Connections Reading Curriculum Kit

Good phonics overview

We are about halfway through connections and really love the hands on activities. Although we are working through it more slowly I have seen a lot of improvement in my oldest’s reading skills! The two things I find lacking are more reading practice and direct handwriting instruction. The Friday lesson has short stories for reading practice but I don’t find these sufficient for building fluency so adding in simple readers is necessary IMO. (Something very simple like BOB books that can be matched to the same phonics skills in the lessons are what we use.) As for handwriting, reading and handwriting definitely don’t need to be taught in the same curriculum but this reading curriculum does assume some level of handwriting already without any explicit instruction. This has been our only major problem with Connections as my oldest’s reading skills are significantly above his fine motor/handwriting skills. Now that the new matching handwriting books are out, we will be going back to Beginnings quickly then catching up to where we are in Connections. I would definitely encourage anyone starting new to include the handwriting books from the start - they really enhance the curriculum. A strong note is the Bible lessons on Monday and scripture in the handwriting book. It has been difficult to find curriculum that doesn’t either shoehorn scripture into it or make lessons very shallow. We have loved these.

Wonderful reading program

This is such a great reading program. I love the way this is set up, weekly instruction is at the front before the workbook pages, plenty of ideas for review, the letter tiles are of course my son’s favorite part and the lessons are gentle enough for most learners. My son is an advanced reader (5 yr old) that can read at a 3rd grade level, we are blessed for this miracle but I know he still needs a foundation so that he doesn’t run into issues later on. The handwriting portions are perfect for him at this level and I will absolutely use future levels when they are released!! Thank you Kim + Not Consumed team!

Amazing!!!

My children go to public school. My youngest child has been struggling to read. He has started to have confidence in reading and enjoys doing the activities. Thanks!!!