Phonics ConceptsSeedling
What is decoding?
Decoding is turning letters into sounds and sounds into words — the core mechanical skill of reading.
The skill under the skill
When adults read, words arrive whole and instantly. Underneath that fluency is a mechanical skill built years earlier: mapping letters to sounds and assembling them. That skill is decoding.
Decoding vs comprehension
Reading = decoding × comprehension. A child can decode a word without knowing its meaning, and know a meaning without decoding the word. Early reading instruction focuses on decoding because comprehension rides on language children mostly already have.
How PhonicSky builds it
Sound by sound, in a deliberate order, with enough playful repetition that each mapping becomes automatic before the next arrives.