Getting Ready 1 is the preschool level of the curriculum. It is recommended to be used at age 4. If your four-year old isn’t getting it, wait six months and try again. I had two children start at both three and four and one at five. The children who started at three were starting to pick up sounds and letters and words by asking questions. They were “reading books” by pointing to each word and asking what it was. Basically, they were showing they were ready and interested and motivated to start learning to read.
Here’s a Progress Report that is unique for this level. You can use it to check off what days you have completed. This is the only level that runs longer than 180 days.
I called this “Getting Ready” because I’m not really interested in teaching a lot of different things at this age. I want to prepare them as readers mostly. (You can read my Learning to Read Philosophy here.) Once they can read well, they can do anything. I will also do counting and some basics like shapes and colors. Anything else they get by looking at books, observing the world, asking questions and vicariously through the learning of siblings.
Your child can watch the videos independently, but they are little and are going to need a parent or older sibling to guide and help. I will put things in bold that a parent or older sibling needs to do with or for the child. You can choose to not do the crafts, but it would be great if you would interact with your child with the animal pictures and the alphabet phonetic sounds like I describe. You’ll notice boy and girl phonetic alphabet stories. They are basically identical except for the character names. There are many days that have something to print which are marked with an *.
Below, and on the first day, there are links to print out a 100+ page packet of printables for this course. This is also available as a workbook. (There is no longer a boys and girls version.)
This level is split into two parts, learning the alphabet and their phonetic sounds, and then beginning to learn to read with sight words. In Getting Ready 2 they will learn to read with phonics. The end goal is to be ready for the first level of this curriculum.
Here is a PDF of the animal alphabet stories if you’d like a copy to follow along with.
Want to go offline? Try the Genesis Curriculum version of this course for ages 3 and 4.
Want more info on our preschool and kindergarten curriculum?
Materials:
- Basic Supplies list
- Day 164 yarn
- Day 79, 197 (optional) small object(s) to glue to make letter (noodles for instance)
- optional craft materials: toilet paper rolls, paper plates, paper bags, yarn
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Day 1*
- Listen to the Alphabet Song.
- Learn about the letter A. (This game requires flash player. Check the troubleshooting guide if you are having trouble. On a mobile device, you will need a flash-enabled browser set to “desktop mode” in order to avoid the paid app for this site.)
- Look at the letter A. (I use a lot of google searches to show them things. I have tried to use safe search to do that, but just in case, I suggest turning on Google safe search on your computer as well.)
- *Print out the printables workbook (111 pages) or buy as a workbook.
- Use page 3 of your workbook and color in the alligator. Talk about how she says “Aaaaa!” all the time because she’s scared of everything. (A as in cat)
- Listen to a story about April the Alligator. These will work on mobile devices. You click on the screen to turn the page on the computer and swipe to turn the page on a cell phone or tablet. Click on the speaker image to listen to the letters and stories. (We previously had these on videos with boy and girl versions of the stories. These are still available on our youtube page as a playlist. Abraham the Alligator / April the Alligator)
Day 2
- Listen to the Alphabet Song. Sing along if you can! And learn about the letter A.
- Look at the letter A.
- Use page 4 of your workbook. Have your child trace the letters with a finger. Afterwards just have them color in the bubble letters. If your child is advanced in small motor skills, you can have them trace, but as far as my houseful of boys is concerned, it’s too early at this point.
- Don’t forget to talk about April the Alligator that says “Aaaaa!” Point out that her name starts with A.
Day 3*
- Listen to the Alphabet Song Sing along!
- Learn about the letter A.
- Listen to a story about April the Alligator. (videos Abraham the Alligator / April the Alligator)
- *Print out this alligator page. Have your child cut and glue and color the page. Show your child how to hide behind the paper and talk like he is the alligator. Say, “Hi, I’m Abe the Alligator. I like to say, “Aaaaa!” Demonstrate and then have your child do it.
- Don’t expect perfection! They don’t have to cut on the lines or get everything on right. Here’s my 4-yr-old’s version of this. I told him to cut it in chunks. I shaved off a little bit more, but even I didn’t worry about cutting on the lines. Crafts are for fun so let them be fun!
Day 4*
- Listen to the Alphabet Song. Sing along! And Look at the letter A.
- *Print out this apple and cut and paste.
Day 5
- Listen to a story about April the Alligator. (videos Abraham the Alligator / April the Alligator)
- Listen to the Alphabet Song. Sing along! And Learn about the letter A.
- Read some books together and hunt in your books for the letter A and things that start with an “Aaaaa” sound.
Day 6
- Listen to the Alphabet Song. Sing along!
- Learn about the letter B.
- Look at the letter B.
- Use page 5 in your workbook. Color in the bee. Point out the letter b and say “buh, buh…” You could say that she buzzes when she’s going fast, but when she runs out of steam and gets tired she goes, “Buh, buh, buh…”
- Listen to a story about Betty the Bee. (videos Bobby the Bee or Betty the Bee)
Day 7
- Listen to the Alphabet Song. Sing along!
- Learn about the letter b.
- Use page 6 of your workbook. Have your child trace the letter with a finger and then color it in. Show your child how to start at the top of each letter and to jump back up to the top after the first line. Talk about Betty the Bee and the letter B and the sound “buh.”
Day 8
- Listen to the alphabet song. Sing along!
- Listen to a b song.
- Listen to a story about Betty the Bee. (videos Bobby the Bee or Betty the Bee)
- Use page 7 in your workbook. Find all of the letter Bs. You can give your child a crayon to mark each B as it is found. It’s okay to just color over the letter or to draw a line through it. You can read it to your child, but the point is practicing identifying the letter B.
- Act out April and Betty talking together and making their sounds.
Day 9*
- Listen to the alphabet song. Sing along!
- Learn about the sound of the letter b.
- *Choose a craft. Beaver toilet paper roll Bee handprint paper craft
Day 10
- Listen to the alphabet song. Sing along!
- Learn about the letter B.
- Look at the letter B.
- Listen to a story about Betty the Bee. (videos Bobby the Bee or Betty the Bee)
- Read some books together and hunt in your books for the letter B and things that start with a “buh” sound.
- Coloring pages if you want them.
Day 11
- Listen to the Alphabet Song.
- Learn about the letter C.
- Look at the letter C.
- Use page 8 in the workbook and color in the cat. Talk about how she opens her mouth wide and says “c, c, c” as she hacks up a hair ball
Don’t worry about the “s” sound that c sometimes makes. That will come later.
- Listen to a story about Cathy the Cat. (videos Caleb the Cat / Cathy the Cat)
Day 12
- Listen to the Alphabet Song. Sing along if you can! And Learn about the Letter C.
- Use page 9 in your workbook. Have your child trace the letters with a finger. Afterwards have them color in the bubble letters.
- Don’t forget to talk about Cathy the Cat that says, “C.” Point out that her name starts with C.
- If your child has a hard time pronouncing C, have him place a finger on his tongue to hold it down to practice.
Day 13*
- Listen to a song about the Letter C.
- *Choose a craft. Paper bag cat 3D paper cat
- Listen to a story about Cathy the Cat. (videos Caleb the Cat / Cathy the Cat)
Day 14*
- Listen to the Alphabet Song. Sing along! And Learn about the Letter C.
- Look at the letter C.
- *Do the other craft or do a coloring page.
Day 15
- Learn about the letter C.
- Listen to a story about Cathy the Cat. (videos Caleb the Cat / Cathy the Cat)
- Act out April the Alligator saying “aaaa” and Betty the Bee saying “b, b, b” and Cathy the Cat saying “c, c, c.”
- Read some books together and hunt in your books for the letter C and things that start with an “c” sound, as in cat.
- If your child is asking, there are lots of coloring pages he can do.
- Can you do this cow puzzle?
Day 16
- Listen to the ABC song.
- Look at the color blue.
- Look at circles.
- Color the circle blue on page 10 of your workbook.
- Review A, B, C. These reviews auto-play the sound when each slide appears.
Day 17
- Learn about the letter A.
- Use page 11 of your workbook. Have your child trace the letter with a finger. Afterwards just have him color it in BLUE.
- Make a circle book: Either use paper plates, a hole punch, and yarn to make a circle book, or cut out several circles using yesterday’s print out and staple them together. Write “My Circle Book” on the front. Have your child draw circles on every page. It’s okay if it’s just three pages.
Day 18*
- Learn about the letter A.
- Use page 12 of your workbook. Find the letter A. You could use the color blue to mark the letters when you find them.
- *Print out the bear circle craft and help your child make it. Talk about circles.
Day 19
- Learn about the letter B.
- Use page 13 of your workbook. Have your child trace the letter with a finger. Afterwards have him color it in BLUE.
- Listen to a story about April, Betty, and Cathy. (videos Abraham, Bobby and Caleb or April, Betty and Cathy)
Day 20*
- Listen to the ABC song.
- Learn about the letter C.
- Use page 14 in your workbook. Find all the Cs.
- *Print out this circle craft and help your child assemble it. Talk about circles.
Day 21
- Listen to the alphabet song.
- Learn about the letter D.
- Look at the letter D.
- Use page 15 in your workbook. Color in the dog. Talk about how she opens her mouth wide and says, “Duh,” whenever someone asks her if she can do a trick.
- Listen to a story about Danielle the Dog. (videos David the Dog / Danielle the Dog)
Day 22*
- Learn about the letter D.
- Use page 16 in your workbook. Have your child trace the letters with a finger. Color it in BLUE.
- Don’t forget to talk about Danielle the Dog says, “Duh.” Point out that her name starts with D.
- *Print out the verse on page 6. (Click on the image to download.) Color it and find the two Ds. Give your child a something to mark the Ds.
Day 23
- Listen to a song about the letter D.
- Choose a craft craft: dog or duck.
- Use page 17 of the workbook. Find all of the letter Ds.
- Listen to a story about Danielle the Dog. (videos David the Dog / Danielle the Dog)
Day 24*
- Learn about the Letter D.
- Look at the letter D.
- *Make a circle dog craft.
Day 25
- Listen to the alphabet song.
- Paint a picture ALL BLUE.
- Learn about the letter D.
- Listen to a story about Danielle the Dog. (videos David the Dog / Danielle the Dog)
- Act out April the Alligator saying “Aaaa” and Betty the Bee saying “buh, buh, buh” and Cathy the Cat saying “ck, ck, ck” and Danielle the Dog saying “duh, duh, duh.”
- Read some books together and hunt in your books for the letter D and things that start with an “d” sound, as in dog.
- If your child is asking, there are lots more coloring pages he can do.
Day 26
- Learn about the letter E.
- Look at the letter E.
- Use page 18 of your workbook and color in the elephant. Talk about how she has a stutter and when she tells people about herself she says, “e, e, e, elephant.” The E is the short vowel sound like in met.
- Listen to a story about Elizabeth the Elephant. (videos Eli the Elephant or Elizabeth the Elephant)
Day 27*
- Learn about the letter E.
- Use page 19 of the workbook. Have your child trace the letters with a finger. Color them in BLUE.
- Don’t forget to talk about Elizabeth the Elephant. Point out that her name starts with an E.
- *Print out page 6 of the download (click on the image). Find the letter E. Color in the Bible verse picture.
- Practice drawing lines using page 20 of your workbook. Start each line at the smiley face. This is practice for writing letters. When we write letters, we start at the top.
Day 28
- Learn about the Letter E.
- Choose a craft. Egg letter E Elephant hand
- Listen to a story about Elizabeth the Elephant. (videos Eli the Elephant or Elizabeth the Elephant)
Day 29
- Watch this E video to practice the sound of E.
- Look at the letter E.
- Choose a craft or coloring page.
