This one-year (36 week) course is intended to be used as a first grade reading curriculum (though some parents may choose to begin this course in kindergarten). The material is designed to guide a child from their first introduction to the alphabet through a working knowledge of phonics and reading. The course also covers elementary concepts of grammar, spelling, composition, and handwriting. Key grammatical concepts such as identification of nouns, verbs, and common punctuation marks are introduced. Students will be given exposure to language concepts such as syllables, rhyming words, and antonyms and synonyms. Scripture verses throughout the course allow children to practice the phonetic concepts they have learned by reading short passages of God’s Word.By the course’s completion, children will have a thorough understanding of basic phonetic concepts and will be reading on their own. They will complete the reading of God’s Big Story Level 1 and will be prepared to advance to a second grade reading curriculum. This course consists of 180 brief lessons. Each lesson should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. It is recommended that children complete a single lesson per school day. This short but consistent exposure to phonetic concepts helps to implant concepts in a child’s mind and cement them there for future use. If parent desires a faster pace, child can be assigned two lessons per day.Our design team has worked hard to present a well-thought-out, sequential, thorough Phonics course, while at the same time keeping it engaging and fun. This one-year course has carefully laid out a child’s first vocabulary, drawing from Scripture as well as other words of common usage. It is designed to coordinate with the “God’s Big Story” reading series, presented by Generations.
