If you’re teaching phonics from scratch and you started at the letter A, stop. The single biggest accelerator in early reading is the order you teach sounds in. The right first 6 unlock dozens of words; the wrong first 6 unlock almost nothing.
The magic 6: s, a, t, p, i, n
Every major UK synthetic-phonics scheme — Jolly Phonics, Read Write Inc, Letters and Sounds — starts with the same 6 letters in the same order: s, a, t, p, i, n.
Here’s why they win:
- s — a sound you can stretch (ssssss). Easy to model.
- a — the most common short vowel in English CVC words.
- t — a short, punchy stop sound that contrasts s.
- p — another stop that adds 8+ new word possibilities.
- i — a second vowel, doubles your CVC options.
- n— completes the set so kids can read “in,” “an,” “on,” “tin,” “sin,” “pin,” “nap,” “tap.”
Count the words the first 6 unlock
After s, a, t: sat, at.
After s, a, t, p: sat, pat, tap, pat, at.
After s, a, t, p, i: sat, pat, tap, sit, pit, tip, sip, pip, it, at, is.
After all 6: sat, pat, tap, sit, pit, tip, sip, pip, in, an, on, tin, sin, pin, nap, tan, pan, span, snap, stamp…
Compare with starting at a, b, c (the alphabet order): you have “a”, “cab” (silent C? hard C?), and not much else. The kid gets bored, the parent gets frustrated, the lesson gets skipped.
The full 11-unit order kids actually learn
Most synthetic-phonics curricula use 11 units. Here’s a consolidated version most parents can follow:
- Unit 1. s, a, t, p, i, n
- Unit 2. m, d, g, o, c, k
- Unit 3. ck, e, u, r, h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss
- Unit 4. j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu
- Unit 5. Consonant digraphs — ch, sh, th, ng
- Unit 6. Vowel digraphs — ai, ee, oa, oo
- Unit 7. ar, or, ur, ow, oi
- Unit 8. ear, air, ure, er
- Unit 9. Long vowel patterns — a-e, i-e, o-e, u-e, e-e
- Unit 10. Alternative spellings — ay, ea, ow, ie
- Unit 11. Tricky words & exceptions
See the full 43-phoneme map with audio for the complete set, including sample words for each.
How fast should you move through units?
Rule of thumb at 5–10 minutes a day, 5 days a week:
- Unit 1 (6 sounds): 2 weeks
- Units 1–4 (single letters): 8–12 weeks
- Units 1–7: 6 months
- All 11 units: 9–12 months
Don’t race. The win is a child who can decode any word, not a child who has “been taught” every sound but can’t blend them.
What if your kid already knows some letters in the “wrong” order?
It’s fine. Drop the SATPIN sequence and use whatever sounds they already know as the seed. The key insight is “teach blendable sounds first, alphabet order last.” If they know S, M, A, and T — start there. Add the next high-frequency letter (P) and you’ve unlocked “sat, mat, map, tap, sap, sam.”
Once your kid has the first 6, jump to Flashcards with those 6 sounds only, or play Sound Match to drill sound-to-image recall. Both are free in the browser, no sign-up.