Skill-based phonics groups students by the phonics skills they are learning—not by reading level.

In Guided Reading, students are typically grouped by level and asked to read predictable, leveled texts. These texts often include phonics patterns students have not yet been explicitly taught.

With skill-based phonics, students read decodable text. This means the words in the text are carefully controlled to match both new and previously taught phonics skills.

The comparison shown here highlights the difference. Leveled text exposes students to many untaught skills, while decodable text supports accurate decoding and real reading growth.

This is the foundation of Hello Phonics®—a skill-based phonics routine built around decodable text, with lessons aligned to each phonics skill.

When students learn a new phonics skill, the lesson itself is only the starting point. Students need opportunities to apply that skill while reading.

A worksheet might give students a few practice words, but real reading practice happens when students encounter the skill again and again in a story. Decodable books are written so most of the words match the phonics patterns students have already been taught, along with the new target skill.

In this example, the focus skill is ai/ay. The book contains 67 opportunities to read the vowel team while students follow a connected story. Each successful decoding experience strengthens the brain’s ability to recognize the word the next time it appears. Over time, those words become familiar and can be read automatically.

When practice text matches the phonics instruction, students can focus on decoding the words instead of guessing—and that’s how real reading begins to take shape.

The example to the left shows a decodable book aligned to the ai/ay vowel team. Students encounter the target pattern many times while reading a connected story, giving them repeated opportunities to practice decoding of new skills and previously taught skills.

Teachers often ask how decodable books are organized.

In the Hello Decodables library, books follow a structured phonics progression so students encounter new patterns gradually while continuing to practice previously learned skills.

Beginning readers start with simple phonics patterns such as consonants and short vowels. As their decoding skills grow, books introduce more complex patterns including vowel teams, diphthongs, and multisyllabic words.

This progression allows students to build decoding skills step by step while experiencing real reading success along the way.

Hello Decodables were created to give students many opportunities to apply the phonics skills they are learning. Each book is carefully written so the words match the phonics patterns students have already been taught, allowing students to practice decoding successfully while reading real stories and nonfiction.

The Hello Decodables library includes 120 books organized by phonics skill progression, giving students repeated opportunities to practice the skills they are learning.

° 60 fiction books with fun, engaging stories
° 60 nonfiction books to build background knowledge
° 120 books organized by phonics skill progression

A Hello Phonics lesson follows a clear, step-by-step routine. Each lesson focuses on one phonics skill at a time so students know exactly what they are learning.

Students practice sounds, words, and spelling before reading a decodable book that matches the skill. The words in the book are words students have been taught how to read.

Lessons also include time for talking about the text, and learning new words. This helps students understand what they read, not just sound out words.

Each lesson takes about 20 minutes and is taught in small groups. Lessons are taught over a few days so students get repeated practice and time to grow as readers.

For homeschool families: If you already follow your own phonics routine, you can use Hello Decodables as reading practice. Simply choose the books that match the phonics skill your child is learning.

Before starting Hello Phonics®, teachers use a Quick Phonics Placement Assessment to see which phonics skills students already know.

Each student reads short sentences while the teacher listens and records responses. When a student begins to struggle, the assessment stops. This helps identify the right starting skill for instruction.

Students are then placed into skill-based groups, not reading levels. Each group focuses on the phonics skills students are ready to learn next.

The assessment is done one-on-one, but it’s quick. It takes about 2–3 minutes per student to administer.

For homeschool families:
if you already know the phonics skills your child is working on, you can skip the assessment and begin reading decodable books that match those skills right away.