1 |
| 7.4 | see | ee | Regular, with one part you meet later: ee says /ē/. Fully decodable at 8.2 ⟲ | ⟲ 8.2 |
| 7.5 | our | ou | Regular, with one part you meet later: ou says /ow/ here and the r sounds out, a team taught at 9.2 ⟲. 'Ow-er', our home. Different from four/your | ⟲ 9.2 |
| 7.6 | world | or | w+or says /wer/, 'werld'. First met in Level 6; now fully explained | not yet |
| 7.7 | bear | ear | e-a-r here says /air/, 'bair', rhymes with care. Not 'beer' | not yet |
| 7.7 | wear | ear | e-a-r says /air/, 'wair'. We wear a coat. Same family as bear | not yet |
| 7.8 | water | a | Regular, not tricky: w + a's broad third sound /aw/ (taught with was at 1.17) + t + the r-controlled er (7.3). Sound it out: WAW-ter. | not yet |
| 8.1 | they | ey | Regular, with one part you meet later: e-y says /ā/ here, ey's second sound, taught with ey at 8.7 ⟲. Say 'thay' | not yet |
| 8.1 | again | ai | a + gain. Speech softens it to 'uh-GEN'; for spelling, wake it: say 'a-GAYN', rhymes with rain | not yet |
| 8.1 | eye | e·e | Re-anchored here, because eyes arrives with it. The y does its usual /ī/ job, just like my and sky (learned at 6.5); the two silent e's stand guard on each side, a nose between two eyes | not yet |
| 8.1 | eyes | e·e | eye plus the regular -s ending from step 2.1. The y does its usual /ī/ job, just like my and sky; the two silent e's stand guard on each side, a nose between two eyes | not yet |
| 8.2 | been | ee | be + en, like taken and given. Speech says 'bin'; for spelling, wake it: say 'BEE-en' | not yet |
| 8.7 | money | o | The o says /ŭ/, 'MUN-ee'; the ey is the regular /ē/ you learn this very step, so only the o is held. The o-says-/ŭ/ family (money, honey, front, love, come) has no lesson of its own in Levels 1 to 10, so the o stays named | not yet |
| 8.7 | honey | o | The o says /ŭ/, 'HUN-ee'; the ey is the regular /ē/ you learn this very step, so only the o is held. Money's twin: the same single odd letter, the same family | not yet |
| 9.1 | would | oul | o-u-l-d says /wood/, say 'wood'; one of three twins (would, could, should) | not yet |
| 9.1 | could | oul | same o-u-l-d pattern as would, say 'cood' | not yet |
| 9.1 | should | oul | same o-u-l-d pattern again, say 'shood' | not yet |
| 9.2 | young | ou | Regular, not tricky: ou's fourth sound, short /ŭ/, taught this step. Run ou's four sounds until the word pops out: young. | not yet |
| 9.2 | touch | ou | Regular, not tricky: ou's fourth sound, short /ŭ/, taught this step, and ch is regular. Flex the ou: touch. | not yet |
| 9.4 | enough | ough | Regular, with one part you meet later: o-u-g-h says /ŭf/ here, one of the ough team's six sounds, taught at 10.2 ⟲. Say 'ee-NUFF' | ⟲ 10.2 |
| 9.5 | shoe | oe | Regular, not tricky: oe's second sound /o͞o/ (taught at 8.7). Try /ō/, flex to /o͞o/: shoe. | ⟲ 8.7 |
| 9.7 | built | ui | Regular, with one part you meet later: b-u says /b/, a two-letter team taught at 10.3 ⟲; the u is silent, b-i-l-t is what you hear | ⟲ 10.3 |
| 9.8 | about | a | Regular, not tricky: the first a is a lazy beat, the schwa you learn this step (and a's name-sound relaxing), and the ou is your /ow/ from 9.2. Sound it out: 'uh-BOWT' | not yet |
| 9.8 | animal | a | say it to spell it: 'AN-i-mal', waking every vowel, the way you might think Wed-nes-day to spell Wednesday. Speech relaxes it to 'AN-uh-mul' | not yet |
| 10.1 | people | eo | eo says /ē/, 'PEE-pul'; the -ple is your regular consonant-le beat | not yet |
