I’m so excited to walk you through what literacy looks like in my Grade One, Two, and Three Literacy Curriculum! If you haven’t heard already, I’m a big fan of keeping things simple, meaningful, and (most importantly) doable. Around here, we believe in quality or quantity! Learning should be joyful, not exhausting. So let me show you how we do that with this literacy curriculum review from How Wee Learn.
Kids don’t need to spend hours at a desk every day—and let’s be real, most of them won’t sit still that long anyway! That’s why I’ve created a literacy curriculum that cuts out the busywork and focuses on what really matters: core skills, one page at a time.
Yes, just one page a day—that’s all it takes to build strong reading and writing foundations, while leaving plenty of time for puddle-jumping, fort-building, and all the good stuff childhood is made of.
Grade 1 to 3 Literacy Curriculum Review
In Grades 1, 2, and 3, we build a solid foundation in literacy through the use of short stories, fun writing activities, and journaling. Skills are taught in a cyclical manner. Each week, we work on reading strategies, comprehension, high-frequency words, and the writing process while exploring various types of media—again and again, in slightly different ways. This gives children time to develop skills with exposure and practice, bit by bit, deepening their understanding and abilities as they progress through the workbook.
Grade 1 to 3 Literacy builds on the following core skills:
- Reading: Reading development and comprehension using word families, sight words, and comprehension questions.
- Writing: Writing development, phonetic spelling, speech, and recall using extension questions and journal prompts.
- Media Literacy: Building an awareness of the advertising world and how items are marketed to persuade people to take action.
- And More! This includes various types of poetry, recipes, fiction and nonfiction writing pieces, word games, theatre, comics, and a culminating final activity.
The Four Strands of Literacy
There are four strands of literacy that we focus on throughout the workbook:
- Literacy Connections and Applications
- Foundations of Language
- Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts
- Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts
Your child will also build many other skills by writing and learning about posters, comics, letters, perspectives, maps, reader’s theatre, fables, poetry, and more!
The Weekly Rhythm
So, how are all of these skills taught in just one page a day? Let’s take a look at the weekly rhythm so you can see how these skills fit together and progress each week:
Monday: High Frequency Words
Monday starts with exploring a set of high-frequency words. High-frequency words are words that occur often in reading and writing. Sometimes we can sound out high-frequency words; other times, we can not.
For example, in the first week, your child will explore high-frequency words with the ‘th’ consonant digraph.
Tuesday: Short Story
Tuesday involves a short reading session, which includes all the word families and sight words from that week.
To begin, read this short story to your child. Next, read it again, but this time, let your child read the word family and sight words. As your child’s reading skills progress, encourage them to read more of the short stories on their own.
Tuesday also includes three reading comprehension questions to ensure your child is actively listening and understanding what they are reading.
Wednesday: Short Story Sight Word Practice
Wednesday includes the same short story from Tuesday, but this time, all of the sight words are missing! Encourage your child to read the short story on their own as much as possible, printing the missing word family words in the blanks.
Depending on your child’s skill level and grade, you may need to assist with the reading, but in time, your child will be able to do much of the reading on their own.
Thursday: Literacy Exploration Activity
Thursday involves a fun literacy learning experience! Your child will progress through various activities, including poetry writing, exploration of fiction and non-fiction, media literacy, and the process of becoming an author.
Friday: Journal Writing
Friday is journal writing day. Each week, a journal prompt is offered to spark some writing, but your child is welcome to write about anything at all on this day. It’s the perfect time to get creative.
And there you have it—an inside look at the Grade 1, 2, and 3 Literacy Curriculum Review!
Each week, your child will embark on a journey through whimsical stories filled with lovable characters and meaningful adventures. Along the way, they’ll build essential skills in reading comprehension, writing, journaling, and more. With thoughtfully chosen sight words and a gentle, one-page-a-day approach, reading begins to feel natural, enjoyable, and even magical.
If you believe in quality over quantity and find yourself thinking, “Yes! This is exactly how learning should feel!”, then this curriculum is made for you.
Visit the How Wee Learn shop to explore more and download your free samples today!
https://shop.howweelearn.com/collections/grade-school-math-and-literacy
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Thank you for reading, my friend!
xo Sarah
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