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Edufarm's award-winning Letterland Phonics programme turns the alphabet into 26 unforgettable characters. Small classes, expert teachers and a DfE-validated system trusted in over 100 countries — built for Singapore's brand-new readers aged 4 to 7.
Letterland is a UK-developed phonics system built on one powerful idea: children remember characters and stories far better than abstract rules. So every letter gets a face, a name and a tale.
Letterland was created in Britain and is validated by England's Department for Education (DfE) as a systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programme — the gold standard for early reading instruction. Today it's used in over 100 countries across the world, from primary schools in the UK to enrichment centres here in Singapore. The reason it travels so well: the method works regardless of whether English is a child's first language or second.
In Letterland, every letter of the alphabet is a friendly character with a name, a personality and a story. Annie Apple lives at the top of the letter A and makes the soft /a/ sound. Sammy Snake gives the letter S its hiss. Harry Hat Man whispers — just like the breathy /h/ sound. Clever Cat is always on the prowl for the /k/ sound. These aren't just cute illustrations: the characters encode the sound directly into the shape of the letter, so children recall them effortlessly long after the lesson ends. There is no need to memorise abstract rules when the rule is already part of the story.
Every Letterland lesson activates multiple channels at once — sight (vivid character cards and illustrated books), sound (songs and chants for each character), speech (saying sounds out loud) and movement (action tricks that link a physical gesture to each character's sound). Research shows that children who learn through more than one sense at a time retain information significantly longer. This multi-sensory approach is also especially powerful for Singapore's bilingual children: it anchors English sounds in the body, not just in working memory, so they stick even when Mandarin or Malay is the language of home.
Every Letterland lesson follows the same research-backed six-step sequence — a spiral that builds each new skill firmly on top of the last, so no child is ever left with gaps.
Each character's name contains its sound — Annie Apple, Bouncy Ben, Clever Cat. Children learn the phonetic sound from the very first introduction, with no ambiguity.
Story-based cues guide correct letter formation. Knowing Annie Apple is round and has a leaf on top helps children write the letter a the right way — and the right way round.
A physical movement is linked to each character — children pretend to munch like Munching Mike for /m/, or slither like Sammy Snake for /s/. Kinesthetic memory is remarkably durable.
Once a handful of sounds are secure, children start blending — hearing c-a-t snap together into cat. That first real word is a eureka moment every child remembers.
English has 44 sounds but only 26 letters. Letterland teaches all 44 systematically — digraphs like ch, sh, th, long vowel patterns, and beyond — so spelling becomes logical, not a lottery.
Songs, games, picture code cards, decodable readers and role-play tie every lesson together. The goal isn't just to know the sounds — it's to love reading enough to keep going.
Edufarm's Letterland programme is structured into three progressive levels. Every new student receives a short placement assessment so they begin at exactly the right point — not too easy, not too fast.
Children meet all 26 Letterland characters and learn their individual sounds, names and shapes. The focus is on phonemic awareness — training the ear to hear separate sounds within words — and on correct letter formation guided by the character stories. By the end of Level 1, children can blend simple three-letter words (cat, dog, sun, big, hop), write all 26 letters without prompting, and read the most common high-frequency words on sight. Most children who start at 4 complete this level within one school year.
With single-letter sounds secure, Level 2 unlocks the digraphs and vowel patterns that make up the bulk of everyday English text. Children learn consonant digraphs (ch, sh, th, wh), consonant clusters (bl, str, cr, spl), and the long-vowel patterns that turn cap into cape and bit into bite. They read full decodable storybooks and begin writing short sentences independently. Level 2 is where most children cross the line from "sounding out laboriously" to actually reading — a shift parents notice almost overnight.
Level 3 covers the complex patterns and spelling rules that take children from decoding to fluency. Vowel patterns (oo, ow, igh, air, ear), common suffixes and prefixes, and the trickier aspects of English spelling are taught systematically so nothing is left to guesswork. Children read longer texts, write multi-sentence compositions, and build the comprehension skills that feed directly into Primary School English examinations. Graduates of Level 3 walk into P1 — or P2 — already ahead of the curriculum.
Not sure which level fits your child? Every new student gets a short, friendly placement assessment before their first class. We'll tell you exactly which level is right — and if we think a term of Level 1 consolidation would serve them better than rushing ahead, we'll say so honestly.