| 10.2 | through | ough | Regular, not tricky: the ough team says /o͞o/ here. Six sounds, one line (though, through, rough, cough, thought, drought), taught this step; run the line: through. | not yet |
| 10.3 | thought | ough | Regular, not tricky: the ough team says /aw/ here, one of its six sounds taught at 10.2. Run the line: thought. | ⟲ 10.2 |
| 10.3 | immature | ture | im- + mature. The prefix and the m-a-t are fully regular, and im- before an m is exactly the pattern of this step; only the -ture tail is odd, it says /chur/: 'im-muh-CHUR'. The -ture ending is beyond Level 10, so we teach this word through its odd part when it comes up | not yet |
| 10.6 | science | sci | sc says /s/ before i, 'SY-unss'; the rest behaves | not yet |
| 10.7 | answer | w | the silent w is a fossil from swear: an answer was once a sworn reply. Say 'AN-ser', spell an + swer | not yet |
| 10.7 | structure | ture | struct + -ure. The root you learn this very step is fully readable, s-t-r-u-c-t; only the -ture tail is odd, it says /chur/: 'STRUK-chur'. The same tail you met on immature at 10.3. It is beyond Level 10, so we teach this word through its odd part when it comes up | not yet |
| 10.8 | machine | i·e | The ch says /sh/, ch's third sound (taught at 3.7); the odd part is the i-e saying /ē/, 'muh-SHEEN', a borrowed-from-French word | ⟲ 3.7 |
Level 1 First Sounds, First Words
CVC core. Your child reads real words from week 1. UFLI 1 to 19 equivalent
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | a /ă/, first sound, first letter | a /ă/ | ||
| 1.2 | m /m/. And the first word: am | m /m/ | ||
| 1.3 | s /s/, Sam appears | s /s/ | as (only "s" is odd)Regular, not tricky: s can say /s/ and /z/, and we teach both from the start. Here s says /z/ (as = /ă/ /z/), so it is sounded out, flex the s to /z/, never memorized. | |
| 1.4 | t /t/ | t /t/ | I (only "I" is odd)Regular, not tricky: an open syllable, a lone vowel says its name, so I says /ī/. We teach this simply from the start. | |
| 1.5 | VC & CVC blending routine, first sentences | a /ā/ | a (only "a" is odd)Regular, not tricky: an open syllable, a lone vowel says its name (/ā/); in speech it relaxes to the schwa /uh/. We teach this simply from the start. the (only "e" is odd)Not a tricky word, just a regular word with a small twist: th is a letter team you meet at Level 3 ⟲, and the e says its name, 'thee', the way we spell it and sing it. When we talk fast it relaxes to 'thuh'. Before a vowel we still say 'thee': the egg read (only "ea" is odd)The e-a team says /ē/ here, and that team is formally taught at 8.3. From 1.5 the reader meets read in every story, so the child sounds out the regular parts and we hold only the e-a, never the whole word as a shape; read becomes fully decodable at 8.3. | |
| 1.6 | p /p/ | p /p/ | ||
| 1.7 | f /f/ | f /f/ | ||
| 1.8 | i /ĭ/, second vowel | i /ĭ/, i /ī/ | is (only "s" is odd)Regular, not tricky: s says /z/ here (is = /ĭ/ /z/). We teach s = /s/ and /z/ from the start, so flex the s and sound it out. | |
| 1.9 | n /n/ | n /n/ | his (only "s" is odd)Regular, not tricky: s says /z/ here (his = /h/ /ĭ/ /z/). We teach s = /s/ and /z/ from the start, so flex the s and sound it out. | |
| 1.10 | CVC practice. A and i minimal pairs | |||
| 1.11 | Nasalized a: an, am families | |||
| 1.12 | o /ŏ/, third vowel | o /ŏ/ | to (only "o" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: o has three sounds, /ŏ/, /ō/ and the long /o͞o/ of to and do. The third sound is taught at 2.3 ⟲; until then say the word whole, then flex the o and sound it out | |
