Sound Steps is where Zupzi Read's path begins, before any word is read: 10 lessons about hearing the sounds inside spoken words, the names of the letters, the first letter sounds and putting two or three spoken sounds together. It is Level 0 of the program's 11 levels, and at ages 3 to 4 the app suggests doing it with a grown-up nearby.
- 10 lessons
- Level 0: Sound Steps
This page describes Zupzi Read's program: the order the app teaches in, lesson by lesson. Zupzi Read is coming soon to the App Store, and it goes there only with the whole program, ages 3 to 8.
Reading starts with the ears
Before letters, children learn to hear that spoken words are made of parts and sounds. The kindergarten reading standards list these listening skills: rhyming words, syllables, onsets and rimes, the first, middle and last sounds of short words, and changing one sound to make a new word. Source: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Reading Standards: Foundational Skills (K–5) (CCSSO, 2010; PDF published 2022), RF.K.2. The app does not have a rhyming, syllable or onset-and-rime task yet; what it does is below.
How the app practices it
- Warm up: the teacher says a few sounds and your child picks the word they make, out of three (“Listen to the sounds. Which word do they make?”).
- Sound game: “Listen to the sound. Which friend starts with it?” Your child taps the mascot whose name starts with that sound.
- Hear it, find it: hear a letter's name or sound and tap the letter.
- Hear it, write it: trace the letter with a finger, starting at the dot.
The teacher says each sound and letter name, so these steps need no reading yet. At ages 3 to 4 the lesson comes in small blocks, with a “Great job!” break between them, and the home screen shows “With a grown-up” at the top: “Best with a grown-up at this age.”
Real screens from the app, in the iPhone simulator, with a test reader.
Where it sits in the path: 10 lessons
The 10 lessons of Sound Steps, in order. Level 0 has no word lists: it is listening, letter names and first sounds.
Level 0: Sound Steps10 lessons here, of 10
- 1Words all aroundIn the program: word awareness, how print works (not practiced as a task in the app yet)
- 2Clap the partsIn the program: syllables (not practiced as a task in the app yet)
- 3Rhyme timeIn the program: rhyming (not practiced as a task in the app yet)
- 4First soundsSkills: first sounds
- 5Start and endIn the program: onset and rime (not practiced as a task in the app yet)
- 6Letter names A to MLetter names: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M
- 7Letter names N to ZLetter names: N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
- 8Blend two soundsSkills: blending spoken sounds
- 9Blend three soundsSkills: blending spoken sounds · splitting spoken words into sounds (not practiced as a task in the app yet)
- 10Ready to readSkills: letter names, blending spoken sounds · how print works (not practiced as a task in the app yet)
Questions about preschool: sound steps
Can a 3-year-old use Zupzi Read?
Yes: it is made for ages 3 to 8. At 3 to 4, lessons skip Blend, Word chain and Listen and build, come in small blocks with breaks, and the home screen suggests doing them with a grown-up.
Does my child need to know letters to start?
No. Sound Steps is about hearing sounds, letter names and first sounds, and the teacher says every sound and letter name in the lessons.
What does “blend spoken sounds” mean?
Hearing separate sounds, like /s/ /a/ /t/, and putting them together into the word they make: sat. In the Warm up, your child hears the sounds and picks that word out of three.
More of the path
Phonics, step by step:
By age and grade:
Or jump to a level of the scope and sequence:
