My Reading Readiness Class helps children who can sound out simple words develop advanced phonics, sight-word recognition and reading fluency. Children learn in ability-based groups of around five to ten, with regular level assessments. Contact your nearest centre for current term fees, and book a free placement assessment before enrolling.
Some children can sound out words but still read slowly, word by word. My Reading Readiness Class is built for that stage: advanced phonics manipulation, sight-word recognition and oral fluency, taught in small ability-based classes with regular level assessments. Your child moves through each level at their own pace, on track for Primary 1 reading demands.
Children who have completed phonics basics, matching sounds to letters and blending simple words, are ready for this next stage. If your child is only just starting to learn letter sounds, our English phonics lessons for beginners build that foundation first. My Reading Readiness Class picks up from there, moving children into more advanced phonics manipulation and real reading practice.
Some children can sound out words but still read slowly, pausing over each syllable before the sentence makes sense. This class closes that gap. It builds the automatic word recognition that turns effortful decoding into fluent reading, and uses small-group practice to get children used to reading aloud in front of others.
My Reading Readiness Class builds children into fluent, confident readers whose comprehension and vocabulary develop in step with their decoding ability. That depth of foundation readies your child to tackle the pace of Primary 1 learning and the years that follow.
Your child builds on the letter sounds learnt in earlier levels, now hearing how sounds combine and separate within a word. Through games, oral activities and rewards, children learn to make words by hearing the component sounds spoken separately, then blend them back together. This is the mental shift from recognising individual sounds to using them as tools for reading. It gives children the sense that English spelling, while not always predictable, follows patterns they can work with.
Children read real storybooks with the teacher, not just comprehension worksheets. Reading aloud in a small group class gives every child individual practice and immediate correction, rather than passive listening while classmates take a turn. Teachers introduce oral skills in increasing difficulty, so a more confident child is stretched further while a child who needs more repetition is not rushed.
Oral fluency is developed more fully at this level, with children expected to read and speak more independently than in earlier classes. Regular reading-aloud practice builds the confidence to sound out an unfamiliar word in front of others without freezing. That confidence carries directly into school oral lessons and classroom discussions.
Story time engages children's imaginations and critical thinking, as they listen to and react to the people, animals and situations in a story. Children learn to answer questions about how a story might end or how a character is feeling, building the inference skills that later comprehension exercises depend on. This is also where many children discover that reading can be enjoyed for its own sake.
Children continue to build vocabulary through repeated exposure to phonics practice words, reinforced through homework activities that also engage visual, creative and reading and writing reinforcement. All classroom and homework activities are practical preparation for reading, focused on recognising sound patterns and combinations rather than rote memorisation.
Progression in My Reading Readiness Class is based on your child’s ability. At My English School, our teachers thoroughly review each child’s progress in phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, and promote only when they are confident the child is ready for the next step. There is no fixed term-based promotion schedule. In this way, we ensure that every child is always in the right place for their current stage of reading development.
Not every English word can be sounded out. Words like "said" or "the" do not follow regular phonics rules, so children need a second strategy alongside decoding. Sight words taught alongside phonics so children learn when to decode and when to recognise, rather than guessing from the first letter or the picture on the page.
High-frequency words such as "was", "they" and "because" appear in almost every sentence a child reads, so instant recognition saves attention for the harder work of understanding meaning. Children practise these as memory words, spelling and reading them until recognition is automatic. This builds the reading speed that comprehension depends on.
Word attack strategies help children tackle unfamiliar words independently: breaking a longer word into familiar chunks, checking the sentence for clues and trying a sound before asking for help. These are the same strategies your child will lean on once reading Primary 1 comprehension passages without teacher support close at hand.
My Reading Readiness Class is one of our ability-based reading programmes for kids moving from phonics into fluent, independent reading. Here is what parents tell us they notice once their child enrols.
Small classes give every child individual reading-aloud time with immediate correction, with around 5 to 10 students per class. In a class this size, a teacher can hear every child read aloud within the same lesson, rather than in rotation across several weeks. A mispronounced sound gets corrected before it becomes a habit.
Children are placed by reading stage, not age, after a placement assessment. A confident six-year-old and a seven-year-old who needs more practice with blending can both be correctly placed. They learn alongside peers at a similar stage rather than being grouped by birth year alone.
Reading enrichment across islandwide centres for families in every region means a class is usually within reach of home or your child's school pick-up route. It is available at any of our 15 centres and counting across Singapore.
Book a free placement assessment at any of our 15 centres and counting across Singapore. Our teachers observe your child's current phonics and sight-word recognition firsthand, then recommend the class that fits their stage of reading development, with no obligation to enrol on the day.
Once your child reads fluently and independently, the next step is My Reading Class. This is followed by My Primary Preparation Class in the year before Primary 1, so the move into Primary school reading and writing is gradual rather than sudden. For a fuller picture of what that transition involves, see our K2-to-P1 English skills checklist.
Explore My English School's full range of programmes:
Most children are ready for a structured reading programme once they can match individual letters to sounds, typically from age 4 or 5. My Reading Readiness Class is for children who have moved past that stage and can sound out simple words, usually from K1 onwards. Older children who need more practice with fluency are equally welcome.
There is no single official number, since sight word acquisition depends on how much reading practice a child has had, not their age alone. What matters more is whether your child recognises common high-frequency words instantly, rather than sounding each one out every time. Our placement assessment checks this directly and places your child at the level that matches their current recognition.
A phonics class focuses on matching individual letters and sounds, the earliest stage of reading. A reading class, like My Reading Readiness Class, builds on those sounds with sight words, sentence-level fluency and comprehension. It moves a child from decoding letter by letter to reading with understanding.
This varies by child, since it depends on how much reading practice they have had before starting and how consistently they read at home. Many children move from slow, word-by-word decoding to confident independent reading within a few terms of consistent small-group practice, though children starting further behind may need longer. Regular level assessments track this progress directly.
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