| 1.13 | d /d/ | d /d/ | of (only "f" is odd)f says /v/. The only English word where it does and (only "nd" is odd)Regular, not tricky: every sound is already yours (/ă/ + /n/ + /d/), so you simply blend it. We do not teach n-d as a special blend and never memorize it; it reads as soon as a, n and d are known. | |
| 1.14 | c /k/ | c /k/ | ||
| 1.15 | u /ŭ/, fourth vowel | u /ŭ/ | ||
| 1.16 | g /g/ | g /g/ | has (only "s" is odd)Regular, not tricky: s says /z/ here (has = /h/ /ă/ /z/). We teach s = /s/ and /z/ from the start, so flex the s and sound it out. | |
| 1.17 | b /b/. The b/d showdown | b /b/, a /aw/ (broad a) | was (only "a·s" is odd)Regular, not tricky: w + a's third sound, the broad /aw/ you hear after w (was, want, wash), + s saying /z/. Flex both and sound it out: was. out (only "ou" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: o-u together say one sound, /ow/, the sound you make when a bug bites; the t behaves as usual. The ou team is taught at 9.2 ⟲ | ⟲ was |
| 1.18 | e /ĕ/. Fifth and final short vowel | e /ĕ/, e /ē/ | ||
| 1.19 | Short-vowel review. All five vowels |
Level 2 Alphabet Complete & Word Building
The rest of the alphabet, then blends. 4- and 5-sound words. UFLI 20 to 41c equivalent (blends made an explicit unit for intervention)
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | -s /s/, one cat, two cats (plural) | -s /s/ | they (only "ey" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: e-y says /ā/ here, ey's second sound (ey usually says /ē/, key; both are taught at 8.7 ⟲). Say 'thay' reads (only "ea" is odd)read plus the -s taught at 2.1. | |
| 2.2 | -s /z/. And four irregular words earn their wings | -s /z/ | are (only "a·e" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: the r sounds out. a-r together just say /ar/ (that pattern arrives at 7.1 ⟲), and the e is silent | ⟲ is, his, has, as |
| 2.3 | k /k/. And when to use k vs. c | k /k/, o /ō/, o /o͞o/ | do (only "o" is odd)Regular, not tricky: o's third sound, the long /o͞o/, taught this step. Try /ŏ/, /ō/, then /o͞o/: do. | ⟲ to, do |
| 2.4 | h /h/ | h /h/ | have (only "e" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: the v-e convention makes this decodable at 4.9 ⟲ | |
| 2.5 | r /r/ | r /r/ | from (only "o" is odd)every letter behaves; the o only relaxes in fast speech. For spelling, wake it: say 'from' with a clear /ŏ/, rhymes with Tom | |
| 2.6 | l /l/ | l /l/ | said (only "ai" is odd)say + d: said is just say wearing its past-tense coat, the y trades places with i inside the word. Speech clips it to 'sed'; for spelling, think 'say-d' | |
| 2.7 | w /w/ | w /w/ | what (only "wh" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: wh comes at Level 3 ⟲. The a after w goes broad, a's third sound you met in was (1.17); for spelling, wake it: say 'what' with a clear /ă/ | |
| 2.8 | j /j/ | j /j/ | one (only "o·e" is odd)the o hides a /w/ nobody wrote, and the e is silent. Its cousins once and only keep the same o, one family, one strange old spelling | ⟲ no |
| 2.9 | y /y/ | y /y/ | two (only "wo" is odd)the w is not random: two keeps the tw of its family, twin, twice, twenty, twelve. o says /ū/ | |
| 2.10 | x /ks/, one letter, two sounds | x /ks/ | were (only "ere" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: sounds like 'wur'. Fully sounds out from Step 7.3 ⟲ | |
| 2.11 | qu /kw/. The letter that never goes alone | qu /kw/ | ||
| 2.12 | v /v/ | v /v/ | ||
| 2.13 | z /z/, alphabet complete! | z /z/ | ⟲ he | |
| 2.14 | Initial blends, s-, l-, r- families (stop, flag, grab) | |||
| 2.15 | Final blends, fast, jump, hand, milk | |||