Day 30
- Sing the Alphabet Song.
- Learn about the letter E.
- Listen to a story about Elizabeth the Elephant. (videos Eli the Elephant or Elizabeth the Elephant)
- Make a blue circle picture. Together cut out blue circles from blue in magazines or from blue paper or have your child draw and color blue circles and then you cut them out. Try and use different shades of blue. Have your child glue them onto a piece of paper. It doesn’t have to make a picture. It can be modern art.
Day 31
- Learn about the letter F.
- Use page 21 of your workbook. Color in the fish. Talk about how Faith says “ffff” when he’s being fried.
- Listen to a story about Faith the Fish. (videos Frank or Faith)
- Put together a fish puzzle.
Day 32*
- Learn about the Letter F.
- Use page 22 in your workbook. Have your child trace the letters with a finger. Remember to have them start at the top and then jump back up to the top to trace the lines across. Color them in BLUE.
- Don’t forget to talk about Faith the Fish. Point out that her name starts with an F.
- *Print out page 8 of the download (click on the image). Find the letter F. Color in the Bible verse page if you like.
- Use page 23 of your workbook to practice drawing lines. Start at the smiley faces.
- Put together a fish puzzle.
Day 33
- Sing the ABC Song.
- Look at the letter F.
- Use page 24 of your workbook. Find all of the letter Fs.
- Listen to a story about Faith the Fish. (videos Frank or Faith)
- Choose a craft. Here are some ideas. F Fox Fire Fishbowl 1 Fishbowl 2 If you don’t have blue paper, your child can just color in the water. Use what you have.
Day 34
- Learn about the Letter F.
- Choose a craft. Use an idea from day 33 or one of these.
- Don’t forget to talk like the animals.
Day 35
- Learn about the letter F.
- Read some books together and hunt in your books for the letter F and things that start with an “f” sound.
- If your child is asking, there are lots more coloring pages he can do.
- Listen to a story about Faith the Fish. (videos Frank or Faith)
Day 36
- Learn about the letter D.
- Look at these triangles:
- Look at the color green .
- Make a Christmas tree with triangles. (Here are directions if you need them)
- Review D, E, F.
- Listen to a story about Danielle, Elizabeth, and Faith. (videos David, Eli and Frank or Danielle, Elizabeth and Faith)
Day 37
- Learn about the letter E.
- Use page 25 of your workbook. Find and color all of the letter Es. Use green.
- Make green. Look at the second idea, Green Finger Paint, or use food coloring in dough or water to mix yellow and blue.
- You can also use this game to mix yellow and blue to make green. Then you can play the game and do what it tells you.
Day 38
- Learn about the letter E.
- Make a letter E out of clay or playdough. If you don’t have clay, mix 1/2 cup of margarine/butter with 1/2 cup of flour. Or make your own playdough. Use green clay/dough!
- Make other letters too if you like.
- Go through your animals and make them talk! Make sure you use their names and sounds!
Day 39*
- Learn about the letter F.
- *Make a triangle fish.
- Alphabet song with words.
Day 40*
- Look at these triangles.
- Look at the color green.
- Listen to a story about April and friends. (videos Abraham and friends / April and friends)
- Listen to this animal sounds song.
- *Color a frog green if you like.
Day 41
- Sing the alphabet song.
- Learn about the letter G.
- Look at the letter G.
- Use page 26 of your workbook. Color in the goat. Tell your child that Greg says, “Guh, guh, guh” when he’s snorting and banging his hoof on the ground getting ready to butt someone to get out of his territory! Act out Abe wandering over to Greg, and Greg says, “Guh, guh, guh, get out of here!” and Abe says, “AAAAAA!”
- Listen to a story about Greg. (videos Greg or Grace)
Day 42*
- Look at the Letter G. And listen to a G Song.
- *Print out page 6 (click on the picture to download). Color in the Bible verse picture.
- Practice drawing lines on page 27 of your workbook.
- Talk like the animals.
Day 43
- Listen to a G song.
- Find all the G’s in the story on page 28 of your workbook.
- Listen to a story about Greg. (videos Greg or Grace)
Day 44
- Listen to a G story.
- Use page 29 of your workbook. Trace the letters with your finger. You can color it too.
- Choose a craft. Paper goat TP goat
- Talk like the animals.
Day 45
- Learn about the letter G
- Want to do a puzzle?
- Use page 30 of your workbook. Color the triangles green and blue.
- Listen to a story about Greg. (videos Greg or Grace)
- Read some books together and hunt in your books for the letter G and things that start with an “guh” sound, as in gate.
Day 46
- Listen to the Alphabet Song!
- Learn about the letter H.
- Look at the letter H.
- Use page 31 of the workbook. Talk about Harold and how it’s hard for him to run fast and when he tries to run he sounds like this, “h, h, h…” Color in the picture.
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Harold or Hillary)
Day 47*
- Learn about the Letter H.
- Listen to a song about the letter H.
- *Print out page 6 (click on the picture to download). Find the letter H, color the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 32 of your workbook. Start each line at the smiley face.
- Talk like Harold, h, h, h.
- Make a letter H by painting, or using clay, arranging spaghetti, or anything else!
Day 48
- Learn about the letter H.
- Use page 33 of your workbook. Trace the letters with your finger and color it in green. Green starts with G!
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Harold or Hillary)
- Do a craft! Horse Helicopter (activity 4, print both templates in either color or b/w) House (you can use this H as a template)
Day 49
- Listen to a song about the Letter H.
- Do an H craft! Choose from yesterday’s list.
- Talk like Harold and all the other animals. Make sure you connect the alphabet letter name with the sound the letter (animal) makes.
Day 50
- Learn about the letter H.
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Harold or Hillary)
- Sing the Alphabet song.
- Do a coloring page if you like!
- Read some books together and hunt in your books for the letter H and things that start with an “h” sound, as in hat.
Day 51
- Learn about the letter I.
