I have two FREE reading curricula: Reading the Alphabet (for prekinders) and Phonics by The Book (for beginning readers). See below for a brief description of both. They are still much in process and I will post new lessons here when we work on them.
FOR PRESCHOOLERS
Reading the Alphabet was specifically designed for those PreKinders who already know their letters and letter sounds, yet are not ready for a faster paced, full-blown Kindergarten curriculum. But, it would also be a great alternative for those children who are slower at learning their phonics and sight words.
The Curriculum Includes Work on These Seven Areas:
- Review and Application of Letters & Their Sounds (not in ABC order)
- Introduction and Practice with Beginning Sight Words (such as: the, a, see, I, etc.)
- Phonological & Phonemic Awareness (playing with sounds in words)
- Book & Print Awareness (introducing vocabulary such as: title, word, period, etc.)
- Fine Motor Skills (cutting, gluing, tracing, beginnning handwriting-formation of letters)
- Numbers 1-20 & Patterns
- Reading/Matching Basic CVC Words (via word families); this starts after the first vowel (a) is introduced
Each Lesson Includes Activities Such as:
- an early emergent reader for each week which reviews letter sounds, applies them to real words, and introduces sight words at an appropriate pace for a PreK’s literacy development
- picture cards for each letter to apply beginning letter sounds via sound sorts and other activities
- teaching of beginning sight words, introduced at a slower pace to match their development
- a rhyming cut and paste activity
- activities to work on syllables within words
- cutting practice
- making patterns activity via the letter sound of the week
- a print awareness craft activity for each letter sound (similar to these)
- a book/print awareness idea for each letter of the alphabet
- beginning sight word puzzles & mazes
- tracing/handwriting practice for each letter
- activities to reinforce recognizing, counting, and one-to-one correspondence for #1-20
- as the lessons progress, CVC words will also be introduced
FOR BEGINNING READERS
Phonics by The Book is a series of phonics Bible stories with activities to go with each one. The stories start with Genesis 1 and will work through the entire Bible (various stories). The text is written with controlled language (regarding sight words and phonics skills) and their are activities to accompany each lesson. The beginning level is approximately an end of K/beginning of 1st grade level. The subsequent lessons build on the ones before and the text gets more difficult as the child grows in his word knowledge.
How You Know Your Child is Ready:
- He can read/recognize a majority of the first 100 sight words from Fry’s list (or the majority of the Pre-Primer/Primer sight words)
- He has a firm understanding of short vowel sounds (can read and write short vowel CVC words without much frustration)
- He has a solid grasp of blends and digraphs within short vowel words
- He still uses context to read words, but does not always need a picture to help him decode unknown words
~Becky