| 2.16 | Blends on both ends, stamp, crust, strap (CCVCC / CCCVC) | |||
| 2.17 | Cumulative review. Short vowels + every blend | for (only "or" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: o-r together say /or/ (that pattern gets its own lesson at 7.2 ⟲). Until then the child sounds out the rest and we hold only the o-r, never the whole word as a shape; for becomes fully decodable at 7.2. |
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Level 3 Digraphs & First Spelling Conventions
Letters team up, sh, ch, th and friends unlock real stories. UFLI 42 to 53 equivalent
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | FLSZ rule, off, hill, miss, buzz | ff /f/, ll /l/, ss /s/, zz /z/ | who (only "o" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: the o says its third sound, the long /o͞o/ you learned at 2.3. The wh part says /h/ here, an odd job for it; wh gets its lesson at 3.9 ⟲ | |
| 3.2 | -all, -oll, -ull, ball, roll, full | all /awl/, oll /ōl/, ull /o͝ol/, u /o͝o/ | want (only "a" is odd)Regular, not tricky: w + a's broad third sound /aw/ (taught with was at 1.17) + n + t. Sound it out: want. | ⟲ want |
| 3.3 | ck /k/, back, kick, duck | ck /k/ | your (only "our" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: y + ou + r. The ou says long /ō/ here, ou's second sound, taught at 9.2 ⟲, and the r sounds out: 'yor' | |
| 3.4 | sh /sh/. The first letter team | sh /sh/ | some (only "o·e" is odd)O says /ŭ/. The silent-e story comes at Level 4 | |
| 3.5 | th (voiced), this, that, them, then, than | th /th/ (voiced) | there (only "ere" is odd)th is regular as of today! ere says /air/ ⟲ here (only "ere" is odd)h is regular; ere says /ear/ | |
| 3.6 | th (unvoiced), thin, thick, bath, path | th /th/ (unvoiced) | come (only "o·e" is odd)o says /ŭ/. Just like some | |
| 3.7 | ch /ch/, chip, chat, lunch | ch /ch/, ch /k/, ch /sh/ | ||
| 3.8 | Digraph review 1. Sh / ch / th discrimination | would (only "oul" is odd)sounds like 'wo͝od'. For spelling, march the letters: w-o-u-l-d, and its twins could and should march the same way | ||
| 3.9 | wh /w/ and ph /f/, when, whip; Phil, graph | wh /w/, ph /f/ | where (only "ere" is odd)wh is regular at this very step! ere says /air/ ⟲ | |
| 3.10 | ng /ŋ/, ring, song, long, strong | ng /ŋ/ | could (only "oul" is odd)rhymes with would, same oul. March the letters: c-o-u-l-d, the twins always match | |
| 3.11 | nk /ŋk/, pink, bank, think, drink | nk /ŋk/ | ⟲ so | |
| 3.12 | Digraph review 2. All the teams, cumulative |
Level 4 Silent-e (VCe) & Soft c/g
The silent e flips the vowel. Cap becomes cape. UFLI 54 to 62 equivalent
How the silent e is actually taught: the flip, minimal pairs first.
cap → capetap → tapemad → madebit → biterid → rideslim → slimehop → hopenot → noterob → robecub → cubetub → tubecut → cute
Each pattern opens with a word the child can already read, then the e lands and the vowel says its name. From the Level 4 teaching script itself:
“You already read this word: cap. Now watch. I'm adding one letter: cape. This e at the end is silent. It makes no sound. But it has a job: it reaches back over the p and makes the a say its NAME: /ā/. So this word is… cape.”
“Never call it 'magic e' without the job description. The e isn't magic, it has a JOB: it makes the vowel say its name.”
“Don't rush mixed lists yet. Pairs first (bit/bite), then singles. The checking habit is the whole lesson.”
Exception words that break the pattern (come, some) are never taught as examples of it; they are taught as explained irregular words instead, see the words-to-watch column below.
