I have been working on a long list of improvements for the website, one of which is the Beginner phonics book series.
Currently, I am about half-way done with the changes for the Beginner Books, but before I go any further, I'd like some feedback to make sure I am on the right track. ;-)
So here is the NEW Beginner Book One.
Changes are:
New font. The old font was hard to read. I haven't yet found a PERFECT font, but this is a little bit better than others I have found. (Below, I have included a link to a quick comparison of the old font and the new font.)
No grammar lessons. In the old Book One, I attempted to teach the indefinite articles "a" and "an" -- bad idea. Grammar is not something to introduce in a beginner phonics book for kids as young as were reading this book. I am moving this subject to the Intermediate Books.
Removed unnecessary words. In the old book, I tried to include every short vowel "a" word I could think of... and that included words like gab, gag, rap, tap, wag, etc. These words were unnecessary, and some of them introduced undesirable "stories," such as the word "gag."
More focus on important words. Words like can, am, had, etc.
New! "Book style fonts." In a (more) perfect world, children's books would be written in kid-friendly fonts, and teachers and parents would be able to instantly change a book's fonts so that early readers aren't confused by different fonts styles. I am campaigning to get there, but in the meantime, most books for children are written in "serif" fonts, like Times New Roman, Century Schoolbook, etc. So I decided to introduce these "book style letters" (fonts) as part of Progressive Phonics. Check out "Part Two" of the new Book One.
Spot-the-difference pictures: I included three sets of spot-the-difference pictures in the new Beginner Book One.
So.... pretty please could you look over the NEW Book One and then answer the SHORT survey about the book.
Thanks heaps, mountains and very much. ;-) Your help (as always) is greatly appreciated. ;-)
| File | Description | File size |
|---|---|---|
 The NEW Beginner Book One, Regular version | 742 kB | |
| The OLD Beginner Book One | 593 kB | |
| New Font Example | 891 kB |
