Treadwell Primer, Stories 5, 6, AND 7

So this is a bonus day! Three stories at once!

The reason I’m doing this is because, when it came to Daughter Q., all three of these stories played out the same way, and no new information was really introduced.

If you have done all of our previous lessons, this should be true for your student, too. If you’re coming in midway, you will have to flip through the pages of the stories and see if there is anything that is new for your student.

So, the question arises: Why, if nothing new is introduced, ought we bother to read these stories? Why not just skip them and move on?


I think the reason is because the writing here is much more complex than the Bob Books we’ve come from. We’ve got tons of rules coming into play, and this is the first time we’ve really asked our students to remember so many of them in one reading. Even though nothing new is introduced, most of them will find their literacy muscles stretched by these readings. And if they, like Daughter Q., still zoom through the stories, it’s still not time lost. They’re classic stories, and good practice.

Story 5

• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Treadwell Primer, Story 5 (“The Pancake”) pp. all

Story 6

• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Treadwell Primer, Story 6 (“Chicken Little”) pp. all

Story 7

• Review appropriate sections in the binder.
• Read: Treadwell Primer, Story 7 (“Three Billy Goats Gruff”) pp. all

One thing to consider: if, along the way, you discover that your child has gotten rusty at some of the rules, simply pull it forward in the binder for more frequent review. Chances are you won’t have to do this very often, but don’t be afraid to move cards both forward and backward in the binder, as you continually adapt the binder contents to your student.