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | a_e /ā/. Cap becomes cape | a_e /ā/ | away (only "ay" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: a + way, two words you know holding hands. ay says /ā/, its team lesson arrives at 8.1 ⟲. The first a relaxes only in speech; for spelling, wake it: say 'A-way' | |
| 4.2 | i_e /ī/. Bit becomes bite | i_e /ī/ | very (only "er" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: er says /er/. Decodable at 7.4 ⟲ | |
| 4.3 | o_e /ō/. Hop becomes hope | o_e /ō/ | how (only "ow" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: ow says /ow/, ow's second sound. Decodable at 8.4 ⟲ | |
| 4.4 | VCe review 1 + e_e /ē/, these, theme, Pete | e_e /ē/ | been (only "ee" is odd)be + en, the -en ending that taken and given wear too. Speech clips it to 'bin'; for spelling, wake it: say 'BEE-en' | |
| 4.5 | u_e /yū/ and /ū/, cute, mule; rude, June | u_e /yū/ and /ū/, u /yū/ (its name) | now (only "ow" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: ow says /ow/, ow's second sound. Decodable at 8.4 ⟲ | |
| 4.6 | VCe review 2, all five, mixed discrimination | many (only "a" is odd)a says /ĕ/, say 'menny' | ||
| 4.7 | _ce /s/, soft c: face, race, nice, mice | ce /s/ | any (only "a" is odd)a says /ĕ/. Rhymes with many | |
| 4.8 | _ge /j/, soft g: cage, page, huge, change | ge /j/ | again (only "ai" is odd)a + gain. In speech it softens to 'uh-GEN'; for spelling, wake it: say 'a-GAYN', rhymes with rain, and the letters spell themselves | |
| 4.9 | VCe review 3 + the ve convention, have, give, live | ve /v/ | because (only "au" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: be + cause. be behaves, an open syllable saying /bē/; au says /aw/, its team lesson arrives at 9.4 ⟲. Nothing to memorize, just one team met early people (only "eo" is odd)Eo says /ē/. The -ple chunk becomes regular at 6.7 | ⟲ have |
Level 5 Reading Longer Words I
Endings, syllables, compounds. From one-syllable words to word architecture. UFLI 63 to 68 equivalent
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | -es /ĕz/, boxes, dishes, benches | -es /ĕz/ | says (only "ay" is odd)say + s, the sister of said. Speech clips it to 'sez'; the spelling is simply say plus s | |
| 5.2 | -ed, one ending, three sounds: /ĕd/, /d/, /t/ | -ed /ĕd/, /d/, /t/ | walk (only "al" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: for spelling, sound the sleeping l: say 'wal-k'. In speech it hides, 'wawk'. The broad a behind it is taught at Step 1.17 ⟲ | |
| 5.3 | -ing, jumping, fishing, thinking | -ing /ĭŋ/ | talk (only "al" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: for spelling, sound the sleeping l: say 'tal-k'. Rhymes with walk, same hidden l. The broad a behind it is taught at Step 1.17 ⟲ | |
| 5.4 | The syllable. Every beat has a vowel | |||
| 5.5 | Compound words, sunset, backpack, cupcake | their (only "eir" is odd)th is regular; e-i says /ā/ here (ei's second sound, taught at 8.6 ⟲) and the r sounds out: 'thair' | ||
| 5.6 | Closed/closed two-syllable words, napkin, rabbit, basket | gone (only "o·e" is odd)o stays short /ŏ/. The e is silent but not magic | ||
| 5.7 | Open syllables, he, she, we, go, no, so + robot, music | done (only "o·e" is odd)o says /ŭ/. Like some and come goes (only "es" is odd)go is regular as of this step! -es just adds /z/ ⟲ | ⟲ I | |
| 5.8 | Schwa. The lazy vowel in unstressed beats: salad, wagon, seven | today (only "ay" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: to + day, a compound of two words you know. ay says /ā/, its team lesson arrives at 8.1 ⟲. For spelling, keep the o awake: say 'to-day' July (only "u·y" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: ju- is open; y says /ī/. Decodable at 6.5 ⟲ | ⟲ the, a |
Level 6 Ending Spelling Patterns
Guards, long families, the two jobs of y and the -le beat. Endings your child can trust. UFLI 69 to 76 equivalent
