At My English School, phonics is taught inside a four-level reading programme that carries children from their first letter sounds through to independent reading. Children learn sound awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension in sequence, in small groups of 5 to 10, with placement based on reading ability rather than age. Every child begins with a free placement assessment at any of our 15 centres in Singapore.
Reading rests on five elements: phonemic awareness, decoding through phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Phonics is one of those five. It does its clearest work when the other four are being built alongside it, which is why phonics classes at My English School live inside My English Foundation and My Reading Readiness as part of the wider reading programme.
Sound awareness comes before letters. In My English Foundation Class, children practise rhyming, word families and sound isolation through listening games and songs, hearing that "cat", "hat" and "mat" share a family long before they read those words. That groundwork is what makes blending feel natural later.
We teach systematic synthetic phonics, so sounds arrive in a set order and each new one is blended into words your child can already read. Blending starts with CVC words like "dog", then CCVC and CVCC patterns such as "stop" and "milk", using letter tiles so children see and hear each sound land. In groups of 5 to 10, the teacher hears every child and corrects on the spot.
Fluency comes from repetition. Children move from single letter sounds to decodable books pitched at their exact level, so every book that goes home is one they can sound out themselves.
New words arrive phonetically through stories, theme-based lessons and picture books drawn from family life, then get used in conversation so children meet them more than once. A word met in a story, used in class and then read in a decodable book is the one that sticks.
Children are asked to question, predict and draw conclusions from what they read. Comprehension starts early with guided story reading, so children also learn to read with meaning and not only for accuracy.
Our specially curated reading and phonics classes take preschoolers and kindergarteners through a complete literacy pathway, from learning individual letter sounds to reading and understanding full texts with confidence.
Every level builds directly on the one before it, and children move up only when they are ready, never simply because a term has ended.
| Level | Focus | By the End of This Level |
|---|---|---|
| My English Foundation Class | All 26 letter sounds, early vocabulary | Confident letter-sound recognition |
| My Reading Readiness Class | Blending, segmenting, oral fluency | Reading simple words with support |
| My Reading Class | Independent decoding, vocabulary in context | Fluent, independent reading |
| My Primary Preparation Class | Grammar, comprehension, writing | Ready for Primary 1 English |
This is where the reading journey begins. Children learn all 26 letter sounds and start identifying the first sounds in words through games, songs and rhymes, building the vocabulary and listening skills that early reading depends on.
Read more about our English Foundation Class.
Designed for children who already know their letter sounds, this class targets phoneme blending, segmenting and oral fluency, the bridge between knowing sounds and reading words. Children build comprehension through guided story reading as they go.
Find out more about our reading programme.
This is our flagship reading and phonics class for students, where students learn to decode any English word using strategies beyond phonics. A core component of our English enrichment classes for kindergarten and preschoolers is the introduction of vocabulary and grammar in meaningful contexts throughout the reading programme, enabling children to become increasingly independent in their reading.
The final level goes beyond reading to grammar, comprehension strategies and writing, preparing children for the vocabulary load and written expression expected in Primary-level English.
Read more about our P1 preparation class.
Our specially designed phonics classes and reading programmes help your child progress through all the stages of literacy from phonemic awareness to fully independent comprehension.
Small classes let the teacher hear every child sound out words and correct them on the spot. With 5 to 10 children per group, no child spends a lesson going unheard, which matters more in phonics than almost any other subject.
Children are grouped by their current phonics ability, not their age, so a five-year-old and a six-year-old at the same stage learn side by side. This makes lessons more effective for every child in the room, not just the fastest or the slowest.
We only move a child up to the next level once blending is genuinely secure, supporting a deeper and more lasting grasp of English rather than progress for its own sake.
We welcome learners from age 3, offering a nurturing space for early exposure to English sounds and reading habits well before formal schooling begins.
Every class is taught by teachers trained specifically in our in-house reading curriculum, so the same structured approach is delivered consistently at all 15 of our centres across Singapore.
Fees depend on the level your child is placed in and the centre you attend.
Classes are billed by term rather than by session, and fees vary by level and centre. Parents comparing the best phonics and reading classes in Singapore usually weigh class size alongside price, since a smaller group means more turns reading aloud for the same fee. For an exact quote for your child's level, contact your nearest centre or book a free placement assessment.
Every term includes structured, ability-based lessons taught to our in-house curriculum, along with personalised progress tracking so you always know how your child is developing. Centre staff can walk you through the full fee breakdown, including materials, when you enquire.
Before your child starts, we offer a free placement assessment at any of our 15 centres so we can place them at the right level from day one. Some centres charge for this step. Ours does not.
Our reading and phonics classes for preschoolers and children in kindergarten are more than a way to learn sounds. They build the foundation that carries into Primary 1 and beyond.
Children learn to sound out words using correct phonetic strategies, a foundation that helps them read more fluently and express themselves more clearly as they approach the demands of the MOE Primary 1 English syllabus.
Our lessons help children identify and produce English sounds accurately, improving speech clarity and listening comprehension, which matters especially in Singapore's many bilingual households.
Children who arrive at Primary 1 already comfortable with spelling patterns tend to spend less time decoding and more time understanding what they read, which is exactly the shift the K2 to Primary 1 transition demands.
As children grow more capable in reading and speaking, they also grow more confident taking part in discussions, storytelling and classroom tasks, in English and beyond it. For children from homes where English is not the main language spoken, this confidence often matters as much as the reading skill itself, since it is what carries them into oral assessments and classroom participation at school.
“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”
— VICTOR HUGO (French romantic poet, novelist and dramatist, 1802–1885)
Bukit Timah/Bukit V
Choa Chu Kang
Clementi
Downtown East
Jurong East
Jurong West
Khatib/Wisteria
Novena
Parkway Parade
Potong Pasir
Punggol
Simei/Eastpoint
Tampines
Tengah
Tiong Bahru
Woodlands
Yishun/Northpoint
Most children are ready to begin phonics from around age 3, once their speech and language development supports sound awareness and simple instruction. We welcome learners from N1 onwards, with ability-based placement to confirm the right starting point for your child.
This varies from child to child. With regular weekly lessons, some children build secure blending skills within a few months, though pace depends on starting age, prior exposure to English and how often they practise at home between lessons.
Phonics teaches the relationship between letters and sounds. Reading draws on that plus four other elements: phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Our reading programme teaches all five in sequence, which is why children work on phonics and reading together rather than taking them as separate classes.
Our reading classes run in small groups of 5 to 10 children, so teachers can hear every child sound out words and correct them individually within the lesson.
Effective reading classes teach sounds in a planned, systematic sequence rather than at random, with groups small enough that a teacher can correct each child as they practise. Consistency and individual correction matter more than the number of hours spent in class.
Our teachers assess each child regularly against level benchmarks and share progress updates with parents, so you always know how close your child is to moving up a level.
Lessons combine our in-house phonics curriculum with letter tiles, blending games, songs and decodable books matched to each child's level, moving from hands-on sound activities in the earlier levels to independent reading texts as children progress.
Our ability-based, small-group format suits many children who need extra time and individual correction to master blending. For children with diagnosed learning difficulties, we recommend a conversation with your nearest centre before enrolment, so we can discuss whether our programme is the right fit alongside any specialist support your child is already receiving.
Bukit Timah/Bukit V
Choa Chu Kang
Clementi
Downtown East
Jurong East
Jurong West
Khatib/Wisteria
Novena
Parkway Parade
Potong Pasir
Punggol
Simei/Eastpoint
Tampines
Tengah
Tiong Bahru
Woodlands
Yishun/Northpoint
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