- Look at the letter I.
- Use page 34 of the workbook. Color in the iguana green. The iguana is obnoxious. He likes to wake people up by pretending to be a beeping alarm clock. He sneaks up to them and says, loudly, “I…I…I…I.” (the short vowel sound for i like in hit)
- Listen to a story about Issac the Iguana. (videos Isaac the Iguana / Irene the Iguana)
Day 52**
- Learn about the letter I.
- Talk like Isaac or Irene!
- *Print page 6 (click on the picture to download). Find the letter I, color in the Bible verse page.
- Practice drawing lines on page 35 of your workbook. Start at the smiley faces. When there aren’t any smiley faces, they should still start at the top! They just need to think for themselves where they are supposed to start.
- *Print circles and triangles on blue and green paper or color them in blue and green. Cut them out and glue them together into a picture or collage.
Day 53
- Use page 36 in your workbook. Trace the letters with your finger and color it in green. Green starts with G!
- Find all the I’s in the story on page 37 of your workbook.
- Listen to a story about Issac the Iguana. (videos Isaac the Iguana / Irene the Iguana)
- Listen to the Alphabet song.
- Make an igloo. (You could use sugar cubes too.)
Day 54
- Listen to songs about the Letter I and Letter I Song.
- Connect the dots in the order of the alphabet song, a, b, c, d, e, f, g… on page 38 of your workbook.
- Talk like the animals!
Day 55
- Learn about the letter I.
- Listen to a story about Issac the Iguana. (videos Isaac the Iguana / Irene the Iguana)
- Read some books together and hunt in your books for the letter I and things that start with an “i” sound, as in igloo or ice.
- Listen to the alphabet song.
Day 56
- Learn about the letter I.
- Look at the letter I.
- Can you make a fancy letter I? Make a I out of clay or play dough or out of noodles or Duplos or anything else? You can just make it or glue it down. Here is a letter I if you want a template for your child.
- Review G, H, I.
- Listen to a story about Greg, Harold, and Isaac. (videos Greg, Harold and Isaac or Grace, Hillary and Irene)
Day 57
- Learn about the letter H.
- Find all the H’s in the story on page 39 of the workbook.
- Do a horse jigsaw puzzle.
Day 58
- Look at squares.
- Look at more squares.
- Find all the squares and color them on page 40 of your workbook.
- Learn about the letter G.
- Hunt around the house for things that start with the letter G. What did you find?
Day 59*
- Learn about the letter I.
- The Farm Animals talking ebook
- Play this shape game.
- Look at the color red.
- *Print this square. Color it red. Cut it out. If you fold it in half and then again the other way, you can make four squares, and then they could cut out those four squares.
Day 60*
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Abraham and friends or about April and friends)
- Learn about the color red.
- Pick a picture and make a scene.
- *Make this wreath craft. You can substitute for a paper plate if you need to. Print it in black and white. Color the circle red, the squares blue and the triangles green.
Day 61
- Learn about the letter J.
- Look at the letter J.
- Watch this Alphabet video.
- Use page 41 of your workbook. Color in the jaguar. He makes the “j” sound as he dances around.
- Listen to a story about John the Jaguar. (videos John the Jaguar or Joanna the Jaguar)
Day 62*
- Learn about the Letter J.
- *Print out page 6 (Click on the image to download.) Find the letter J. Color in the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 42 your workbook. Start at the smiley faces, and then still start at the top when there are no smiley faces.
- Hunt around the house for things that start with the letter J. What did you find?
- Do things that start with the letter j, jump, jiggle, jerk.
- Watch a shape video.
Day 63
- Learn about the Letter J.
- Use page 43 of your workbook . Trace the letters with your finger and color them in green. Green starts with G!
- Find all the J’s in the story on page 44 of your workbook.
- Listen to a story about John the Jaguar. (videos John the Jaguar or Joanna the Jaguar)
- Play I spy something red.
Day 64*
- Learn about the Letter J.
- Make a Jack in the Box. *Print out these shapes to cut out, jack in the box shapes. Make sure your child knows the shapes and what a jaguar says, “j, j, j.” Color the shapes red, green, and blue.
Day 65
- Learn about the letter J.
- Listen to a story about John the Jaguar. (videos John the Jaguar or Joanna the Jaguar)
- Watch this neat sign language alphabet video.
- If you like, color a jaguar.
Day 66
- Learn about the letter K.
- Look at the letter k.
- Make the letter K with your body.
- Use page 45 in your workbook. Color in the kangaroo. In the story the “K, K, K” is the sound of a ticking watch.
- Listen to a story about Keith the Kangaroo. (videos Keith the Kangaroo or Karen the Kangaroo)
Day 67
- Learn about the letter K.
- Use page 46 of your workbook. Have your child trace the letters with his finger and then color it in red.
- Play I spy the color green.
- Talk about the animals, their names, letters and sounds.
Day 68*
- Listen to an abc song and learn about the Letter K.
- *Print out either page 8 or 9 (Click on the image to download.) Find the Ks. Color in the picture.
- Practice drawing lines on page 47 of your workbook. Start at the top!
- Listen to a story about Keith the Kangaroo. (videos Keith the Kangaroo or Karen the Kangaroo)
Day 69
- The letter K starts the word, Kindness. Listen to this K is for Kindness song.
- Learn about the letter K.
- Do a K craft. Kaleidoscope Kangaroo crafts
Day 70
- Listen to a story about Keith the Kangaroo. (videos Keith the Kangaroo or Karen the Kangaroo)
- Watch this song about shapes.
- If you like, do a coloring page or craft.
Day 71
- Learn about the letter L.
- Look at the letter L.
- Use page 48 of your workbook. In the story you will hear that the lion loves to say his name, “Llllllllllee!”
- Make the letter L with your body.
- Listen to a story about Lee the Lion. (videos Lee the Lion or Lea the Lion)
Day 72
- Sing about the letter L.
