Each level uses the bare minimum of resources, so teachers don't have to worry about which text to use when or about losing test books, test answer keys, quiz books, quiz keys, workbooks, workbook teacher editions, etc.
The 1st grade kit includes six readers, a consumable student worktext, and a two-part teacher edition. Grade 2 has four readers and its teacher edition includes two additional novels with study guides.
Grades each use a student reader grade 3 has two volumes , a teacher guide, a consumable worktext, worktext answer key, and a flipchart. This is strictly a reading course. While other disciplines are integrated as needed, this is not an "all-in-one" program; BJU offers spelling, handwriting and grammar courses separately. First grade is basically phonics, second and third cover phonics in addition to vocabulary and comprehension skills, and concentrate on perfecting students' basic reading skills, focusing on retention and comprehension.
The single-minded approach helps students become increasingly quick and able readers. Students read a story from their reader, and then new words or important phonics rules are identified and discussed by the teacher. This program doesn't require a lot of prep time on the teacher's part, but you will need to walk your child through the lessons, at least through the second grade. Each level is designed for use three days a week over a regular week school year.
The flipcharts include engaging charts and pictures to reinforce important rules. Each reading assignment has a correlating lesson in the worktext, mostly having to do with vocabulary or proper sentence construction. The readers and the worktexts are very colorful, but usually not in an obnoxious way. Everything the teacher needs is contained in the teacher guides. Important information to be discussed with students is printed in blue, and the worktext teacher edition contains reduced pages with answers for all the pages in the student workbook.
While it is helpful for the parent to know something of phonics and the way language works independent of the teacher material, it is certainly not required. Almost any question a child will ask is answered somewhere, as well as a lot they won't ask. The comprehension questions in this elementary level deal with the straightforward elements of the stories rather than with meaning and subtext.
This is a program designed to instruct children in basic reading skills; interpretation and identifying nuance come in the Literature program for upper grades. As a result, students aren't confronted with moral dilemmas or complex characters. These are basically moral tales with a few fables and Bible stories thrown in for good measure.
Good is always blessed and bad is always defeated and punished. The stories are simple and each one espouses a moral virtue of some kind.
BJU is a respected Christian publisher, and there is nothing here to offend anyone. The stories gradually move from short, choppy, limited-vocabulary sentences to lengthier sentences with expanded vocabulary. Lessons are intended to be presented by a teacher. Each lesson begins with the teacher presenting introductory material from the two-volume teacher's edition and often involves using a visual aid or an actual object.
Some of the visual aids are in the appendices of each volume of the teacher's edition. Before students begin silent reading, the teacher either introduces new characters and concepts or asks for predictions about the story to stimulate and direct students' attention.
A brief period of silent reading is followed by guided discussion and oral reading. Because each lesson shows reduced images of student pages and is scripted step by step, it's easy to see why the teacher's editions are so lengthy.
You will be able to skip some of the material that has to do with teaching group classes when you are teaching just one child. A separate student worktext has activity worksheets that reinforce concepts taught in the lessons. Worksheet instructions and answer keys are included within the lessons in the teacher's edition. The first volume of the teacher's edition includes a Teacher's Toolkit CD.
The CD has reproducible activity pages that might be used as supplements, primarily to help with phonics skills. In addition, it has a few instructional helps and forms for evaluation and record-keeping. Only a few of the resources on the CD are likely to be useful to most homeschoolers, so check through them in advance to spot those you might use.
Otherwise, you will probably forget about them entirely. The Reading 1 Subject Kit includes the teacher's edition, the student worktext, and the six readers. You might want to purchase the optional Reading 1 Service Word Cards, a set of flashcards with of the words we use most frequently. These cards have a word on one side and a context sentence on the reverse.
They are used in lesson presentations and for review. Reading 2 continues with phonics instruction, and the course helps children gain fluency so that they can read for pleasure. The course teaches reading for comprehension, oral reading, vocabulary, and thinking skills.
Children also learn about different genres of literature and literary techniques used by authors. For this second-grade course, the student materials are four readers and a single worktext. These softcover readers include historical fiction and other fiction, poetry, non-fiction, biographies, and retellings of biblical stories.
These full-color books are heavily illustrated with very high-quality artwork. Some children's storybooks are reproduced with permission within the readers just as they appear in stand-alone books.
The two-volume teacher's edition comes packaged with a Teacher's Toolkit CD at the back of the first volume, two BJ Booklinks guides, and the Reading 2 Assessments packet. The pages of the teacher's edition have slightly reduced images of pages from the student readers.
Reproduced student pages are printed in full color, so teachers can enjoy the great artwork along with students.
Instructional material surrounding those images is critical for providing phonics instruction and helping students develop skills in reading comprehension, critical thinking, oral reading, and vocabulary development. Biblical principles and character building are also taught throughout the course.
The Teacher's Toolkit CD has many resources that are most useful in a classroom, but homeschooling parents will probably want to use both the graphic organizer worksheets for students and the visual aids for lesson presentation that are found there. Instead of traditional book reports, this course has four creative activities that encourage students to share their enthusiasm for particular books with others.
These are presented from the teacher's edition. The student worktext reinforces lessons with colorful activity pages. Small images of the worktext pages within the teacher's edition let teachers know when to use the worktext pages.
A separate worktext answer key has the answers overprinted on student pages. The worktext answer key is also included on the Teacher's Toolkit CD. The Treasure of Pelican Cove is recommended for average readers, and Pulling Together is recommended for struggling readers. The Reading 2 Assessments packet has checksheets, record-keeping forms, and eight tests with answer keys.
All of these resources are also included on the Teacher Toolkit CD, but having pre-printed copies might be more convenient for some situations. The homeschool subject kit for this course includes the teacher's edition with the extra items described above , the four readers, the student worktext, and the worktext answer key. The third-grade course helps students shift to more silent, independent reading while they continue to work on phonics, reading comprehension skills, oral reading, critical thinking, and vocabulary.
This course is similar in format to Reading 2, but with two larger readers rather than four. They have great illustrations, but the amount of text is increased as the size and number of illustrations is slightly decreased in comparison to Reading 2. These components are very similar to those for Reading 2, so you can read that description above. The novel Jenny Wren with its companion BJ Booklink is recommended for average third-grade readers, but that set doesn't come with the teacher's edition.
White as a read-aloud book. You will need to procure that novel on your own. The subject kit for this course includes the teacher's edition, the two readers, the student worktext, and the worktext answer key. Reading 4: Voyages has a three-volume teacher's edition, a softbound page student text, a worktext, a worktext teacher's edition, assessments and their answer keys, three novels, and a page collection of teacher resource pages.
There is no Teacher's Toolkit CD for this level. The collection of teacher resources that comes as a collection of pages can also be printed or downloaded from a file online at no extra cost. The student text is available in either print or digital format.
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