First Grade Curriculum
A whole year of 1st grade phonics, reading, writing and math to print at home or in class: a plan for every week, with each day's sheets named by page, and every sheet it names. One phonics pattern a week, decodable books for each one, and math from facts within 20 to two-digit adding, time and money.
A day in about an hour
Warm-up, 5 minOut loud, no paper: blend, break apart and change the sounds in the week's spelling words.
Phonics, 10 minWord Work and packet sheets for the week's pattern: blends, silent e, vowel teams, bossy r.
Spelling, 10 minA list a week that matches the phonics, with a sort, sound boxes and a Friday test.
Heart words, 5 minTwo a week, the same two as the spelling list, read and then used in a sentence.
Reading, 15 minDecodable books chosen by sound, and from week 13 short passages with questions.
Writing, 10 minA joke or a fact to copy for handwriting, and picture prompts: story, opinion and informative.
Math, 15 minMorning Work review and the month's math: facts within 20, place value, time, money.
What is in the download
Every pack the guide uses comes in full, the same files sold on their own.
- Curriculum Guide : the 36-week plan, a page a week, every sheet by page numbernew
- Daily Phonics Warm-Up : 36 pages of five-minute spoken games with each week's spelling wordsnew
- Progress Checks : five checks and a record for the yearnew
- Print-and-Go Months : nine files, September to May, with each week's sheets already in day ordernew
- Level 5 Books : the 13 books for two-part words, -ing and -ed, and compound wordsincluded
- 1st Grade Spelling : 36 weekly lists with sort, sound boxes, fill in the blank and tests$10
- First Grade Sight Words : read it and use it pages for the heart words, review games, flashcards$7
- Word Work 2 : digraphs and blends$7
- Word Work 3 : silent e, soft c and g, y as a vowel$7
- Word Work 4 : vowel teams and bossy r$7
- Word Work 5 : two-part words, -ing and -ed, compound words$7
- Reading: Cause and Effect : 20 passages with questions$5
- Reading: Main Idea : 20 passages with questions$5
- Reading: Sequencing : 20 passages with questions$5
- A Joke and a Fact a Day : 92 days of handwriting with a joke or a fact$7
- Picture Writing Prompts : 180 picture prompts: story, opinion, informative$7
- Math Morning Work : 36 weeks of two-sided math review$15
- Phonics Rules Posters : 63 phonics rule posters$7
- Level 2 Readers : 61 decodable mini-books$14
- Level 3 Readers : 44 decodable mini-books$14
- Level 4 Readers : 56 decodable mini-books$14
- Monthly Packets : September to May, 9 × 40 sheets of 1st grade math, reading and writing (180 math sheets in the plan)$45
Bought on their own$183
Just the nine monthly packets ($45) and the three reader levels ($42) come to $87, and you would still plan the days yourself. For $59 you get those, plus spelling, word work, reading passages, writing and Morning Work, already sorted into a daily plan.
You don't need to open every file. The nine monthly print-and-go files hold the whole year in day order, about 1,050 pages. The packs are there as a library for extra practice or for printing by subject.
Get the whole curriculum for $59
How the first grade year is built
First grade is the year a child goes from sounding out short words to reading real books. The phonics runs one pattern a week: short vowels with sh, ch, th and blends in the fall, silent e in late fall, soft c and g and y as a vowel around the new year, vowel teams and bossy r in the spring, and endings and compound words in May. Each week's spelling list, warm-up, poster and decodable books use the same pattern, and two heart words a week cover the common words that break the rules.
Math follows the monthly packets: adding and taking away within 20 in the fall, numbers to 120 and tens and ones in the winter, then time, measuring, graphs, shapes, halves and fourths and coins in the spring, with Morning Work reviewing every past skill once a week. Five short progress checks, at the start of the year and the end of October, December, March and May, show what has stuck, with reading speed set against the usual 1st grade norms.
Homeschool or classroom
The plan works for one child at home or a small group in class. Each day's work is short, every sheet prints in ink-saving black and white, and the weeks are numbered 1 to 36, so a year that starts in January works the same way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I start in the middle of the school year?
Yes. The weeks are numbered, not dated. Start at week 1, or use the progress checks to find where your child is: a child who passes most of Check 2 can start at week 9, and most of Check 3, week 17.
What age is it for?
First grade, about ages 6 and 7. It also suits a kindergartner who already reads short words, or a second grader who needs a solid run through phonics.
What phonics does it teach?
One pattern a week in the usual order: short vowels with digraphs and blends in the fall, silent e, soft c and g and y as a vowel by midwinter, vowel teams and bossy r in the spring, and endings and compound words in May. The warm-up, Word Work, spelling, the books and the poster all use the week's pattern.
Where is the math?
Math Morning Work on Days 1 and 5, and the monthly packets' math for the week's topic in between, 180 math sheets in all: facts within 20, place value to 120, two-digit adding, time, measuring, graphs, shapes, fractions and coins.
How long does a day take?
About an hour: a five-minute warm-up, then a phonics sheet, a spelling sheet, a heart word page, a book or a reading passage, a writing page and a math sheet.
Do I have to hunt through all the packs?
No. Each month has a print-and-go file with every week's plan page, its warm-up page and its sheets already in day order. Print a week and you are ready.
Is it a complete curriculum?
It covers 1st grade phonics, spelling, reading (decodable books and comprehension passages), writing (handwriting, story, opinion and informative writing) and math. It does not include science or social studies.
What do I get when I buy it?
41 print-ready PDFs (about 5500 pages): the guide, the warm-up, the progress checks, the print-and-go months and every pack the guide uses. The download link comes right after checkout and by email, and you can download again any time.
What if I already own some of the packs?
The curriculum includes the full packs, so you would get those files again. If you own most of them, the guide, the warm-up and the checks are free to see in part below, and you can buy the remaining packs on their own.
Can I use it with a class?
Yes. You may print and copy the pages for your own classroom or your own children. Please do not share the files.
Do new reader books come with it?
Yes. Books we add to the readers appear in the right sound section of the readers page, and the guide links those sections, so new books show up in the right week on their own.
Printable Scholar