- Use page 49 of your workbook. Have your child trace it with his finger and then color it in red.
- Cut out squares from colored paper (use red, green and/or blue) and have your child build a letter L and glue it to a separate piece of paper.
Day 73*
- Learn about the Letter L.
- Find all the Ls in the story on page 50 of your workbook.
- *Print out page 6. (Click on the image to download.) Find all the letter Ls, color in the Bible verse page.
- Practice drawing lines on page 51 of your workbook.
- Listen to a story about Lee the Lion. (videos Lee the Lion or Lea the Lion)
Day 74
- Listen to a story about the Letter L and listen to an alphabet song.
- Do an L craft. Ladybug fingerprint craft Lion craft
- Don’t forget to talk about the animals, their names, letters and sounds.
Day 75
- Learn about the letter L.
- Listen to a story about Lee the Lion. (videos Lee the Lion or Lea the Lion)
- Do an L craft.
- Watch a song about shapes.
Day 76
- Listen to the alphabet song.
- Look at the color yellow.
- Review J, K, L.
- Listen to a story about Lee, Keith, and John. (videos Lee, Keith and John or about Lea, Karen and Joanna)
Day 77
- Learn about the letter J.
- Look at the shape rectangle.
- Make a farm. What on your farm is yellow?
Day 78
- Learn about the letter K.
- Find the letter Ks in the story on page 52 of your workbook.
- Paint a picture yellow.
Day 79
- Match the shapes. Click on the bottom right choice both times to see the pictures. See if you can match the shape pictures.
- Learn about the letter L.
- Listen to a song about the Letter L.
- Make a letter L with clay or playdough or noodles or anything else. If you want, your child can glue things onto this L.
Day 80*
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Abraham and friends or about April and friends)
- Build a robot with rectangles.* Print out this paper craft.
- Listen to an abc song.
Day 81
- Play with the color yellow.
- Learn about the letter M.
- Look at the letter M.
- Use page 53 in your workbook. She says, “Mmm” when she eats her favorite food.
- Listen to a story about Michelle the Monkey. (videos Michael the monkey or Michelle the monkey)
Day 82
- Play this color game.
- Listen to a song about the Letter M.
- Use page 54 of the workbook. Trace the Ms with your finger. Color them yellow.
- Find all the Ms in the story on page 55 of the workbook.
- Talk about Michelle, mmmm….
Day 83*
- Listen to Cookie Monster talk about the Letter M and listen to the M song.
- *Print out page 6. (Click on the image to download.) Find all the Ms. Color in the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 56 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Michelle the Monkey. (videos Michael the monkey or Michelle the monkey)
- You could make a mountain M. You would have to make and cut out the pieces for your child.
Day 84
- Listen to this Letter M song.
- Make a shapes craft. Print out this school house paper craft.
- Talk about all the animals, their names, letters and sounds. Have fun!
Day 85
- Learn about the letter M.
- Listen to a story about Michelle the Monkey. (videos Michael the monkey or Michelle the monkey)
- Choose a craft or coloring page.
Day 86
- Learn about the letter N.
- Look at the letter N.
- Use page 57 of the workbook. She sounds like “Nnnn…” because she has a cold.
- Listen to a story about Nicole the Nuthatch. (videos Ned the Nuthatch or about Nicole the Nuthatch)
Day 87
- Listen to a song about the Letter N.
- Use page 58 in the workbook. Trace the Ns with your finger. Color it in.
- Try this Yellow-billed Nuthatch puzzle. It’s harder! Get the black pieces out of the way. Move them to the side. Match up the feet. Put his head at the top. Put his feet at the bottom. Match the colors. Try the blocks in different places. It will lock into place when you are right.
Day 88*
- Learn about the letter N.
- *Print page 4. (Click on the image to download.) Find all the Ns. Color in the Bible verse picture.
- Practice drawing lines on page 59 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Nicole the Nuthatch. (videos Ned the Nuthatch or about Nicole the Nuthatch)
Day 89
- Learn about the letter N and listen to an abc song.
- Talk about the animals, their names, their letters and their alphabet sounds.
- Choose a craft. Cut out numbers nest crafts
Day 90
- Learn about the letter N.
- Look at the letter N.
- Listen to a story about Nicole the Nuthatch. (videos Ned the Nuthatch or about Nicole the Nuthatch)
- Do a craft or coloring page.
Day 91
- Learn about the letter O.
- Look at the letter O.
- Use page 60 in your workbook. Color in the octopus. She says, the short o sound “ah” as in hot and pot. She always thinks that she’s getting tonsillitis. She asks people to look in her mouth to check her tonsils. She opens her mouth and says, “ah…”
- Listen to a story about Olivia the Octopus. (videos Owen the Octopus or Olivia the Octopus)
Day 92
- Learn about the letter O.
- Use page 61 in your workbook. Trace the Os with your finger. Color them in.
- Find all the Os on page 60 of the workbook (page 62 in the pdf) (Boys / Girls).
- Talk about Olivia and make the sound “ah.”
Day 93*
- Learn about the letter O.
- Talk about the animals and what sounds they make, especially Olivia saying “ah.”
- *Print out page 6. (Click on the image to download.) Find all the O’s. Color in the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 63 of your workbook.
- Make letter Os with things in your house. (yarn, belt, towel, arms, legs, what else?)
- Listen to a story about Olivia the Octopus. (videos Owen the Octopus or Olivia the Octopus)
Day 94
- Learn about the Letter O.
- Choose a craft. Octopus tissue paper craft Octopus paper craft Octopus toilet paper roll craft
- Look through your animal pages and make their letter sounds!
Day 95
- Learn about the letter O.
- Look at the letter O.
- Listen to a story about Olivia the Octopus. (videos Owen the Octopus or Olivia the Octopus)
- Choose a craft or coloring page.
Day 96
- Learn about the letter M.
- Review M, N, O.
