Acorn to Oak Academy

“Just practise them.”
That’s often the advice…
but no one really shows parents how.
So children end up stuck between guessing… and forgetting.
This is the missing piece.
A simple, clear way to help your child build their way into tricky words - instead of trying to force them to memorise them.
Little and often.
Clear steps.
No overwhelm.
If it’s been feeling harder than it should, you’re not doing anything wrong - you just haven’t been shown this way yet.
👉 Full toolkit here:
http://acorn2oak.ie/toolkit/

A tricky word list.
Important words.
High-frequency words.
Words children meet every day in early readers.
When they come home in plain font, some children manage easily.
Some need a little more support before automaticity develops.
This resource supports the work already being done in school, which is rooted in explicit phonics instruction.
It doesn’t replace that foundation.
It adds temporary visual scaffolds, deliberately stepped down — from full support, to black and white, and back to standard print.
So when children meet the school version again, it feels familiar.
Support first.
Independence always.
Same words.
Clearer pathway.
Confidence grows quietly in the background.

When the tricky word list comes home, the words themselves aren’t the problem.
It’s the lack of scaffolding.
The toolkit doesn’t replace school lists.
It supports them.
Same words.
Better memory anchors.
Step-by-step fade to independence.
Learning doesn’t need to feel heavy.
Save this if word lists sometimes feel overwhelming in your house.
LearningToRead

Some words follow the rules.
Some are using rules we haven’t taught yet.
And some are little rule-benders.
Instead of asking children to memorise tricky words blindly, we slow down and investigate them.
We stretch the sounds.
We look at the spelling.
We decide what kind of word it is.
This is the Acorn to Oak way of introducing tricky words - playful, clear and grounded in phonics.
When learning makes sense, confidence grows.
Save this if you’d like to try the rule-bender trick at home 🌱
Toolkit details at www.acorn2oak.ie




PrimaryTeacher
ParentSupport
LiteracyAtHome
AcornToOak
ConfidentReaders

You don’t need to drill tricky words every night.
More time and more pressure usually make things harder, not easier.
What helps is slowing down,
making the tricky parts visible,
and letting the word make sense to the child.
A few calm minutes, done well,
is far more powerful than long sessions.
If you want to learn more how I structure this at home and in school,
the walkthrough is pinned.





dyslexiafriendlylearning
parentconfidence
earlyyearslearning
gentleteaching

Tricky words don’t fail because children aren’t trying hard enough.
Some parts of these words follow phonics rules.
Some parts don’t – yet.
When children are asked to just memorise them,
some cope fine…
and some really struggle.
That’s not laziness.
It’s not lack of effort.
It’s the brain trying to make sense of the word.
When we show children what’s tricky and why,
those words start to stick.
The walkthrough showing how I do this is pinned.





earlyliteracy
supportingreaders
phonicsandbeyond
parenteducation
learningdifferences
readingconfidence

Let’s take a walk through the Tricky Words Visual Toolkit. ‘Tricky words’ is a term to describe the most common words found in all books and the children’s early readers. They account for a massive percentage of the words - hence why they are also called ‘high frequency words’. Despite hem being small words such as he, she, you, your, they, was, saw etc these small words are very ‘pesky’ and cause lots of struggles for many children. I’ve co-designed an entire system to support my daughter’s idea of a better way to learn these words. This is the result of a child-led design, refined by the science of reading and psychology theory of memory and quick recall. This video walks you through the course and system and the variety of resources, tips, tricks and interactive games to make the repetition more engaging and fun and help these words finally ‘stick’.

Most parents feel fairly confident when phonics starts.
Sounds. Blending. CVC words.
It makes sense.
And then suddenly a list of high-frequency words comes home…
and the rules feel different.
If your child knows their sounds but keeps getting stuck on these words,
it’s not a lack of effort and it’s not a step backwards.
It’s just a different stage of reading – and it needs a different kind of support.
I’ve pinned a short walkthrough if you’d like to see what actually helps here.


 
 
 
 
parentsupportinglearning
primaryschoolparent
dyslexiafriendly
readingathome
calmlearning

Parents often ask me what we actually do with tricky words.
This short walkthrough shows what’s inside the Visual Tricky Word Toolkit and how families use it at home — calmly, step by step, and without drilling.
It isn’t just flashcards.
It’s a structured system designed to reduce pressure and build confidence over time.
If tricky words are a confidence wobble in your house, the toolkit is available on my website.