The materials for grade 1 are planned to provide texts and workbooks for the pupil's basic needs in the first grade, with the exception of arithmetic and music. It correlates reading, phonics, language, spelling, and penmanship. The readers and workbooks are arranged in 5 units with 30 lessons in each unit, making a total of 150 lessons. Each lesson has five divisions: Reader, Reading Workbook, Phonics Workbook, Worksheet, and the optional Printing Practice. All of these divisions relate to one another in a given lesson, thus thoroughly acquainting the child with the lesson for each day.

Readers

Reading Workbooks

The reading workbooks have two pages for each lesson. The exercises are closely associated to the corresponding lessons in the readers. These exercises include practice with the vocabulary words, practice in writing sentences, drills for developing comprehension skills, and seatwork in various forms.

Phonics Workbooks

The phonics workbooks have two pages for each lesson. The first unit teaches the basic single consonant sounds as well as the short and long vowel sounds. The following four units continue to teach and review letter sounds and their combinations, give practice with phonetic words, and provide seatwork in phonics.

Worksheets Workbook

The worksheets provide constructive seatwork and exercises in cutting, pasting, etc. There is generally one worksheet for each day, which is perforated for removal. In the first three units, the worksheets are closely associated with the reading lesson or the Bible memory verse. In the fourth unit are language worksheets; in the last unit a picture dictionary is made.

Teacher's Manuals

The teacher's manuals for Unit 1, Units 2 and 3, and Units 4 and 5 include instructions for both phonics and reading. (Brief directions are also given for the worksheets and printing practice.) There are general suggestions for teaching the various concepts as well as detailed procedures for teaching each lesson. The manuals include vocabulary and comprehension drills and reductions of the workbook pages, with the answers in red. By carefully following the directions, the inexperienced teacher can teach phonics with the satisfaction of knowing what to teach and how to present it effectively to the class.

Printing Practice

The printing books that accompany this series are optional. They are included in Grade 1 only, and it is appropriate to transfer to our penmanship series for the following grades. The Printing Practice teaches the formation of each letter as it is introduced for reading purposes. The Penmanship in Christian Writing Series gives more emphasis on strokes. Letters are introduced according to similarity in strokes. We are giving our customers a choice. Either system could be used very effectively.

This series is designed to give constructive reading practice to pupils using the Bible Nurture and Reading Series.

The books use words pupils have learned to conquer with their phonics. Other new words are listed in a small glossary in each book.

Children should be able to read these books independently.

Instructions for the teacher are included in each book.

These flash cards are designed to be used with the Bible Nurture and Reader Series.

There are vocabulary word cards for each reading word introduced in the first two units of Grade 1.

The phrase cards include phrases from the reading lessons in the first two units of Grade 1. They help to develop quick recognition and smooth reading.

The phonics cards are divided into these ten sets:

1. The Alphabet
2. Consonant Sounds
3. Vowel Sounds
4. Combination Sounds
5. Diagraphs
6. Consonant Blends
7. Diphthongs
8. Letters With More Than One Sound
9. Letter Sounds With Certain Letters
10. Silent Letters

The Readers, Reading Workbooks, and Phonics Workbooks compose Grade 2 of the Bible Nurture and Reader Series. Each of these divisions is arranged in 5 units with 30 lessons in each unit, making a total of 150 lessons. All the lessons are based on Bible stories.

Grade 2 reviews and expands what was taught in first grade, placing a strong emphasis on phonics.

Readers

Units 1-3 Units 4,5

Stories About God's People More Stories About God's People

The first unit reviews the stories from Genesis studied in Grade 1. Units 2-4 continue the Old Testament stories from the bondage in Egypt to the death of King Saul. Unit 5 consists of stories about Jesus, taken from the Gospel of Mark.

Reading Workbooks

There are 5 separate workbooks, 1 for each unit. The exercises are closely associated with the corresponding lessons in the readers. All the workbooks include practice with vocabulary words, comprehension skill, sentence making, etc. A test is included at the end of each unit.

Phonics Workbooks

The 3 phonics workbooks consist of Unit 1, Units 2 and 3, and Units 4 and 5. These lessons are not closely associated with the reader, yet it is advantageous for the child to do the corresponding lessons in the reader, the reading workbook, and the phonics workbook each day. A test is included for each unit.

Teacher's Manuals

The reading and phonics teacher's manuals each contain Units 1-5. They give many helpful pointers for teaching each lessons, exercises for oral drill and extra practice, besides the answer keys for the workbooks.

The Grade 3 reading curriculum has readers and reading workbooks for the pupils. Five units of 30 lessons each provide 150 lessons in the course.

Readers

Units 1-3 Units 4,5

God Leads His People God's People Follow Him

There are 2 hardbound readers containing Units 1, 2, 3 and Units 4, 5 respectively. Each unit has 30 lessons. The first four units cover Old Testament history from David through the Captivity and stories from the prophets. The last unit relates stories from the Gospel of Luke.

Reading Workbooks

There are 5 reading workbooks for Grade 3, one for each of the five units, corresponding with the reader lessons. The lessons contain a variety of exercises to train the pupil in reading skills. These include recall of story facts, matching exercises, time order, comparisons, outlining, map exercises, etc. Frequent phonics review exercises are included. Also, a test is provided at the end of each unit.

Teacher's Manuals

The teacher's manual covers Units 1-5. It gives helpful pointers for oral reading and class discussion of the lessons. Occasional quizzes are provided as well as answer keys for the workbooks.

