First Start Reading Complete Set: Books A, B, C D & Teacher

The first reading and printing lessons are critical, and although there are many adequate programs out there, we could not find one with the right combination we were looking for—a balanced, age-appropriate approach to phonics and reading, and a serious focus on correct pencil grip and letter formation. In addition, many phonics programs today use the ladder approach (consonant-vowel blending), which is fine, but we prefer the more traditional (vowel-consonant) approach combined with word families. And one more mastery of the short vowels is the sine qua non of phonics programs, and few programs really give adequate practice in this very important skill. First Start Reading solved all of our little problems.