Rebecca Pollard believed in building firm foundations for her students.  In that spirit, her reading method begins with teaching students the basics of one syllable word construction first.  This includes the most common endings such as -s, -ing, -ed, and -er.  "Unit 1: Building the Basics" follows this principle.  Please remember that this updated version of Pollard's Synthetic Method is meant for the intermediate level students.  The starting point for students who use this program should be 3rd-5th grade.  It is suitable to use for 6th graders to begin corrective reading instruction.  An important thing to keep in mind is that older students often grasp the concepts much more quickly than younger students.  Moving the instruction along at a pace which keeps student interest, while not skipping any skills or leaving any knowledge gaps, can be a real balancing act. 

When she wrote her Primer and First Reader, Pollard estimated that it would take about 10 months for the first year student to complete and master the material.  The homeschooler's version is designed to take from 20 to 40 weeks depending upon the needs of the student.  This version will be constructed first.  When I first decided to undertake this project, it was to be for homeshcooler's only.  However, not every child can be homeschooled.  The scheduling and curriculum structure for public school use will be addressed at the bottom of this section and later in a seperate section. 

In the homeschooler's version, each chapter in this unit will cover one target skill spread out over 5 lessons.  Each lesson is designed to take from one to two days to complete.  The lessons will be constructed around a core phonetic skill with applied reading practice.  This core portion of the lesson will have supplemental material, covering areas such as: reference skills, grammar and diagramming, handwriting, spelling, reading comprehension, and writing composition.  It is up to the instructor how much of the lesson he or she wishs to apply.  I recommend covering all of it.  All of the activities are meant to use and support the core phonetic skill of the lesson.  Recommendations will be given on ways to spread it out in manageable "chunks."   Rebecca Pollard did not just write a phonics program, she wrote a complete reading and language art program.  My goal is to make this updated version as complete as possible for the use of the homeschooling parent.

As a classroom teacher, I got many of my best ideas from homeschooling websites and homeschoolers.  As time allows, I will modify this program for a classroom setting, which will be designed to take from 18-36 weeks.  The classroom version will allow for student testing which is required in many public and private school settings.  (The reason for the time difference is the scheduling of the standard 36 week school year.  In order to keep to a 18-36 week instructional period for public or private school students, homework and parental involvement will be required.  Without home involvement, students may take up to a year and a half to complete unit one.)