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | tch /ch/. The short-vowel guard: catch, match, pitch | tch /ch/ | once (only "o" is odd)o says /wŭ/, say 'wunss'; the ce is your regular soft c | |
| 6.2 | dge /j/. The second guard: edge, badge, bridge, judge | dge /j/ | friend (only "ie" is odd)think fri-end to spell it: your friend has an end. In speech the ie softens to /ĕ/, 'frend' | |
| 6.3 | tch/dge review. The short-vowel guard generalization | only (only "o" is odd)O says /ō/, 'OWN-lee'; the y is /ē/, decodable at 6.6 ⟲ | ||
| 6.4 | Long VCC families, -ild, -old, -ind, -ost: wild, cold, find, most | old /ōld/, ild /īld/, ind /īnd/, ost /ōst/, olt /ōlt/ | work (only "or" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: w+or says /wer/. Decodable at 7.6 ⟲ word (only "or" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: same w+or pattern as work. Decodable at 7.6 ⟲ | |
| 6.5 | y as /ī/. End of a one-beat word: my, fly, sky, try | y /ī/ | eye (only "e·e" is odd)the y does its usual /ī/ job, just like my and sky (taught this very step). The two silent e's stand guard on each side, a nose between two eyes | |
| 6.6 | y as /ē/. End of a multi-beat word: happy, funny, baby, candy | y /ē/, y /ĭ/ | busy (only "u" is odd)u says /ĭ/, 'BIZ-ee'; the final y is the regular /ē/ | |
| 6.7 | Consonant-le, table, little, apple, jungle | le /ul/ | beautiful (only "eau" is odd)eau says /ū/, 'BYOO-tuh-ful'. Spell it with the old chant: b-e-a-u-tiful; the rest of the word behaves | |
| 6.8 | Ending patterns cumulative review, bundle, frosty, unkind, stretchy | learn (only "ear" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: e-a-r says /er/ here, ear's second sound, taught at 8.3 ⟲. Say 'lern' world (only "or" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: w+or says /wer/ again. Decodable at 7.6 ⟲ |
Level 7 R-Controlled Vowels (Bossy R)
When r grabs the vowel, car, corn, her, bird, turn, chair. The five spellings your child can finally trust. UFLI 77 to 86 equivalent
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | ar /ar/. The bossy r grabs a: car, star, farm, sharp | ar /ar/ | are (only "e" is odd)ar sounds out now, it was taught this very step. Only the leftover silent e is odd. Not 'air' | |
| 7.2 | or /or/ and ore /or/. The bossy r grabs o: for, corn, fort; more, store, score | or /or/, ore /or/ | four (only "our" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: o-u says long /ō/ here, ou's second sound, taught at 9.2 ⟲, and the r sounds out: 'for'. The number four your (only "our" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: o-u says long /ō/ here, ou's second sound, taught at 9.2 ⟲, and the r sounds out: 'yor' | |
| 7.3 | er /er/. The bossy r grabs e: her, fern, term, herd | er /er/ | were (only "ere" is odd)e-r-e says /wer/, say 'wer', rhymes with her | |
| 7.4 | ir /er/. The second spelling of /er/: bird, girl, first, shirt | ir /er/ | ||
| 7.5 | ur /er/. The third spelling of /er/: turn, hurt, curl, burst | ur /er/ | our (only "ou" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: ou says /ow/ here and the r sounds out, a team taught at 9.2 ⟲. 'Ow-er', our home. Different from four/your | |
| 7.6 | er/ir/ur generalization + w+or /wer/, one sound, three spellings, and the w-trick: work, word, world, worm | wor /wer/ | world (only "or" is odd)w+or says /wer/, 'werld'. First met in Level 6; now fully explained | |
| 7.7 | air/are/ear /air/ + w+ar /wor/. The gentle r: chair, care, bear; and the w-trick again: war, warm, warn | air /air/, are /air/, war /wor/ | bear (only "ear" is odd)e-a-r here says /air/, 'bair', rhymes with care. Not 'beer' wear (only "ear" is odd)e-a-r says /air/, 'wair'. We wear a coat. Same family as bear | |
