Connections: Words and Sentences is a complete reading curriculum for beginning readers who know their letter sounds. Your child already knows their letters and sounds. Connections helps them use those sounds to build words, read sentences, and grow into reading whole stories, with God's Word woven into every week. Teaching your child to read doesn't require an education degree, just the right tools. Connections puts the right set of them in your hands.
Days two through four build the week's new sound: Say It trains your child's ear, Blend It puts the new tiles in their hands to discover words, and Write It moves those words onto paper in their own handwriting. One new sound per week, practiced a little every day.
Every week ends with an Adventure Club story. Your child reads their own color-coded part while you read the rest, and their part grows all year long. Then they add another sticker to their Building Words Poster, building a word wall filled with the sight words they've learned.
Every week opens with a Bible story from the life of Jesus, read together, with discussion questions and a memory verse for the week. The "Connecting You to Jesus" section helps your child see how they fit in God's plan.
Connections is where your child learns to blend sounds into words, then moves on to reading sentences and stories for themselves. Each week introduces one new reading skill, and by spring, they're reading entire Adventure Club stories on their own. Nothing is rushed, and nothing assumes they're ready before they are.
Green for consonants, orange for vowels, and every blend, digraph, and vowel pattern as its own tile. Your child holds "sh" and "ee" in their hands and spells "sheep" on the refrigerator. Screen free, and sized for small fingers.
Your child builds a wall out of the sight words they've learned, one sticker at a time. By spring, a whole year of progress is up where everyone can see it, and they will absolutely make you stop and look.
Dan, Sam, Anna, and Kate are four friends with a club and a knack for finding adventure outdoors. Their stories unfold over the year of reading practice, and your child's part grows from a few words to entire stories they read on their own.
Some kids arrive after reading has already become a battle, and mom is bracing for the word "behind." Moms of struggling readers say this is where confidence returned, with short lessons, hands-on tiles, and stories sized for what their child can do today.
Other kids are flying, reading early and fast, and mom wants a solid foundation beneath that speed. Connections fills gaps quick readers often miss, like blends, vowel patterns, and chunking longer words, so they are reading with confidence, not guessing.
And some moms just want school to come out of one box: no screens, no apps, no printing, and no teacher's manual sold separately. Everything Connections needs is in the kit, ready to go, and moms tell us the tiles are the part their kids grab first.
Some kids arrive after reading has already become a battle, and mom is bracing for the word "behind." Moms of struggling readers say this is where confidence returned, with short lessons, hands-on tiles, and stories sized for what their child can do today.
Other kids are flying, reading early and fast, and mom wants a solid foundation beneath that speed. Connections fills gaps quick readers often miss, like blends, vowel patterns, and chunking longer words, so they are reading with confidence, not guessing.
And some moms just want school to come out of one box: no screens, no apps, no printing, and no teacher's manual sold separately. Everything Connections needs is in the kit, ready to go, and moms tell us the tiles are the part their kids grab first.
That's why "confidence" shows up in review after review, and why families ask for the next level before they've even finished this one.
If you're nodding along, Connections was created for your family, by a first-grade teacher turned homeschool mom who has walked this exact year hundreds of times.
Same words, same weeks, and nothing for you to line up. One order, one box, and everything for the year is inside.
One of our own reviewers said it best: "I would definitely encourage anyone starting new to include the handwriting books from the start - they really enhance the curriculum."
How to blend sounds into words, and words into sentences
Blends, digraphs, and vowel teams, one new concept each week
100+ sight words from the Dolch list
How to break longer words into readable chunks
How to read sentences and short passages with real understanding
The story of Jesus, one week and one memory verse at a time
How to blend sounds into words, and words into sentences
Blends, digraphs, and vowel teams, one new concept each week
100+ sight words from the Dolch list
How to break longer words into readable chunks
How to read sentences and short passages with real understanding
The story of Jesus, one week and one memory verse at a time
There's no placement test needed. The simple rule: if your child knows all their consonant and short vowel sounds and can spot them at the beginning, middle, and end of words, they're ready for Connections. If they're still learning letters and sounds, start with the Beginnings Reading Curriculum instead.
No. Connections works for any child who knows their letter sounds, whether they learned them from Beginnings or somewhere else entirely. The year opens with a review of consonants and short vowels, so every child starts on solid footing.
No. Parent teaching pages open every week with step-by-step guidance for each day's lesson, and the teaching help is printed exactly where you need it. Teaching your child to read doesn't require an education degree, just the right tools.
Most families spend 10 to 30 minutes a day, five days a week, depending on the day's activities and your child's pace. The letter tiles have a way of coming back out after school is done. Kids love arranging them for fun.
Yes. Connections is a complete reading curriculum covering phonics, sight words, comprehension, and guided reading practice, with nothing to print and no teacher's manual sold separately. Writing practice comes alongside it in the Connections Handwriting Practice book.
That's actually normal, and it isn't a sign something is wrong. Stop. Go back to the sounds and words your child already knows, and review. Read together, be patient, and give it time. If Connections takes longer than a school year, that's fine. Learning to read is an individual process, and this curriculum will wait for your child.
By the end of Connections, your child will be reading at a beginner level: whole simple stories, short passages, and sentences they write themselves. Fluency comes from there with practice and time. A tip from our curriculum team: Your library's early reader section is the perfect companion and hunting for the week's new sound in a picture book is a game most kids love.
Connections practices writing words and sentences, and it assumes your child is already comfortable forming their letters. The handwriting book carries that job on purpose: three pages a week practicing the exact sounds your child is reading, plus Scripture verses to write, week by week. Each child needs their own copy since they work directly in its pages.
Each child needs their own copy. Connections is a hands-on curriculum where students write in the books, cut, tear out pages, and earn their own stickers, and that's by design. The doing is how the learning sticks.
We believe that the Bible is the absolute authority in matters of faith and practice. It's 100% true, with no exceptions or figurative sections. We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture; in one God eternally existing in three Persons; in the creation of all things, including man, as the direct act of God; in eternally secure salvation by grace through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the incarnation and virgin birth of Christ, and in His bodily resurrection; in the personal, bodily, premillennial return of the Lord Jesus Christ and His millennial reign on earth.
