Tricky Words, Heart Words and Phonics: What Parents Need to Know

Your child brings home a short list - the, said, was, they - labelled tricky words, heart words, special words or irregular words, depending on the school. It can sound like a return to old-fashioned "sight word" memorising. Usually it is not.

This guide explains what those words are, how they fit a phonics approach, and how to practise them at home without guessing games. It pairs with phonics explained for parents, phonics vs sight words, decodable readers explained, and our Year 1 reading and Phonics Check guide.

First: most words are taught through phonics

In a systematic synthetic phonics classroom, children learn letter-sound relationships in a planned order and blend them to read. Victorian guidance distinguishes regular words (readable with known phonics patterns) from irregular words that do not fully follow the patterns taught so far (Phonics - emergent literacy).

A major scientific review of reading research likewise emphasises that learning how spellings map to sounds is central - with wide reading experience building on that foundation (Castles, Rastle and Nation, 2018).

So the goal is not "memorise every word as a picture." The goal is decode what you can, and get explicit help with the awkward bits.

What "tricky" or "heart" words usually mean

Schools use different labels for a similar idea:

• Irregular / tricky words - high-frequency words with unusual spellings, or with patterns not yet taught in the sequence (for example the, said, was).
• Heart words - a popular teaching nickname: map the regular parts with phonics, and "learn by heart" only the irregular part.
• Special words - some Australian programs use this label for the same early high-frequency set.

The Australian Government Literacy Hub phonics progression includes an irregular words column for high-frequency words children meet early - sometimes before every letter pattern in the word has been taught (for example the before th is fully taught). Those words are introduced carefully alongside the phonics sequence, not instead of it.

Ask your child's teacher which term they use and which words are current this term. Matching home language to school language reduces confusion.

How good teaching handles them (not flashcard-only)

Effective practice usually looks like this:

1. Say the word and stretch the sounds you can hear.
2. Point to the graphemes (letter or letter group) for each sound.
3. Circle or heart the irregular bit - the part that is unexpected or not yet taught.
4. Read and write the word in a short sentence, then meet it again in a decodable reader or classroom text.

That is different from old "look at the shape and guess" sight-word drills. For why guessing from pictures backfires, see why children guess words.

A parent-and-teacher overview of structured synthetic phonics is available from the Literacy Hub (Structured synthetic phonics guide).

How this shows up in Year 1 (and the Phonics Check)

Year 1 is heavy phonics lifting: digraphs, longer words, and growing banks of high-frequency words. The Year 1 Phonics Check focuses on decoding real and made-up words - it is not a tricky-word spelling test. Still, classroom reading mixes decodable text with a small set of high-frequency words taught explicitly. Our Year 1 reading and Phonics Check guide explains the Check; this page is about the word lists that travel home beside it.

What to do at home (10 calm minutes)

• Keep the list tiny. Practise this week's school words, not a laminated pack of 100.
• Map, don't chant. For said, notice s and d behave; the middle is the awkward bit.
• Write as well as read. Finger-trace, then write in a silly sentence.
• Spot them in decodables and storybooks. Celebrate "there's the!" in connected text.
• Don't demand perfection on untaught code. If the word uses a pattern they have not learned yet, the teacher expected that - support the taught parts and name the tricky part honestly.

If reading time regularly ends in tears, change the load before you change your child's self-story (how to help a struggling reader).

Examples parents meet constantly

These are illustrations only - your school's list and order matter more than any generic pack:

• the - very frequent; often taught early; th may still be settling
• said - /s/ and /d/ are friendly; the middle spelling is the awkward part
• was - the a does not say its "usual" short sound here for many speakers' ears
• they - the ending needs explicit attention

When you practise, keep the sentence short and meaningful: "She said the dog was wet." Reading the word inside a sentence beats chanting it in isolation.

Decodables and tricky words together

A good decodable reader is mostly words your child can sound through with taught code, plus a small set of high-frequency words that have been introduced. That mix is intentional. If a take-home book feels stuffed with untaught spellings, it may not be well matched - ask the teacher, and see decodable readers explained for what "matched" should feel like.

Re-reading the same short book helps both the phonics patterns and the tricky words become automatic without panic.

FAQ

Are tricky words the same as old "sight words"?

Not necessarily. Classic sight-word approaches often pushed whole-word memorising for long lists. Phonics-aligned tricky/heart/irregular word teaching still uses letter-sound knowledge for every regular part.

Should we stop sounding out when we see a tricky word?

Sound out what you can. Then name the irregular part. Pure guessing from the picture is the habit to avoid.

Why does the appear before th is taught?

Because children meet the constantly in real books. Progressions introduce a few high-frequency irregulars early so connected reading is possible - while the full digraph teaching continues on schedule (Literacy Hub progression).

Will the Phonics Check include our heart-word list?

The Check assesses blending of real and nonsense words to show decoding skill. Heart/tricky lists are classroom teaching tools; they are not the same assessment. See the Year 1 Phonics Check guide.

How many should they know by the end of Year 1?

Follow your school's sequence and report comments. Volume matters less than secure reading of the words that have been taught, in books as well as on lists.

What not to do

• Do not replace phonics lessons with giant sight-word packs from the discount aisle.
• Do not tell children "just remember it" when half the word is still decodable.
• Do not turn every shared book into a tricky-word quiz - keep joy and story alive.
• Do not compare your child's list length to a neighbour's; sequences differ by school and term.

Steady, mapped practice of a few words beats a wall of flashcards.

A calm next step

If you want a clearer picture of which phonics skills are solid, Ziado's free check is a one-off, roughly 10-minute adaptive diagnostic with partial results only - no account and no card. The full placement unlocks after signup. It is separate from school word lists and from the Year 1 Phonics Check. Explore Ziado reading for an adaptive path through sounds and words. Individual and Family plans, if you continue later, start with a 14-day free trial of the full app.