An Entire Year of Early Literacy Instruction
Kickstart Literacy is a literacy curriculum for the year before kindergarten that engages children in exciting play- and science of reading-based lessons focusing on phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary –building skills children need to build early literacy skills for reading. Skills are spiraled throughout the year in large-group activities and independent discovery.
What’s Included
180 short, 20-minute, 3-part lessons, including print, digital, and classroom materials
Quantities may be subject to change
- 2 Activity Guides (90 lessons each; 180 lessons total)
- 75 Skill Development Cards (1-on-1 activities for targeted intervention)
- 1 Letter-Sound Actions Chart/Mouth Positions Chart
- 31 Sound Story Cards (2 sizes)
- 31 Phonogram Cards
- 52 Letter Cards (upper and lowercase)
- 26 Picture Letter Cards
- 75 Phonological Awareness Cards (Word Family, Alliteration, Segmenting/Blending)
- 10 Pre-Writing Stroke Cards
- 90 Sound Wall Cards
Kickstart Literacy teaches five phonological awareness skills. Rhyme, initial phoneme isolation, and blending are introduced at the beginning of instruction, and segmenting words and final phoneme isolation are introduced in later weeks of instruction. Two early literacy skills—alphabet knowledge and language awareness via nursery rhymes and sentences—are also taught.
Activity Guides
Build children’s phonological sensitivity, phonemic awareness, phonics, and writing skills with 180 interactive, developmentally appropriate lessons. Scan the QR code on each page for easy-to-follow instructions on how to teach each one.
Sound Story Cards
These beautifully illustrated alliterative stories highlight a specific letter sound, enabling children to practice their phonemic awareness skills in a playful way.
Skill Development Cards
Easily individualize learning with these short one-on-one activities, which target specific literacy skills for children who need additional support.
Phonogram Cards
These comprehensive reference cards describe characteristics of each phonogram, including corresponding sounds, example words, and audio examples that support accurate articulation.
Letter Cards
Two sets of uppercase and lowercase letter cards support children’s letter recognition and letter–sound correspondence skills. An additional set includes real-life imagery of a word beginning with each letter.
Phonological Awareness Cards
Support children’s learning about word families, segmenting and blending, and alliteration during large-group instruction and independent discovery with these visually engaging cards.
Pre-Writing Stroke Cards
Children can copy these simple lines and shapes to build the fine-motor skills needed to begin writing the letters of the alphabet.
Sound Wall Cards
Bring the components of a letter sound together with a visually supportive sound wall display that features the letter, a picture of an object beginning with the letter, and an image of the mouth position to support accurate articulation.
More Reasons to Love Kickstart Literacy
Easy to Add to Your Day
Short, 20-minute lessons are designed to work alongside any curriculum.
Includes New Ways to Engage Children
Literacy skills are built through playful sound stories, alliteration games, and more.
Provides Just the Right Amount of PD
Embedded micro-learning support in each lesson makes implementation easy.
Goes Beyond Whole-Group Instruction
Engaging resources for independent discovery help teachers individualize learning for all children
Frequently Asked Questions
A literacy curriculum is a structured program designed to develop children’s literacy skills such as phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, listening, and writing. It provides a systematic approach to literacy learning that progresses from basic skills such as breaking sentences into words and learning the letters in their names to learning a sound for each letter and how to manipulate sounds by blending and segmenting them. By incorporating these foundational skills into a play-based learning environment, young children can develop a love of learning and a strong foundation for future academic success.
Research suggests that incorporating both play-based learning and explicit instruction in early literacy skills, can best prepare young children for future academic success. Early exposure to phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, and writing lays a strong foundation for reading and writing skills in kindergarten and beyond. By integrating these skills into play-based activities, children develop an understanding of the importance of literacy in their lives and apply these skills in authentic and meaningful ways.
Our groundbreaking literacy curriculum is designed for children in pre-K and four-year-olds in preschool.
Yes. Kickstart Literacy includes 180 short, 20-minute, 3-part lessons.
It covers three of the pillars of the science of reading—phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary—whereas a full preschool curriculum should cover the entire spectrum of whole-child skills and all five pillars of the science of reading, including comprehension and fluency.
Yes. If you are looking to build early literacy skills, you can easily add these lessons into your already busy day alongside your existing curriculum lessons.
Yes. Each lesson includes a QR code to a video that overviews the lesson’s content and links directly to the resources you need to teach it.
Science of Reading Free Resources
