From Sounds to Stories: Unpacking Early Reading with Anima Phonics

When should children begin learning to read? And how can families nurture a love of books without feeling pressured to rush the process? With 4+ assessments, spelling expectations and an often bewildering vocabulary of phonics terminology, early reading can feel surprisingly complicated for parents. For this Rocket Talk for families and educators, we welcomed Kerry Harwood, former classroom teacher and co-founder of Anima Phonics, a Department for Education-validated phonics programme that brings sounds and letters to life through music, movement, characters and storytelling. The conversation opened up the journey into reading from ages three to seven, exploring what phonics actually involves, how reading skills develop and why children’s individual experiences and readiness matter.

The discussion brought together research-informed literacy teaching and something equally important to Rocket: protecting children’s enjoyment of stories, language and books. Kerry helped demystify decoding, digraphs and the foundations of early reading, while offering families practical ways to support literacy through everyday conversations, playful experiences and shared reading at home. By making specialist knowledge more accessible, Rocket Talks gave parents greater confidence to recognise and support their children’s developing skills without turning every encounter with a book into a lesson. An important conversation about maintaining high aspirations for literacy while honouring the pace, pleasure and possibilities of childhood.