- Listen to a story about Nicole, Michelle, and Olivia. (videos Ned, Michael and Owen or about Michelle, Nicole and Olivia)
- Look at the color orange. Click on the images to enlarge.
Day 97
- Learn about the letter N.
- Find all the Ns on page 64 of your workbook.
- Look at the shape oval.
- Listen to an abc song.
Day 98
- Learn about the letter O.
- Play this color game.
Day 99
- Learn about the letter O.
- Make this owl shapes craft.
Day 100
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Abraham and friends or about April and Friends)
- Listen to an alphabet sounds video.
- Listen to an abc song.
Day 101
- Learn about the letter P.
- Look at the letter P.
- Use page 65 in your workbook. Paul is used to being in a warm climate. He’s traveling with the circus to a cold location. He can see his breath when he puffs out air, “P, p, p.”
- Listen to a story about Paul the Parrot. (videos Paul the Parrot or Pauline the Parrot)
Day 102
- Learn about the letter P.
- Use page 66 of your workbook. Trace the Ps with your finger. Color them in orange.
- Find all the Ps in the story on page 67 of the workbook.
- Talk about the animals, their names, their letters and their alphabet sounds.
Day 103*
- Learn about the Letter P.
- *Print out page 6. (Click on the image to download.) Find all the letter Ps. Color in the Bible verse picture.
- Practice drawing lines on page 68 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Paul the Parrot. (videos Paul the Parrot or Pauline the Parrot)
Day 104
- Learn about the Letter P.
- Talk about the animals, their names, their letters and their alphabet sounds.
- Choose a parrot craft.
Day 105
- Learn about the letter P.
- Listen to a story about Paul the Parrot. (videos Paul the Parrot or Pauline the Parrot)
- Choose a parrot craft or coloring page.
- Listen to an abc song.
- Learn about the letter Q.
- Look at the letter Q.
- Use page 69 of the workbook. Queenie is the queen bee and she doesn’t like to be kept waiting. She has a sound she makes when she’s annoyed, “Qu, qu, qu” and if you hear it, you better hurry up!
- Listen to a story about Queenie the Queen Bee. (video Queenie the Queen Bee)
Day 107
- Learn about the letter Q.
- Trace the Qs with your finger. Use page 70 in the workbook. You can color the Qs.
- Use yarn, noodles, or whatever to make a big q or to fill in the q on this page.
- Talk about the animals, their names, their letters and their alphabet sounds.
- Be quick. Be quiet. Quiver. Quack.
Day 108*
- Learn about the letter Q.
- *Print out page 6. (Click on the image to download.) Find all the Qs. Color in the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 71 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Queenie the Queen Bee. (video Queenie the Queen Bee)
Day 109
- Learn about the letter Q.
- Talk about the animals, their names, their letters and their alphabet sounds.
- Choose a craft. Make a quilt Q or make a queen. This is a toilet paper roll craft.
Day 110
- Listen to an alphabet song.
- Learn about the letter Q.
- Listen to a story about Queenie the Queen Bee. (video Queenie the Queen Bee)
- Choose a coloring page.
Day 111
- Learn about the letter R.
- Look at the letter R.
- Use page 72 of the workbook. You can color in the rabbit. This rabbit is always on the move. There’s only one time he stays put and that’s when he’s struggling to pull a carrot from the ground, “R, r, r.”
- Listen to a story about Robert the Rabbit. (videos Robert the Rabbit or Roberta the Rabbit)
Day 112
- Learn about the Letter R.
- Use page 73 of your workbook. Trace the Rs with your finger. Color them in.
- Find all the Rs on page 74 of the workbook.
- Talk about the animals, their names, their letters and their alphabet sounds.
Day 113*
- Learn about the letter R.
- *Print out page 6. (Click on the image to download.) Find all the Rs. Color in the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 75 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Robert the Rabbit. (videos Robert the Rabbit or Roberta the Rabbit)
Day 114
- Learn about the letter R.
- Talk about the animals, their names, their letters and their alphabet sounds.
- Choose a rabbit craft.
Day 115
- Learn about the letter R.
- Listen to a story about Robert the Rabbit. (videos Robert the Rabbit or Roberta the Rabbit)
- Choose a rabbit craft or coloring page.
Day 116
- Listen to an Alphabet song.
- Review P, Q, R.
- Listen to a story about Paul, Robert, and Queenie. (videos Paul, Robert and Queenie or Pauline, Roberta and Queenie)
- Look at the color purple.
Day 117
- Learn about the letter P.
- Watch this colors video.
- Make a rainbow craft.
Day 118
Day 119
- Learn about the letter R.
- Look at stars.
- Make a star craft.
Day 120
- Listen to an alphabet song.
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Abraham and friends or April and friends)
- Make a shapes mobile. (Or, cut them out and just glue them to another piece of paper.)
Day 121
- Learn about the letter S.
- Look at the letter S.
- Use page 77 of the workbook. Everyone knows when the snake is coming because of the sound he makes as he slithers, “Ssssss.”
- Listen to a story about Sammy the Snake. (videos Sammy the Snake or Sarah the Snake)
Day 122*
- Learn about the Letter S.
- Use page 78 in the workbook. Have your child trace the Ss (starting from the top) with his finger. Have him color it in purple or orange.
- *Print page 6 of the download (click on the image). Find the letter S. Color the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 79 of the workbook.
Day 123
- Listen to ABC songs and learn about the Letter S.
- Find all the S’s in the story on page 80 of the workbook (page 80 in the pdf).
- Listen to a story about Sammy the Snake. (videos Sammy the Snake or Sarah the Snake)
Day 124*
- Learn about the letter S.
- Look through your animal pages and have your child say all the letter names and sounds. If they get stuck on a sound, remind them of the character.
- *Print out the Itsy Bitsy Square book. Demonstrate how Square starts with an S sound. Cut and fold the book and have your child trace the squares and color them in.
Day 125
- Learn about the letter S.
