Speech Sound Mapping! Speech Sound Play Before Speech Sound Pics® with Phonemies: A 10-Day Sound Start to Word Mapping Mastery for All Learners, using ReadABLE Words. Celebrating Diversity in Every Voice With MySpeekie®, the One-Screen AAC.
10-Day Dyslexia 'Screen & Intervene' Plan with MySpeekie®: Develop speech sound awareness through Phonemies Play, supporting children before or alongside systematic synthetic phonics (SSP). The Speech Sound Mapping (SSM) Plan is also available as a stand-alone option for children with SLCN.
The 10 Day Speech Sound Play Plan
for 4 - 7 year olds
Speech Sound Play for SEN, Neurodivergent, EAL, and SLCN Learners
Use this 10-day plan before starting your chosen Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme to screen for dyslexia risk, strengthen phonemic awareness and phonological working memory, and support phoneme articulation. It offers targeted, early intervention for children with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN), children learning English as an additional language (EAL), and those who may not yet have identified needs in their EHCP.
Join the Sound Learning Lab if you are the parent of an instructional casualty aged 7 or older. The 10-Day Plan is different for older children and can be used as a unique Speech Sound Mapping (SSM) Reading Plan.
Through this approach, children learn to connect letters and sounds (phonics) in a more natural way using ReadABLE Words. They aren’t given words to decode that include only GPCs (and a few high-frequency words) aligned with a synthetic phonics scope and sequence -the synthetic phonics programme design. They can still follow that route separately if needed. Instead, as part of SSM, they work with words and subject matter that interest them. This content is personal to each child, and the technology makes those words decodable to the child.
No one else is innovating in this way. We teach in the way the child learns, rather than expecting every child to learn phonics in the same way. Phonics is valued, and therefore the instruction is flipped to recognise and celebrate, not ignore, linguistic and neurodiversity. Word Mapping (the foundation of reading) is far more enjoyable, for all.
The Sound Play Plan for 4 - 7 Year Olds
Preventing reading and spelling difficulties
This is the 10-day Speech Sound Play Plan, designed as a foundational resource for children in Reception before the introduction of a chosen Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme.
While ideal for use in classroom settings over ten consecutive days, the plan is highly flexible. When time constraints or whole-class demands are not a factor, it can—and should—be adapted for use in other settings, including at home. For younger children, or those who need a gentler pace, the plan can be delivered over a longer period and in a less structured way, ensuring accessibility and enjoyment remain at the heart of learning.
✅ Speech Sound Play Plan – Outcomes
By the end of the Speech Sound Play plan, children will have been screened for dyslexia risk and already begun targeted intervention. The plan is designed specifically to develop phonemic awareness and phonological working memory—the core foundations required for reading success. (See: Delphi Dyslexia Definition.)
Children will:
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Identify the speech sounds in spoken words they will soon build and decode using the initial GPC group (s, a, t, p, i, n)
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Begin forming those letter shapes, as well as the numbers 1–10
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Understand that spoken words are made up of speech sounds, and that we can segment those sounds using Duck Hands—a method that mirrors what is later used in phonics
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Accurately identify Speech Sound Monster sounds when given spoken words and blend them to form words
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Understand the sound value of each Phonemie and learn to “Follow the Monster Sounds to Say the Word”—developing skills to encode (spell) and decode (read) even before graphemes are introduced
For children who cannot yet articulate the speech sounds, the Phonemies Family—the Speech Sound Monsters—offers an accessible visual and auditory scaffold.
✅ Why This Approach Works
By taking a schema-driven approach to introducing the connection between letters and speech sounds, all children are engaged, included, and ready to learn phonics.
This plan helps avoid the barriers at least 1 in 4 children face when beginning phonics, particularly those related to limited phonemic awareness and weak working memory.
As a result:
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More children will pass the Phonics Screening Check—and pass it earlier
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The key challenges have already been identified and addressed
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Learners are not overwhelmed by cognitive load from trying to map sounds to graphemes without a solid auditory foundation
It is often assumed that phonics instruction, including grapheme introduction from day one, will resolve these issues. But this is not the case. Without a solid level of phonemic awareness, introducing graphemes too early can increase cognitive load—causing children to lose motivation and stop trying.
Why does this matter?
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According to Speech and Language UK (2023), 1 in 3 children are starting school with SLCN, meaning they struggle to understand and/or use spoken language. This represents a significant and growing concern for early literacy and learning.
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Additionally, 1 in 4 children (25%) begin school with poor phonemic awareness and limited phonological working memory. These skills are essential for learning to read and spell. Without targeted, explicit intervention, these children are at high risk of dyslexia — regardless of how many books have been read to them at home or their oral language skills or general intelligence.