Sound by sound,
into a whole story.
Phonics reading lessons for children aged 4 to 8. Short, playful sessions in British English take your child from their first letter sounds to reading stories on their own.
How a reader grows
Every lesson builds on the one before, in the same order phonics is taught in school: sounds first, then blending, then words, then stories.
Hear the sound
One sound at a time, spoken clearly in British English, with the letter that makes it.
Blend it
Push the sounds together until they become a word they recognise.
Read the word
Real words with real pictures, built only from sounds they have already learned.
Read a story
Illustrated stories where every word is one they can read on their own.
At your child’s pace, not their age’s
A child moves on when they can read something, not when the calendar says so. Sounds come back for practice until they stick, over several days, so what they learn stays learned.
There are no streaks to break and no timers. Stars are never taken away, and every word your child can read turns up in their own collection, which only ever grows.
cat
hen
fox
fish
duck
moon
Stories they can actually read
Each story uses only the sounds your child has met so far, so the first book they finish is one they read themselves, word by word.
Sam and the Bug
The Goat and the Boat
The Owl in the Dark
Made for children, run by parents
You hold the account. Your child just reads. Nothing in the child’s side of the app sells, advertises or asks them to sign up for anything.
- No email or password for your child
- No date of birth, ever
- No adverts and no third-party tracking
- Download or delete your data whenever you like
Questions parents ask
What age is AlfieReading for?
Children from about 4 to 8. A short, playful check at the start finds where your child already is, so a confident reader does not repeat what they know and a beginner starts with the very first sounds.
What is systematic synthetic phonics?
A way of teaching reading one sound at a time, in a planned order. Children learn which letters make which sounds, then blend those sounds together to read words. It is the approach used to teach reading in primary schools in England.
Will it match what my child does at school?
The method is the same one schools use, and the curriculum is our own. Sounds may arrive in a slightly different order from your school's scheme, but the skill of hearing, blending and reading carries straight across.
Does my child need an email address or a password?
No. You sign in; your child does not. Children have a profile inside your household, and you hand them the device.
What do you keep about my child?
A first name, an avatar, and what they can read. Never a date of birth, and no advertising or third-party tracking. You can download everything we hold, or ask us to delete your household, from your account.
What does my child need to use it?
A web browser on a tablet, laptop or phone, and sound turned on, because every word and story can be heard as well as read.
Ready for the first sound?
Try the first lessons and a story now, no account needed.