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What is 1st Step™ ?

1st Step is a home school curriculum for students, ages 5-8. It has been developed for this age group by Steven David Horwich, exclusively for 1st Step. Mr. Horwich is the creator and author of Connect The Thoughts a separate curriculum for students, ages 9 to adult.

Spelling Courses & How-to Booklet Available Here!

1st Step has been developed to service two age groups; "Starter", ages 5 to 6, and "Elementary", ages 7 and 8.

We offer studies in four areas. These are; Creative Writing, History, Science, and a unique line-up called "Living Your Life." We also provide you, free on this site, a simple spelling concept which can help a student to improve their spelling.  We also offer a free extensive document to help you start or improve your homeschool experience.

Each of the two levels of 1st Step curricula has been designed particularly with an eye toward the needs of the age group, and their literacy.

About Starter Curriculum

Starter Curriculum is designed for students ages 5 to 6. Generally, Starter is considered to be "pre-literate" curriculum, which means that the student is asked to do very little reading on these courses. These courses are largely based on a young student's ability to experience life and then develop their own understanding of those experiences. The courses help to create experiences which are focused on specifics. Every exercise the student does provides him or her with experience related to a detail from the subject being studied.

Currently, the first year and a half (or three semesters) of Starter is available.  The remaining year two semester is currently being written and should be available in July 2010.  Year Two does the same things that Year One does, with the addition of developing preliminary reading skills.

Courses are available in four areas of study. These are Creative Writing, History, Science, and Living Your Life.

Starter courses rely heavily on the involvement of a tutor (teacher/parent), one who is willing to work intensively for about two-three hours per day with the student(s), and who is able to walk and keep up with a young student. The tutor must read well enough to read each lesson plan and follow the instructions there.

To read more about Starter Curriculum, please click here.

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About Elementary Curriculum

Elementary Curriculum is designed for students, ages 7 and 8. Unlike Starter Curriculum, these courses require the student to read materials which gradually increase in difficulty. This does not mean that the subjects learned will necessarily be simple or simplistic. The same four line-ups of study are offered, but the information provided in Elementary Curriculum is more specific and detailed than in Starter Curriculum, and is designed to be useful to this particular age group. The same four subjects are provided as with Starter, however, the courses use different techniques and offer different information, especially selected for the age group.

Elementary courses are less tutor-intensive than Starter Courses, as we prepare the student to study with ever-greater levels of independence. (You'll still need a tutor available for perhaps two of the three-four study hours per day, but the tutor will be needed during those hours in a less intensive manner.) It is our intent that by age 9, the student is able to study with sufficient independence and confidence that he or she can successfully start and succeed at a more student-based study such as the Connect The Thoughts Lower School Curriculum, which is almost entirely student-driven. When the student is ready to control to a large extent their own studies, and have the literacy skills required, they will have completed 1st Step.

To read more about Elementary Curriculum, please click here.