When it comes to the early grades, the 3Rs remain the focus of any schools, including homeschools. The 3Rs are Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic. A few months ago, I discovered a curriculum that covers all three Rs effectively and does not break the bank, either: Alpha-Phonics and its predecessor, How to Tutor.
Samuel Blumenfeld, the creator of these programs, looked for ways to help tutors with their students in after-school programs. That’s how he put together How to Tutor. As the homeschooling movement took off, parents asked for the same program tailored to a homeschool setting. Alpha-Phonics was born.
In the world of phonics curricula, one cannot find a more basic or straight-forward curriculum. The textbook contains no pictures to confuse the child and make her build word-picture-sound associations. The direct connection between the letter and its sounds establishes a solid foundation for reading.
Now that the phonics textbook is also available as a CD-ROM, which you receive at no extra charge when you purchase the paper copy, you can take this program with you anywhere and keep your homeschool going as you travel.
The program comes with 10 readers which follow along the textbook: five are pink and five are yellow. My son, who is a kindergartner reading on a fourth grade level, has enjoyed reading through them already. But they don’t have to be all used in kindergarten, obviously. They can be used as your student advances through the textbook.
How to Tutor offers a Cursive Writing Practice Book, too, for those of us determined to keep cursive alive.
A complete program that works at all ages, Alpha-Phonics and How to Tutor can teach you how to teach Phonics, Arithmetic and Handwriting. So, next time somebody asks you how you can teach without a teaching degree, you can tell them that you studied under a teacher of teachers, Samuel Blumenfeld.
Be sure to sign up for our quarterly e-newsletter on the right, so you can be entered in this giveaway which ends March 1. There will be four winners, each receiving a different homeschool curriculum.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the Alpha-Phonics and How to Tutor programs for review purposes. I only recommend products we use in our homeschool.