For years, most children in Prep (Foundation) brought home levelled readers: little books marked A, B, C and up, with a repeated sentence on every page and a picture to help. Now many Victorian schools send home decodable books as well, or instead. If you’ve wondered why, and what you’re meant to do with each kind, this guide compares decodable vs levelled readers in plain language and explains what Victoria actually says.
Decodable vs levelled readers at a glance
| Decodable book | Levelled reader | Picture and library books | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it’s for | Practising the sounds your child has been taught | Reading a book at about the right difficulty, level by level | Enjoying stories, new words and ideas |
| How the words are chosen | Almost every word uses taught sounds, plus a few taught tricky words | Often a repeated sentence pattern, with pictures that match the words | Any words at all |
| Who reads it | Your child, sounding out | Your child, with your help | Mostly you, out loud |
| Best way to use it at home | Sound out, blend, then re-read for smoothness | Sound out words rather than guess from the picture | Read aloud, chat about it, enjoy it |
What is a decodable book?
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) puts it simply: “Decodable texts are texts designed for decoding practice.” They use the sound–letter matches and the tricky high-frequency words that children have already been taught. If your child knows s, a, t, p, i and n, a decodable book at that stage might say “Pat sat. Tap, tap, tap!” Every word can be worked out by saying the sounds and blending them.
That matters because a decodable book gives your child a real chance to read on their own. Each success strengthens the link between letters and sounds, and the VCAA notes that this practice can support “orthographic mapping”, the process by which words become instantly familiar over time. Our post on free decodable books in Phonics Plus order lists 20 you can read online, one for each set.
What are levelled readers?
Levelled readers are graded by difficulty, usually with letters, numbers or colours. At the earliest levels, many are predictable books: the same sentence repeats on each page with one word changed, and the picture shows what that word is. “I can see a dog. I can see a cat.” A child can often “read” a book like this by remembering the pattern and looking at the pictures, without looking closely at the letters.
Levelled books aren’t all the same, and many at higher levels are lovely stories. Our guide to reading levels and how to read with your Prep child explains what the levels mean.
Why many Victorian schools now use decodable books
Since Term 1 2025, Victorian government schools have taught early reading with a systematic synthetic phonics approach in Prep to Year 2, with at least 25 minutes of phonics a day. The Department’s reading position, which all government primary and specialist schools are expected to have in place by the start of the 2027 school year, says that “Decodable texts are used to practice the letter-sound combinations that students have been taught.”
The Department’s literacy page for parents says schools may send home decodable readers, and that these books encourage children to use their sounds “rather than guessing from pictures and context.”
The VCAA has also changed the curriculum itself. Its guidance says “all references to predictable texts have been removed from the English Version 2.0 curriculum”, because with a repeating pattern children “are often able to guess at words or sentences rather than decode them”. It describes predictable texts as “no longer recommended in early reading instruction”.
That isn’t the same as a ban. We haven’t found any Department document that withdraws levelled readers by name, and schools still choose their own books. The Department’s Phonics Plus lesson plans are optional too: schools may use them “or another program that aligns with the reading position”. If you live in another state, your school may use different names, but you’ll often meet the same two kinds of book. Ask the teacher which kind is coming home and why.
You may also hear the term three-cueing. The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) describes “multi-cueing (also known as three-cueing and searchlights)” as teaching children to recognise words through context and cues rather than decoding, and says the model “has not been linked to cognitive science”. In practice, that is the “look at the picture and guess” habit schools now try to avoid.
What to do with each kind of book at home
- Decodable book: let your child sound out. Point under each word and wait. If they get stuck, ask “What’s the first sound? And the next?” The Department suggests: “Let’s look at the word. Try to sound the word out.” If that doesn’t work, show them, or simply tell them the word and keep going.
- Read it again. The second and third reads are where fluency grows. Re-reading a favourite is not cheating.
- Levelled reader: words first, picture second. If a predictable book comes home, cover the picture for a moment and ask your child to sound out the changing word. Then uncover it and enjoy the picture as part of the story.
- Tricky words: tell and teach. If a word uses sounds your child hasn’t learnt yet, just tell them. Our post on heart words shows how to teach the tricky part.
- Read aloud every day, too. You read, your child listens. Picture books and chapter books build vocabulary and a love of stories that early readers can’t yet reach on their own.
When do children move on from decodable books?
There’s no fixed age. The VCAA says that once children “can apply their decoding skills with fluency, they can transition to less phonetically controlled texts, or authentic texts”. It suggests this basic decoding proficiency comes after about 60 sound–letter matches, which “typically occurs around the middle of Level 1”, the middle of Year 1 (Grade 1 at many schools).
Signs your child is ready for a wider range of books include reading decodables smoothly without sounding out every word, working out new words quickly, and enjoying longer stories. Your child’s teacher will know which set the class is on and can tell you when to widen the choice. If sounding out is still very hard, our post on what to try when a child can’t blend sounds has gentle next steps.
Using both shelves on KidStudy
KidStudy has both kinds of book in one place. The Phonics shelf has 20 decodable books grouped by set, starting with Tap, Tap, Tap for Set 1. The Stories shelf has levelled stories, and there are science books too. In every book your child has a go first. If they need help, one tap on a word says it, and a second tap says it slowly, sound by sound, with marks under the letters for each sound. Encourage them to try the sounds themselves before they tap.
Questions parents ask
What is the difference between decodable and levelled readers?
Decodable books use only the sounds and tricky words your child has been taught, so they can sound out almost every word. Levelled readers are graded by difficulty, and the early ones often use a repeated sentence and pictures, so children can guess words without decoding them.
Why has my child’s school switched to decodable books?
Victorian government schools now teach reading with systematic synthetic phonics every day in Prep to Year 2. The Department says decodable texts are used to practise the letter-sound combinations children have been taught, rather than guessing from pictures and context.
Are levelled readers bad?
Not all of them. The VCAA says predictable texts, the repetitive kind, are no longer recommended in early reading instruction because children can guess rather than decode. Levelled books at higher levels, and books you read aloud, are still valuable.
What makes a book decodable?
Almost every word uses sound–letter matches your child has already learnt, plus a few taught tricky words. A decodable book for Set 1 of Phonics Plus, for example, uses only s, a, t, p, i and n.
When should my child stop reading decodable books?
When they can decode with fluency. The VCAA says this usually comes after about 60 sound–letter matches, typically around the middle of Year 1. Ask the teacher which set your child is on.
Can my child still read other books at home?
Yes. Keep reading picture books, library books and anything your child loves aloud to them. For your child’s own reading practice, decodable books matched to their sounds work best at first.
Sources
- Victoria’s approach to teaching reading F–2, Department of Education (Arc)
- How to build your child’s literacy skills from birth to Grade 2, Victorian Government
- Victorian teaching and learning information for parents and carers, Victorian Government
- Text selection guidance: decodables, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
- English Version 2.0 curriculum, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
- Introduction to the science of reading, Australian Education Research Organisation
