What is Essentials?

Essentials is a complete course in how English spelling works. It incorporates spelling, grammar, and vocabulary while equipping students with the underlying skills for reading growth. Essentials systematically equips students with the phonograms and spelling rules that explain 98% of English words.

Essentials is designed for students ages 8 through adult who need to build spelling skills or an intervention program for older struggling readers. It is also a great next step for those who have completed Foundations and want to go deeper.  However, Foundations is not a prerequisite for Essentials. 

To assist you in determining if Essentials is the right fit for your students, please use our Help Me Choose tool.

Essentials includes:

• systematic, sequential lessons that teach the structure of language.
• explicit, scripted instruction based on the science of reading.
• ten Pre Lessons to strengthen foundational phonemic awareness skills. 
• three levels of application, allowing instruction to be customized based on student needs.
• thirty units with phonograms, spelling rules, grammar, and vocabulary lessons.
• review and assessment tools to evaluate understanding.
• add-on components for handwriting, comprehension, and composition instruction.

Getting Started 

Essentials is an entry-level curriculum. Your student does not have to complete Foundations before beginning Essentials. All students begin with Essentials 1-7, starting with either the Pre Lessons or Unit One. 

Steps to Getting Started:

• Read the introduction of the Essentials Teacher's Manual.
• Watch the Introduction to Essentials video on our YouTube channel. It explains how to get started with Essentials.
• Review the Essentials Scope and Sequence.
• Use the Essentials Placement Test to determine the Essentials level, if handwriting instruction is appropriate, whether to add the Essentials Reader, and where to begin Essentials 1-7. There are two versions available: the printable PDF or the interactive online version.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are happy to help.