Feel confident helping struggling readers!

Feel confident helping struggling readers. Essential Phonics gives you the foundational skills and practical strategies to support emerging and struggling readers — even if you’re not the primary teacher. Designed for volunteers, paraprofessionals, youth workers, and caregivers, this short, accessible training is practical, evidence-aligned, and empowering, equipping you with a clear lesson plan, ready-to-use activities, and the confidence to help students make rapid reading progress. Even if you’ve never taught reading before, Essential Phonics will prepare you to make a real difference — because every child deserves the chance to become a confident reader.

What you will learn

  • The 10 essential structured phonics concepts every child needs

  • How reading development works—from sounds to decoding

  • Key signs that a student may need more targeted support

  • How to use the Essential Phonics lesson plan to teach phonics effectively

  • The role of phonics in learning to read

What you will be able to do

  • Confidently support students who are learning to read

  • Provide reading help—even if you're not the primary teacher

  • Follow structured lessons and model reading strategies

  • Adjust your support to meet kids where they are

  • Use real-world examples from LearnUp tutors to guide your approach

What you get from this course

  • Self-paced Course

    5 hours of online, self-paced video content

  • Manual

    Manual + structured lesson plans. Printable manual and structured lesson plans, along with links to online tools and videos

  • Lots of Examples

    Tutor-led examples and recordings of live lessons in action

  • Aligned Book Recommendations

    Decodable and aligned book recommendations, plus compatible materials

  • Certificate of Completion

Who It's For

  • Classroom volunteers and paraprofessionals

  • Youth & afterschool organizations (BGCSF and others)

  • Parents and caregivers

  • Anyone who works with children and youth

🙌 No teaching experience needed—just a desire to help and a willingness to learn!

Enroll Now!

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome to Essential Phonics!

    • Get to know you survey Essential Phonics

    • Preface

    • The Purpose of this Course

    • Reading and the Brain

    • Three Pathways for Using This Course

    • How to use this online course
  • 2

    Materials

    • Essential Phonics Reference Manual and Lessons Book

    • The Digital Phonics Board

    • The Essential Phonics Lesson Plan: A Brief Overview

    • From Sounds to Stories: Using Decodable Chapter Books to Teach Reading

    • Teach your student using our videos!
  • 3

    The 10 Reading Concepts of Essential Phonics Part I

    • Concept 1: Consonants & Short Vowels

    • Concept 2: Open and Closed Syllables

    • Concept 3: Consonant Teams and Common Ending Sounds

    • Concept 4: Final Blends

    • Concept 5: Common Suffixes

    • Concept 6: Front Blends
  • 4

    Pulling It All Together: Lesson Plan Procedures & Demonstration

    • Teaching a Full Lesson

    • Spelling of Syllables: Concept Tracking

    • Reading: Pressure Release (How to Read With Any Student)

    • Reading: Beat the Clock (Building Speed & Fluency)

    • Mid-Course Survey Essential Phonics
  • 5

    10 Reading Concepts: Part II

    • Concept 7: Vowel Tag

    • Concept 8: Silent E

    • Concept 9: Vowel Change

    • Concept 10: R Family
  • 6

    Getting Started With A Student

    • Student Starting Points

    • Choosing Your Student's Book

    • Comprehension

    • Understanding Your Reader: Matching Struggles to Essential Phonics Concepts

    • Join our office hours

    • Post Course Survey Essential Phonics
  • 7

    Additional Questions

    • Why we use nonsense words

    • Why we don't teach letter names

    • Dialect Differences in Reading: Do we correct them?