| 7.8 | R-controlled review. The bossy r in two-syllable words: garden, winter, market, corner, thunder, perhaps | water (only "a" is odd)Regular, not tricky: w + a's broad third sound /aw/ (taught with was at 1.17) + t + the r-controlled er (7.3). Sound it out: WAW-ter. | ⟲ water |
Level 8 Vowel Teams: The Long Sounds
Two letters can team up to spell one vowel sound. We teach each team and its sound one at a time. UFLI 87 to 96 equivalent
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | ai and ay /ā/. The long-a team: rain, train, play, day | ai /ā/, ay /ā/ | they (only "ey" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: e-y says /ā/ here, ey's second sound, taught with ey at 8.7 ⟲. Say 'thay' again (only "ai" is odd)a + gain. Speech softens it to 'uh-GEN'; for spelling, wake it: say 'a-GAYN', rhymes with rain eyes (only "e·e" is odd)eye plus the regular -s ending from step 2.1. The y does its usual /ī/ job, just like my and sky; the two silent e's stand guard on each side, a nose between two eyes eye (only "e·e" is odd)Re-anchored here, because eyes arrives with it. The y does its usual /ī/ job, just like my and sky (learned at 6.5); the two silent e's stand guard on each side, a nose between two eyes | |
| 8.2 | ee /ē/. The long-e team: see, green, sweet, tree | ee /ē/ | been (only "ee" is odd)be + en, like taken and given. Speech says 'bin'; for spelling, wake it: say 'BEE-en' | |
| 8.3 | ea /ē/ and ea /ĕ/ flex, eat, beach, dream; head, bread | ea /ē/, ea /ĕ/, ear /ēr/, ea /ā/, ear /er/ | ⟲ head, bread, thread, great, learn | |
| 8.4 | oa and ow /ō/. The long-o team: boat, road, snow, grow | oa /ō/, ow /ō/, ow /ow/ | ⟲ how, now | |
| 8.5 | igh /ī/. The three-letter long-i team: light, night, bright | igh /ī/, eigh /ā/, gh /g/ | ||
| 8.6 | ie /ī/ and ie /ē/, pie, tie; field, chief | ie /ī/, ie /ē/, ei /ē/, /ā/, /ĭ/ | ||
| 8.7 | oe, ue, ew long review + ey /ē/, toe, blue, new, key | oe /ō/, ue /o͞o/, ew /o͞o/, ey /ē/, oe /o͞o/ | money (only "o" is odd)The o says /ŭ/, 'MUN-ee'; the ey is the regular /ē/ you learn this very step, so only the o is held. The o-says-/ŭ/ family (money, honey, front, love, come) has no lesson of its own in Levels 1 to 10, so the o stays named honey (only "o" is odd)The o says /ŭ/, 'HUN-ee'; the ey is the regular /ē/ you learn this very step, so only the o is held. Money's twin: the same single odd letter, the same family | ⟲ they |
| 8.8 | Vowel-team review, two-beat words: rainbow, teacher, seaweed, railway, oatmeal |
Level 9 Sliding Vowels & Big-Word Splitting
The moon and the book, the loud cloud, coins and toys, the paw and the claw. Plus the move that cracks any long word in two. UFLI 97 to 110 equivalent
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.1 | oo. The two jobs: long /o͞o/ (moon, food) and short /o͝o/ (book, foot). And the broad o: to, do, who | oo /o͞o/, oo /o͝o/, o /o͞o/, oo /ō/ | would (only "oul" is odd)o-u-l-d says /wood/, say 'wood'; one of three twins (would, could, should) could (only "oul" is odd)same o-u-l-d pattern as would, say 'cood' should (only "oul" is odd)same o-u-l-d pattern again, say 'shood' | ⟲ door |
| 9.2 | ou / ow. The loud /ow/: cloud, out; cow, down | ou /ow/, ow /ow/, ou /ō/, ou /o͞o/, ou /ŭ/ | young (only "ou" is odd)Regular, not tricky: ou's fourth sound, short /ŭ/, taught this step. Run ou's four sounds until the word pops out: young. touch (only "ou" is odd)Regular, not tricky: ou's fourth sound, short /ŭ/, taught this step, and ch is regular. Flex the ou: touch. | ⟲ young, touch, you, four, your, our |
| 9.3 | oi / oy. The coin sound /oy/: coin, soil; boy, toy | oi /oy/, oy /oy/ | ||
| 9.4 | au / aw. The yawn sound /aw/: haul, sauce; paw, draw. And the broad a: water, want, salt | au /aw/, aw /aw/, a /aw/ | enough (only "ough" is odd)Regular, with one part you meet later: o-u-g-h says /ŭf/ here, one of the ough team's six sounds, taught at 10.2 ⟲. Say 'ee-NUFF' | |