The Grade 4 reading curriculum has only 75 lessons instead of 150 as the previous grades do. Each lesson may be done in two parts, as indicated in the teacher's manual and the workbooks, taking two days per lesson.

One hardbound reader contains all 75 lessons, divided into three units.

Unit 1: The Gospel of John

Unit 2: The Book of Acts -- with an emphasis on map work and following the travels of the apostle Paul

Unit 3: Job, Psalms, and Proverbs -- the Psalms lessons are in poetry form and the Proverbs lessons each have a present-day or historical story to illustrate the proverb of that lesson.

Workbooks

There is a separate workbook for each unit of the reader. Exercises develop vocabulary and comprehension skills, and they may be divided to provide activity for two days on one lesson. Each workbook ends with a unit test.

Teacher's Manual

Detailed instructions for the benefit of new teachers. Guidelines are given to help develop good oral reading, and discussion questions are suggested for comprehension development. Occasional oral quizzes and a full answer key to the workbooks are provided.

This hardcover reader contains 40 prose works, 15 poems, and 5 composition themes.

The workbook contains exercises for each selection in the reader to enhance comprehension and vocabulary skills as well as a variety of other concepts. It is designed to help the teacher apply the lessons with minimal involvement.

This reader contains 40 narratives, 6 selections of Bible prose, 6 English poems, and 4 composition themes (of which two are Scripture passages). Vocabulary lists and comprehension exercises are included in the book at the end of each lesson.

The workbook was developed to supplement the reader. It includes valuable vocabulary exercises and questions that develop comprehension skills. Written especially with the multi-grade teacher in mind, these lessons can be done by the students without much teacher guidance. The questions in the reader could be used for guided class discussion, and the workbook for written assignments.

The teacher's guide for this reader has general helps for teaching the courses, as well as practical helps for each lesson. These include suggestions for class discussion to improve comprehension, pointers for oral reading, and information on the vocabulary words. There are also suggested answers for the exercises in the readers.

This reader contains 40 narratives, 6 selections of Bible prose, 6 English poems, and 4 composition themes (of which two are Scripture passages). Selections have been chosen on the basis of both Scriptural integrity and academic merit. Students will find the selections both enjoyable and stimulating. Vocabulary lists and comprehension exercises are included in the book at the end of each lesson.

The teacher's guide for this reader has general helps for teaching the course, as well as practical helps for each lesson. These include suggestions for class discussion to improve comprehension, pointers for oral reading, and information on the vocabulary words. There are also suggested answers for the exercises in the readers.

This reader contains 30 narratives, 4 selections of Bible prose, 4 selections of Bible poetry, 12 English poems, and 10 essays. Study exercises follow each selection.

Vocabulary and comprehension exercises are more extensive than in Grades 6 and 7.

This reader contains 60 selections of essays, narratives, and poems; 5 are Bible selections and 11 contain Anabaptist themes. The study exercises are more extensive than in Grade 8.

The paragraphs in the text are numbered and literary terminology is marked to help the student with the exercises.

This phonics course of 30 lessons teaches basic letter sounds and blending of sounds into words.

It was first written to supplement the 1964 edition of the Bible Nurture and Reader Series and was then called Unit 0. The basic content is now included in the 1986 revised BNRS.

Each lesson has an advanced part to introduce digraphs, blends, silent letters, suffixes, and compound words. With a minimum of seatwork, this course is suitable for one-to-one teaching. Brief directions and picture labels appear in fine print at the bottom of the workbook pages.

The teacher's manual includes an inspirational reading for the teacher, detailed guidance for teaching the lessons, Bible memory verses, extra drill activities, and extension exercises that can be used to teach geography, Bible, English, or math.

This series of workbooks has been written as a help to improve silent leading comprehension in lower-age-level students. Older students, in isolated situations, will be able to benefit from the course as well. The course is designed for children who have completed at least six weeks of instruction in phonics.

Book One Scope:

Book One combines the principles of (1) sound recognition, (2) adherence to specified directions, and (3) simple recall, which are the first essentials for developing reading comprehension.

Unit 1, "Recognizing Sounds," is designed to train children to master the use of phonetic sounds to identify words.

Unit 2, "Following Directions," trains the student to pay attention to detail and to carry out instructions accurately, a discipline essential in every school subject.

Book Two Scope:

The two units of this book are not dependent upon Book One, but to do this work, the students must have a good understanding of phonetic symbols, be able to follow directions, and have simple recall ability.

Unit 3, "Learning to Remember Details," builds on Units 1 and 2 and requires that the students lead the short selections provided and indicate the correct multiple-choice answers. The complexity of the questions increases from the beginning to the end of the unit.

Unit 4, "Reading With Understanding," is the most challenging and advanced section of the course. Story selections are longer and more complex. Answers are not multiple choice but are to be recalled completely from memory.

For middle grades and above, this is a concentrated phonics course of 30 lessons. Students who missed phonics instruction in the first two grades would benefit from this study taken slowly through the year. Poor readers in the upper grades or adult level could also benefit.

The first five lessons present five basic understandings--the alphabet, the consonants and their sounds, the vowels and their sounds, the meaning of a syllable, and the meaning of an accent.

Syllables and accents are important because many pronunciation rules are based on syllabication and accents.

Included in this course are lists of words that are to be used as oral reading tests, thus permitting a teacher to check each pupil's progress.

Definitions and rules of pronunciation, spelling, and syllabication are simply and clearly stated and distributed throughout the book to provide for a systematic and logical learning process.