Christ-Centered Phonics Drill Reader (Student Edition)

Laying a Strong Foundation for High Literacy Skills

Recommended For:

• K – 6th grades
• Struggling readers of any age
• Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL)

Why Purchase a Student Edition

For the convenience of both the teacher and the student during independent Phonics Drill Reader (PDR) practices and when word drills are being timed, we recommend having this Student Edition (Part 357) in addition to the Teacher’s Copy included as Part I (pp. 1-124) of the newly released Christ-Centered Phonics Teacher’s Guide to Reading (Part 200-TGR).

The Value of the Phonics Word Drill Method

After a national reading specialist evaluated the Christ-Centered Phonics Flashcards 1-118 Master Set (Part 201-RV), he enthusiastically encouraged us to use those flashcards as a foundation to develop a Bible-based version of the well-tested and proven high speed phonics word drill method. As a result, since 1986 the PDR has effectively built rapid word attack skills in Kindergarten through sixth grades, remedial reading students, and persons interested in learning English as a second language.

Note: For younger children, a companion set of Mini-Drill Readers was also developed: Creation: God Made Me (Part 350), The Fall: God Loves Me (Part 352), and The Flood: God Saves Me (Part 356).

Academically Excellent

Whether a beginning-to-read student is younger or older, acquiring a thorough knowledge of elementary speech sounds begins by simply identifying the 26 letters of the alphabet, the speech sounds they represent, and how to blend those sounds into words. As the student develops their reading skills, the goal is for them to become a sight-reader.

• The PDR’s five Phonics Sections follow the introductory order of the 118 Phonics Flashcards which reflect the 44 elementary speech sounds used in American English and their variations.
• The PDR contains the 100 most frequently used words and their variants which are used in about 50 percent of all English writings.
• The PDR contains the 300 words and their variants which make up 65% of the words a student is likely to encounter through junior high school.
• The PDR contains about 90 percent of the 1,000 most frequently used English words.

As the student’s skills develop, reading drills are introduced. By striving to read a set of 100 words per page within a given time period, the student learns to more rapidly apply phonics rules to sound out those words. With consistent practice, reading times decrease by transitioning from the slower “sounding out” process to instant word recognition. When phonics rules are being applied so rapidly the student is unaware of even doing so, a sight reader is being born. When that happens, he or she will have graduated from the “learning to read” phase to the joys of “reading to learn.”

Spiritually Valuable

This advanced Drill Reader not only helps students acquire high literacy skills but also teaches five key Bible Themes which characterize a “mini-version” of “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

The alphabet is truly a “good and perfect gift” from our heavenly Father (James 1:17). But, far more perfect than the alphabet is its glorious Creator who declared Himself to be “… the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End … who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8)!

Through the 26 letters of the English alphabet, arranged in almost endless combinations, our Creator Jesus Christ, “the Word” (John 1:1-3), conveyed all the knowledge needed to fervently know God and obey His truths. Therefore, helping students of any age achieve high literacy skills so they, too, can read the Bible to really know our amazing Lord God Almighty can be the greatest gift you ever give them!

Therefore, because “… no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11), the PDR’s five Phonics Sections center around:

• Creation
• The Fall
• The Flood
• The Law
• Grace

To fully comprehend the spiritual value of these Themes, we highly recommend reading them to your student(s) in biblical order during five special FOUNDATION DAYS prior to starting to teach the PDR. Simple “how to” instructions have been provided in the Phonics Teacher’s Guide to Reading (pp. 136-137).

The complete PDR covers the following skills:

• Initial consonant blends
• Short/long vowel words
• Consonant digraphs
• Adding suffix -s
• Giant blends
• Adding suffixes -es, -ed, -ing
• Vowel digraphs
• Modified vowels
• Diphthongs
• Consonant and vowel variants (rule breakers in English)
• Silent letters
• Common prefixes/suffixes

If You Still Use the Phonics Master Guide (©2011 or 2013):

If you have the Phonics Master Guide and are ready to begin teaching the PDR, you do not have to miss out on the blessings of the new Teacher’s Guide to Reading (Part 200-TGR) section called “Understanding the Phonics Drill Reader (PDR).” A Transition Guide (Part 357-TG) is available to help even a novice successfully teach the PDR. You can get this Phonics Drill Reader Transition Guide using the link below.