- Listen to a story about Sammy the Snake. (videos Sammy the Snake or Sarah the Snake)
- Choose a craft. S star DLTK crafts
- Look for the letter S when you read together.
Day 126
- Learn about the letter T.
- Look at the letter T.
- Use page 81 in your workbook. The turtle really doesn’t appreciate when he hears someone tapping on his shell, “T, t, t” when he’s all snug inside.
- Listen to a story about Timothy the Turtle. (videos Timothy the Turtle or Tabitha the Turtle)
Day 127
- Learn about the Letter T.
- Use page 82 in the workbook. Have your child trace them (starting from the top) with his finger. Have him color in the bubble letters.
- Hunt around the house for things that start with a “T” sound.
- Make the letter T out of things in your home. Duplos would be easy. (Your child can glue things onto this letter T if you want.)
- Make your body into a T.
Day 128*
- Listen to an abc song.
- Learn about the Letter T.
- Listen to a story about Timothy the Turtle. (videos Timothy the Turtle or Tabitha the Turtle)
- *Print page 7 of the download (click on the image). Find the letter T, color the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 83 of the workbook.
Day 129(*)
- Learn about the letter T.
- Look through your animal pages and have your child say all the letter names and sounds. If he gets stuck on a sound, remind him of the character.
- Choose a craft. Tractor T Train T (shapes) *Train (printable)
- Learn about the letter T.
- Listen to a story about Timothy the Turtle. (videos Timothy the Turtle or Tabitha the Turtle)
- Choose a craft or coloring page.
- Look for the letter T when you read together.
Day 131
- Learn about the letter U.
- Look at the letter U.
- Use page 84 in your workbook. The unicorn is known for not looking where he is going and can sometimes crash into things. When he does, this is what you hear, “U.” (This is the short sound of U like in up.)
- Listen to a story about Ulysses the Unicorn. This autoplays the sound. (videos Ulysses the Unicorn or Uma the Unicorn)
- Learn about the letter U.
- Use page 85 in your workbook. Have your child trace the letters (starting from the top) with his finger. Have him color them in.
- *Print out page 6 of the download (click on the image). Find the letter U, color in the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 86 of your workbook.
- Listen to an abc song.
- Learn about the Letter U.
- Find all the U’s in the story on page 87 of your workbook.
- Listen to a story about Ulysses the Unicorn. This autoplays the sound. (videos Ulysses the Unicorn or Uma the Unicorn)
- Together think up words that rhyme with sun, pup, cut.
- Learn about the letter U.
- Look through your binder and have your child say all the letter names and sounds. If they get stuck on a sound, remind them of the character.
- Make a unicorn U. Cut out a U. *Print a unicorn head. (You don’t have to use glitter. I don’t own glitter.)
- Learn about the letter U.
- Listen to a story about Ulysses the Unicorn. This autoplays the sound. (videos Ulysses the Unicorn or Uma the Unicorn)
- Choose a craft or coloring page.
- Look for the letter U when you read together.
- Learn about the letter S.
- Review S, T, U.
- Listen to a story about Ulysses, Timothy, and Sammy. (videos Ulysses, Timothy and Sammy or Uma, Tabitha and Sarah)
- Look at the color brown.
- Go on a brown scavenger hunt in and around your house. (cardboard, bark…) Either just gather it or make it all into a collage.
- Learn about the letter T.
- Find all the T’s on page 88 of your workbook.
- Choose a shape craft (elephant, fox, fish, frog — not chocolate box)
- Learn about the letter U.
- Color the bear brown.
- This is the shape of a diamond. It’s like a square balanced on one of its points.
- Do a puzzle. Click on change cut. Click on 6 pieces. Tell your child a kite is the shape of a diamond.
- Listen to a letter sound song.
- Learn about the letter U.
- Use page 89 of the workbook. Have your child trace it (starting from the top) with his finger. Have him color it in.
- Look through your animal pages with all the letters and have your child say the names and sounds of the letters.
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Abraham and friends or about April and friends)
- Look through a book together and have your child spot any letters he recognizes.
- Listen to an abc song.
- Learn about the letter V.
- Look at this letter V. Do you know what V word is in the picture?
- Look at this letter V. What letter V word is in this picture?
- Use page 90 in the workbook. Victor drives a pretend ambulance in a circus act. The car makes this sound, “Vvvvv.”
- Listen to a story about Victor the Vulture. (videos Victor the Vulture or Victoria the Vulture)
- Learn about the Letter V.
- Use page 91 in the workbook. Have your child trace them with a finger and color them in brown.
- Look through all your pages and talk about the letter names and sounds.
- Listen to a colors song.
- Learn about the Letter V.
- *Print out page 6 of the download (click on the image). Color the Bible verse page, and find the Vs.
- Practice drawing lines (starting from the top) on page 92 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Victor the Vulture. (videos Victor the Vulture or Victoria the Vulture)
- Learn about the Letter V.
- Find all the Vs in the story on page 93 of the workbook.
- Choose a craft. Paper or handprint craft Toilet Paper Roll Craft
- Learn about the letter V.
- Shape’s song!
- Listen to a story about Victor the Vulture. (videos Victor the Vulture or Victoria the Vulture)
- Do a craft or coloring page.
- Learn about the letter W.
- Look at the letter W.
- Use page 94 of your workbook. William’s act in the circus is called The Helicopter. He stands on his head and spins with his tail bent to one side so his tail goes around like helicopter blades and sound like this, “W, w, w, w, w.”
- Listen to a story about William the Walrus. (video William the Walrus or Winnie the Walrus)
- Learn about the Letter W.
- *Print page 6 of the download (click on the image). Color the Bible verse, and find the Ws.
- Practice drawing lines on page 96 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about William the Walrus. (video William the Walrus or Winnie the Walrus)
- Listen to starfall’s letter e song.
- Watch a video about the letter W.
- Watch another video about the letter W.
- Learn about the letter W.
- Listen to an alphabet song.
