everything you need to know
level one reading is a free phonics app for children aged 4 to 6. it teaches children to read using decodable books — stories where every word can be sounded out using the phonemes the child has already learned.
each book uses a mix of illustrations, videos, and interactive phoneme dots that let your child tap individual sounds and hear them spoken aloud.
level one reading follows the phoneme order from letters and sounds, the systematic synthetic phonics framework used in most english primary schools.
level one covers phase 2 — the first phonemes children learn in reception (ages 4–5). this includes five stages of letter-sound correspondences from s, a, t, p through to ss, h, b, f, ff, l, ll.
level two covers phase 3 — the next set of phonemes taught in reception (ages 4–5). this includes consonant digraphs like ch, sh, th, and ng, as well as new single letter sounds.
if your child's school uses letters and sounds, essential letters and sounds, or any programme based on the same phoneme progression, our books will match what they are learning in class.
stage 1: s, a, t, p
stage 2: i, n, m, d
stage 3: g, o, c, k
stage 4: ck, e, u, r
stage 5: ss, h, b, f, ff, l, ll
tricky words: the, to, no, go, i, into
stage 1: j, v, x, w
stage 2: y, z, zz, qu
stage 3: ch, sh, th, ng
tricky words: he, she, we, me, be, was, you, they, all, are, my, her
sit with your child and let them lead. they tap a word to hear it. they tap the dots underneath to hear each sound. they swipe to turn the page. your job is to be there, not to teach — the books do the teaching.
start with the tricky words book at the top of each level, then work through the stages in order. each stage has a word book to introduce the new sounds and story books to practise them.
a few minutes a day is enough. little and often works better than long sessions.
tricky words are common words that cannot be sounded out using the phonemes taught so far. words like "the" and "go" appear in almost every sentence, so children need to learn them by sight early on.
in the app, tricky words appear without phoneme dots underneath. your child can still tap them to hear the word spoken aloud.
every decodable word in the app has small dots underneath it — one dot for each sound in the word. your child can tap each dot to hear that individual sound.
for example, the word "sat" has three dots: one for s, one for a, and one for t. digraphs — sounds made of two letters like "sh" or "ck" — show as a short line instead of a dot, because they represent one sound, not two.
yes. level one reading is completely free. no subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no ads, no paywalls. every book is available to every child.
level one reading is made by gamer school. if you have questions, feedback, or want to use the app in your school, get in touch at andy@gamerschool.co.uk