<![CDATA[General Background Early reading proficiency serves as a fundamental literacy skill necessary for comprehending various academic subjects in elementary education. Specific Background First-grade students at SDN 02 Bumi Ratu encounter significant difficulties in recognizing letter forms, pronouncing letter sounds, and combining alphabets into simple syllables. Knowledge Gap Many early learners lack a systematic instructional approach that connects abstract alphabetic symbols with their corresponding phonetic sounds, leading to reading hesitancy and low self-confidence. Aims This study intends to optimize early reading capabilities by applying a structured phonics approach focused on grapheme-phoneme correspondence. Results Implemented among six first-grade learners focusing on the letter B and its phonetic sound, the intervention yielded substantial diagnostic improvements. Post-test evaluations revealed that participant reading scores surged, with all subjects achieving mastery levels between 75 percent and 100 percent, compared to initial pre-test scores as low as 25 percent. Novelty Utilizing a step-by-step grapheme-to-phoneme decoding process specifically tailored for early learners uniquely bridges the cognitive gap between symbol recognition and word pronunciation. Implications Deploying the phonics strategy provides educators with an actionable and systematic pedagogical framework to successfully accelerate foundational literacy and build reading confidence among lower-grade elementary students. Highlights: The systematic phonetic intervention raised participant evaluation scores from a minimum of 25 percent to full mastery. Learners successfully transitioned from struggling with alphabet recognition to fluently pronouncing simple syllables and contextual vocabulary. Structured grapheme-to-phoneme instruction significantly elevated student confidence and participation during individual oral assessments. Keywords: Early Reading, Phonics Method, First Grade, Elementary School, Foundational Literacy]]>
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