- Listen to a story about William the Walrus. (video William the Walrus or Winnie the Walrus)
- Learn about the letter X.
- Look at the letter X.
- Use page 97 of the workbook. Xavier has been trained to do a back flip any time he hears someone open a can of soda, “X (Ks).”
- Listen to a story about Xavier the X-ray Fish. (videos Xavier the X-ray Fish or Xahlia the X-ray Fish)
- Learn about the letter X.
- *Print page 6 of the download (click on the image). Color the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 99 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Xavier the X-ray Fish. (videos Xavier the X-ray Fish or Xahlia the X-ray Fish)
- Listen to an abc song.
- Learn about the letter X.
- Listen to a story about Xavier the X-ray Fish. (videos Xavier the X-ray Fish or Xahlia the X-ray Fish)
- Color a picture.
- Look at the colors black and white. Which part of the page is black? Which part is white?
- Learn about the letter V.
- Review V, W, X.
- Listen to a story about Victor, William, and Xavier. (videos Victor, William and Xavier or about Victoria, Winnie and Xahlia)
- Play a colors game.
- Learn about the letter W.
- Find all the Ws in the story on page 101 of the workbook.
- Read this shapes book.
- Learn about the letter X.
- Play a shape game.
- Play a shape game.
- Listen to an abc song.
- Listen to the abc song.
- Play a color game.
- Listen to the letter i song.
- Listen to Starfall’s letter a song.
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Abraham and friends or about April and friends)
- Make a black and white craft. Cut black and white strips of construction paper. Attach white strips spaced out along a black strip. Attach one on top, the next under, the next on top. Do the same with a black strip along the bottom. Show your child how to weave the other black strips through. Fold over the loose ends and cut or attach them.
- Listen to an abc song.
- Learn about the letter Y.
- Look at the letter Y.
- Use page 102 of the workbook. Color in the yak. The yak is a hard worker and when he’s get’s tired he yawns and makes a “Y” sound.
- Listen to a story about Yolanda the Yak. (video Yosef the Yak or Yolanda the Yak)
- Listen to an abc song.
- Learn about the Letter Y.
- Find all the Y’s in the story on page 105 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Yolanda the Yak. (video Yosef the Yak or Yolanda the Yak)
- Learn about the Letter Y.
- Listen to an alphabet song.
- Look through your animal pages and have your child say all the letter names and sounds. If they get stuck on a sound, remind them of the character.
- Make a letter Y out of yarn; you could glue it to yellow paper or use yellow yarn. Or, just make a Y out of anything.
- Make a Y with your body.
- Learn about the letter Y.
- Listen to a story about Yolanda the Yak. (video Yosef the Yak or Yolanda the Yak)
- Choose a yak craft. paper craft TP roll craft
- Look for the letter Y when you read together.
- Learn about the letter Z.
- Look at the letter Z.
- Use page 106 of your workbook. Color in the zebra. Zach (or Zoe) is allergic to bees and will start galloping as fast as possible if he (she) ever hears this sound, “Zzzzz.”
- Listen to a story about Zoe the Zebra. (videos Zach the Zebra or Zoe the Zebra)
- Learn about the Letter Z.
- Use page 107 of the workbook. Have your child trace the letters (starting from the top) with his finger. Have him color them in purple or orange.
- *Print page 6 of the download (click on the image). Find the letter Z. Color the Bible verse.
- Practice drawing lines on page 108 of your workbook.
- Listen to an abc song.
- Learn about the Letter Z.
- Find all the Z’s in the story on page 109 of the workbook.
- Listen to a story about Zoe the Zebra. (videos Zach the Zebra or Zoe the Zebra)
- Learn about the letter Z.
- Listen to a story about Harold. (videos Abraham and friends or about April and friends)
- Choose a zebra craft. paper bag paper plate letter Z zebra – use the unicorn head and cut off the horn
- Look for the letter Z when you read together.
- Listen to the whole alphabet. (videos boys girls)
- Watch the color video.
- Find the matching letters.
- *Alphabet review game – You have to scroll down, down, down, past the spoon match to Alphabet Fun Game.
Continue learning to read with the McGuffey Primer.
I love your site! I’ve just found it and can really see implementing many of your useful hints, links, and ideas in our homeschool! 🙂 Thank you!
Oh my goodness! This site is such a blessing. Thank you so very much for doing this! I am excited to check out all that is in here. I will be sharing this with other homeschoolers!
You are very welcome. 🙂
Love your site. I will be following your lesson plans through the summer. Thanks so much!
Your website is really great! Your effort is so much appreciated! Thanks for sharing!
WOW! This is a really compilation of material!
Faith the Fish story doesn’t have a speaker on page 2. We are really enjoying this curriculum. Lots of learning and very little twaddle! Thank you.
Thanks for letting me know. I’m not sure when/if I’ll get around to fixing that. I try to keep school short and sweet to get what we need and not waste time but still try to make it fun.
This program is wonderful for my 3 yr, old grandson, Thank you!
Thank you so much for this site! It is such a blessing! My son who is currently enrolled in a online charter school is falling behind. This will be such a great tool to help him catch up, and perhaps with this I can homeschool him next year 🙂
This is so awesome! Thank you so much for putting this all together!!!
THANK YOU!! This is FaNtAsTiC!! I WILL be sharing this with my friends and family. Thank you for all the time and effort you have put into this.God bless you!!
I love this! I had no problem teaching my older son things when he was younger, but my youngest son picks and chooses what he wants to pay attention to…if he doesn’t feel like learning about something, his attention span is very short. Your collection of learning material has made it VERY EASY to teach him, and it has made it VERY easy for him to learn. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Love it!!!! Thanks for putting these together!
This is great! Thank you! I have a 3.5 yo, who is a bit tongue-tied and can’t say the /k/ sound. You point out to put a finger on your tongue to help isolate the sound – thank you for that suggestion! I will have him try it! Thank you!