Phonics placement

One child, about eight minutes, before they begin the track. Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2.
The rule: the child starts at the FIRST checkpoint they cannot read cleanly — not the last one they passed. Stop the moment a checkpoint fails; there is nothing to learn from pushing on. “Cleanly” means read, not sounded out laboriously and not guessed from the first letter.

Part 1 · The sound screen

Say each sound and ask the child to say it back. You are listening for whether the sound is in the mouth at all, not for whether they know a letter. These eighteen are the sounds missing from at least one home language in this building — a child who cannot produce one will misread every word containing it, and the word lists below will not tell you why.
☐ /p/ p
not in Somali, Arabic
☐ /t/ t
not in Urdu
☐ /d/ d
not in Urdu
☐ /g/ g
not in Arabic
☐ /ŋ/ ng
not in Arabic, Somali
☐ /v/ v
not in Somali, Arabic
☐ /θ/ th
not in Somali, Urdu
☐ /ð/ th
not in Somali, Urdu
☐ /z/ z
not in Somali
☐ /ʒ/ s in 'measure'
not in Somali, Arabic, Urdu
☐ /tʃ/ ch
not in Somali, Arabic
☐ /r/ r
not in Somali, Arabic, Urdu
☐ /w/ w
not in Urdu
☐ /æ/ short a
not in Arabic, Somali, Urdu
☐ /ɛ/ short e
not in Arabic
☐ /ɪ/ short i
not in Arabic, Somali, Urdu
☐ /ɒ/ short o
not in Somali
☐ /ʌ/ short u
not in Arabic, Somali, Urdu
☐ /ɔ/ aw
not in Arabic
☐ /ʊ/ oo
not in Arabic
☐ /ɜr/ er
not in Somali, Arabic, Urdu
☐ /eɪ/ long a
not in Somali, Arabic, Urdu
☐ /oʊ/ long o
not in Somali, Arabic, Urdu
☐ /ɔɪ/ oi
not in Somali, Arabic
Every box left unticked is a sound to teach explicitly, with the mouth diagram, before it is met in the book. That list is the most useful thing this page produces.

Part 2 · The word checkpoints

Checkpoint — Lesson 5
am an as at ax had
short a, CVC words. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 9 · G1 day 6 · G2 day 6.
Checkpoint — Lesson 15
bad bed bag beg hat hen
all five short vowels — the hardest page in the book for our children. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 31 · G1 day 21 · G2 day 16.
Checkpoint — Lesson 21
that than the them then this
the th digraph. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 50 · G1 day 34 · G2 day 26.
Checkpoint — Lesson 27
cub bud bug cull bun dub
short u. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 60 · G1 day 41 · G2 day 30.
Checkpoint — Lesson 32
cash fish chess what chop shock
sh, ch, wh. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 68 · G1 day 45 · G2 day 32.
Checkpoint — Lesson 38
tick zigzag ticket velvet gallop lesson
two-syllable short-vowel words. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 74 · G1 day 49 · G2 day 34.
Checkpoint — Lesson 43
and end wind bond fund band
final blends nd, nt. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 86 · G1 day 56 · G2 day 38.
Checkpoint — Lesson 56
match bath went milk Jump half
final blends, mixed. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 100 · G1 day 65 · G2 day 45.
Checkpoint — Lesson 62
glad glint grab grill Gwen glance
initial blends. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 106 · G1 day 69 · G2 day 48.
Checkpoint — Lesson 70
truck bless Jump skip then Dutch
blends, mixed. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 114 · G1 day 75 · G2 day 54.
Checkpoint — Lesson 73
Abe ace babe face lace pace
long a as a-e. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 118 · G1 day 77 · G2 day 55.
Checkpoint — Lesson 87
bee deed deem deer fleece Dee
long e as ee. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 135 · G1 day 86 · G2 day 60.
Checkpoint — Lesson 99
Ice dice hide lice ride side
long i as i-e. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 148 · G1 day 93 · G2 day 65.
Checkpoint — Lesson 112
ow cow ouch bow brow chow
ow and ou. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 164 · G1 day 102 · G2 day 69.
Checkpoint — Lesson 121
pharmacist emphasis emphatic ssi nation patient
sh spelled ti, ci, si. If this is where they stop, start them here: GK day 175 · G1 day 108 · G2 day 73.

Part 3 · What you write down

ChildStopped at checkpointStarts on daySounds to teach explicitly
Re-run the sound screen at the end of the first quarter. It is the one part of this that should visibly change, and if it has not, the mouth work is not happening in the lessons.