| 9.5 | ew / ue / ui. Three more spellings of long /o͞o/: new, flew; blue, true; fruit, suit | ew /o͞o/, ue /o͞o/, ui /o͞o/ | shoe (only "oe" is odd)Regular, not tricky: oe's second sound /o͞o/ (taught at 8.7). Try /ō/, flex to /o͞o/: shoe. | ⟲ shoe |
| 9.6 | Big-word splitting: closed-syllable division VC/CV, napkin, basket, sunset, magnet | |||
| 9.7 | Big-word splitting: open-syllable division V/CV, robot, tiger, paper. Plus the VC/V flex (cabin, robin) | |||
| 9.8 | Review. The lazy schwa /uh/ in big words, plus every Level 9 vowel team mixed | about (only "a" is odd)Regular, not tricky: the first a is a lazy beat, the schwa you learn this step (and a's name-sound relaxing), and the ou is your /ow/ from 9.2. Sound it out: 'uh-BOWT' animal (only "a" is odd)say it to spell it: 'AN-i-mal', waking every vowel, the way you might think Wed-nes-day to spell Wednesday. Speech relaxes it to 'AN-uh-mul' | ⟲ about |
Level 10 Word Parts: Prefixes, Suffixes & Roots
Stop reading long words letter by letter. Read them part by part, and the meaning comes with the chunk. UFLI 111 to 128 equivalent
| Step | What is taught | New letters & patterns | Words to watch (no whole word is ever memorized: each word is taught through its structure, only the one odd part is held, and the reason is printed under each word. Some are fully regular and listed only because they appear early.) | Now fully decodable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.1 | Prefixes un- and re- (unhappy, redo), plus the silent partners kn, wr and gn (knot, write, gnat) | kn /n/, wr /r/, gn /n/ | people (only "eo" is odd)eo says /ē/, 'PEE-pul'; the -ple is your regular consonant-le beat | |
| 10.2 | Prefixes pre-, dis- and mis- (preheat, dislike, mistrust), plus the ough and augh teams (though, caught) | ough /ō/ /o͞o/ /ŭf/ /ŏf/ /aw/ /ow/, augh /aw/ /ăf/ | through (only "ough" is odd)Regular, not tricky: the ough team says /o͞o/ here. Six sounds, one line (though, through, rough, cough, thought, drought), taught this step; run the line: through. | ⟲ through, enough |
| 10.3 | Prefixes in-, im- and non- meaning not (incomplete, impossible, nonstop), plus gu and bu with a silent u (guess, build) | gu /g/, bu /b/ | thought (only "ough" is odd)Regular, not tricky: the ough team says /aw/ here, one of its six sounds taught at 10.2. Run the line: thought. immature (only "ture" is odd)im- + mature. The prefix and the m-a-t are fully regular, and im- before an m is exactly the pattern of this step; only the -ture tail is odd, it says /chur/: 'im-muh-CHUR'. The -ture ending is beyond Level 10, so we teach this word through its odd part when it comes up | ⟲ thought, built |
| 10.4 | Suffixes -ful, -less, -ness, -ly, helpful, fearless, kindness, slowly | |||
| 10.5 | Suffixes -ment and -able/-ible, payment, treatment; readable, sensible | |||
| 10.6 | Suffix -tion/-sion = /shun/, action, station; mission, vision | tion /shun/, sion /shun/, ci /sh/ | science (only "sci" is odd)sc says /s/ before i, 'SY-unss'; the rest behaves | |
| 10.7 | Greek & Latin roots: port, struct, dict, spect, tract. The meaning lives in the root | answer (only "w" is odd)the silent w is a fossil from swear: an answer was once a sworn reply. Say 'AN-ser', spell an + swer structure (only "ture" is odd)struct + -ure. The root you learn this very step is fully readable, s-t-r-u-c-t; only the -ture tail is odd, it says /chur/: 'STRUK-chur'. The same tail you met on immature at 10.3. It is beyond Level 10, so we teach this word through its odd part when it comes up | ||
| 10.8 | Putting it together. Academic big words from roots + prefixes + suffixes: construction, prediction, transportation, inspector | machine (only "i·e" is odd)The ch says /sh/, ch's third sound (taught at 3.7); the odd part is the i-e saying /ē/, 'muh-SHEEN', a borrowed-from-French word |
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