Ready for Reading
Phonics Curriculum For Pre-K & Kindergarten
Teaching your child to read is one of the most rewarding privileges of home education!
I had one goal in developing Ready for Reading--create an intuitive and straightforward phonics program to help parents effectively teach their children to read at home.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Ready for Reading brings a complete phonics curriculum to your homeschool in an ebook format for a fraction of the price you might pay for other curriculum!
As home educators we want the very best for our children! We want our kids to be excellent readers—and we want them to love reading! At times this task appears daunting, especially when coupled with the importance strong reading skills play in future success! Often parents find themselves second-guessing their ability to teach reading at home.
But you absolutely can teach your kids to read—and do it with fun, hands-on activities!
My heart and hope is that Ready for Reading: Level 1 will make teaching reading:
- Simple—Phonics lessons that are intuitive, easy to implement, and flexible!
- Organized—Predictable lesson flow for learning letters of the alphabet and corresponding sounds!
- Fun—Activities that incorporate games and play!
Course Curriculum
Ready for Reading: Level 1 is a stand alone beginning phonics curriculum, 250+ pages designed to be flexible and meet your individual needs!
Ready for Reading: Level 1 is recommended for ages 4-6 to launch your child's reading journey!
Course Objectives:
- Recognize and name all letters of the alphabet.
- Recognize initial consonant and short vowel sounds for all 26 letters of the alphabet.
- Begin reading words with short vowel letter patterns.
- Begin reading words with consonant blends.
- Master 20 sight words.
Ready for Reading: Level 1 is divided into the following 9 hyperlinked sections making navigation a breeze. (You won't have to scroll through 250 pages to find exactly what you need!)
- Lesson Plans: Each week a letter of the alphabet is introduced and a flow of activities is suggested. Letters are not introduced in alphabetical order, but instead are presented in a systematic order so your child will begin reading words more quickly.
- Thematic Units: A list of thematic unit ideas for each letter.
- Reading Tips: 7 pages of expert tips to guide learning and promote reading in your home!
- Assessment Forms: Keep track of letter and sight word mastery.
- Alphabet Strips: Correspond to flashcards and provide guidance during reading and writing lessons.
- Flashcards: All 26 letters, both capital and lowercase. Corresponding sound/picture card for each letter (available in black+white and color). 100 sight word cards.
- Worksheets: Each letter of the alphabet has 4 corresponding worksheets.
- Circle the letters
- Write the letters
- Color the beginning sound picture
- Match the upper and lowercase letters.
- Games: 8 games for fun practice, plus ideas for including more games and play into your lessons.
- Readers: 10 beginning readers to engage children so they begin reading and experiencing success!
About the Author
Hi! I'm Jen--thanks so much for stopping by to learn about Ready for Reading! I want to share a little about my background so you know who put this curriculum together.
I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in high school--and so I am. I graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Elementary Education. I taught 2nd grade for two years and later spent two years as a virtual school teacher for homeschool families. I still keep my teaching license current through continuing education classes--I just worked too darn hard for that thing! But I certainly don't think you need to be a teacher to homeschool your kids--mostly I think it gave me the confidence to start.
I'm now in my 16th year of homeschooling! My husband and I have six amazing kids ranging in age from 5 to 19. I've taught 4 of them to read and will begin teaching our 5 year old twins how to read in the next few months. Teaching my kids how to read has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life!
I've always had a passion for reading curriculum--whether in college as a student, in the classroom as an educator, or as a parent making critical choices for my own children. I've spent a lot of time researching curriculum over the past 20 plus years, and now my hope is that my knowledge benefits YOU! Find me blogging about homeschooling and family life at jenmerckling.com!
Frequently Asked Questions
"I just had to send you a "thank you" for making the kindergarten curriculum. I also have twins, both boys and both strong headed in their own ways. I had tried starting with an online school and after 2 weeks was feeling very frustrated and confused. Their language arts wasn't easy to follow and didn't seem to ever introduce letters and writing. My husband started searching while I made dinner one night and we loved your easy and functional plan. I downloaded it the next day and was actually excited to get started the following Monday. We've finished 2 weeks and the boys are already improving and starting to recognize a few of the sight words we've started. I've loved the structure you've added into my own creative ways to keep them interested in learning.
"Thanks so much Jen for writing this Ready for Reading curriculum! You've included so much, and the tips and encouragement really are a big help. There's so much color and so many different choices, this curriculum really is perfect for this age group. Thanks again!"
- Ellen, Homeschool Mom & Blogger, Homeschooling Highway