Your child is ready for FIRST if
- your child can write words
Your child is ready for SECOND if
- your child can make a word plural
- knows basic phonics (for spelling)
- can identify a noun
Your child is ready for THIRD if
- your child can recognize that a sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with punctuation
- knows phonics (for spelling)
- can identify nouns and verbs
Your child is ready for FOURTH if
- your child can identify the main idea of a paragraph
- your child can write a main idea sentence
- your child can identify nouns, verbs and adjectives
Your child is ready for FIFTH if
- your child can write a paragraph (intro, details, conclusion)
- your child can identify nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
Your child is ready for SIXTH if
- your child knows the structure of a five paragraph essay
- your child can identify nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions
Your child is ready for SEVENTH if
- your child can write an essay
- your child can write descriptively with literary elements such as similes
There is an Intermediate Reading and Language Arts course for students who are ahead in one or the other to give them a chance to catch up before starting Literature and Composition I.
Beyond this point, I just suggest following the recommended order of courses.