Everything you need to know before you call.
4 to 7 years (K1 through P2). Placement is by ability, not just age — a 6-year-old complete beginner starts at Level 1.
Weekly · 1.5 hours per session · 12 sessions per term. Same day and time each week for consistency.
5–12 students per certified Letterland teacher — structured for focused, level-appropriate learning every lesson.
$270 per term (12 sessions) — course fees $210 + materials $60. All inclusive, no hidden charges.
Available at Edufarm centres across Singapore. Call or WhatsApp us to find the nearest centre with a phonics class.
Particularly effective for children in Mandarin- or Malay-speaking homes. The multi-sensory approach anchors English sounds independently of the home language.
Lots of centres teach phonics. Very few have been doing it since 2002 with the same programme, the same small classes and the same results.
Edufarm won Parents World's Best Enrichment School award — a parent-voted recognition that our phonics programme genuinely produces readers.
Every Edufarm phonics teacher is trained and certified in the Letterland methodology — not just familiar with it. Certification means your child's teacher has been assessed on how to use the programme, not just handed a textbook.
Regular assessments monitor each child's journey through the programme. You'll always know exactly where your child stands, what's been mastered and what comes next.
Since 2002, thousands of children at Edufarm centres have gone from not knowing a single letter sound to reading full chapter books. That track record is not replicated by a centre that launched last year.
Research by Letterland International found that children given explicit Letterland instruction learned almost twice as many letter sounds as those in control groups in the same timeframe. The structured, systematic approach is the difference.
From "not interested in books at all" to "please, just one more page" — here's what Letterland Phonics at Edufarm has meant for real families.
"My daughter used to get frustrated whenever we tried to read together. After just two terms of Letterland at Edufarm, she is sounding out words on her own — even off the cereal box at breakfast. The class is small enough that her teacher actually knows her and knows exactly where she is stuck."
"We enrolled Ryan at 4 years old, Level 1. He is now in P1 and his form teacher asked us what reading programme he had been on because his phonics foundation is so strong. We told her — Letterland at Edufarm. Worth every cent and every Saturday morning."
"As a Mandarin-first household we were honestly worried English reading would be a struggle. The Letterland action tricks and songs made the sounds click in a way nothing else had. Jia Jun now reads English as confidently as Chinese — which none of us expected this quickly."
Testimonials are representative of parent feedback. Ask us for verified reviews during your enquiry.
Four is actually the sweet spot for most children. At this age they're developmentally ready to connect letter shapes with sounds, they love characters and stories, and they have a full year before P1 to build a solid foundation. Starting at 4 means walking into Primary 1 already reading — rather than spending that first year catching up. See our full guide on phonics age and readiness →
The alphabet teaches letter names and shapes. Phonics teaches the sounds those letters make — and English has 44 sounds but only 26 letters, with many letters making different sounds in different words. Letterland's systematic approach covers all 44 sounds in a clear sequence, so children can decode any word they encounter, not just ones they have seen before.
Absolutely. Level 3 is designed for P1–P2 children and is particularly effective for students who are struggling with English decoding or spelling. A few terms of structured Letterland closes gaps that "just read more at home" advice won't fix, because it addresses the root cause — missing phonics knowledge — rather than the symptom.
Yes — Letterland is an English phonics programme and all instruction is in English. That said, our teachers understand Singapore's bilingual home environment, and the Letterland multi-sensory method is specifically well-suited for children whose home language is Mandarin or Malay.
Every new student gets a short placement assessment before their first class — about 10–15 minutes, no preparation needed. We gauge your child's current phonics knowledge and place them at the right level. If they already know some letter sounds, we find out how many and how solidly; if they are a complete beginner, Level 1 is the answer regardless of age.
A small amount — short practice activities to reinforce what was covered in class. Nothing onerous: about 10–15 minutes per week. The bulk of the learning happens in the lesson itself, where the teacher is there to correct and guide in real time.
$270 per term (12 weekly sessions of 1.5 hours each), inclusive of $210 course fees and $60 materials. No hidden charges. Enquire with us for current term start dates and availability.
Classes run at Edufarm's learning centres across Singapore. WhatsApp 9186 6763 or call 6715 8458 to find the nearest centre with an available class.
Tell us your child's age and current reading level — we'll suggest the right Letterland level and find a class near you. If we think they need to wait a term, we'll say so.