I am boldly saying that I have found the Best Phonics Curriculum for homeschooling, but it is true. After using them for a few years now, here are all the reasons why we love Schola Publications and The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading.

This article was first published in 2015.

This publisher produces a very thorough English language arts program with an emphasis on Latin roots. There are four levels in the elementary grades and three levels for the middle grades, which switch focus to Latin while continuing with in-depth studies of English grammar.

If you want your student (or yourself!) to have a thorough understanding of English and desire an old-fashioned education which includes Latin (which is very important in understanding English, I might add!), then this program is for you!

Having completed the first two levels of this program, I can give my thoughts on the curriculum before I dive into level three. The title of this article is a little misleading because this is the best language arts program, not just phonics!

introduction to the phonics road level three

Why This Is The Best Phonics Curriculum For Homeschool

Thorough – This program includes penmanship (cursive in level 3), grammar and parts of speech, spelling and vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing. It is a complete language arts program.
Simple – and to the point, once you get used to the method. When it is a little complicated, I can easily re-watch the Teacher’s DVD or read the Teacher’s manual. It is all explained, and it all makes sense. Each level and lesson builds on the other.
It is NOT Distracting – The Student’s binder is in black & white with no pictures. It is blank and ready for the student to fill in with what they’ve learned. It is not full of colorful and lively pictures, and I like it that way! As explained in level 1, there are purposely no colorful pictures in the program so that the student is not distracted or taught to remember a letter by a picture, etc.
A Solid Foundation – Having started at level 1 with my oldest when he was 7, we have been laying a very solid foundation for English grammar and phonics with The Phonics Road series. When I was in public elementary school, phonics was just starting to become a popular way to teach reading and so I got a mix of phonics and the “look-say” style of teaching, which resulted in me knowing that letters make individual sounds, but wasn’t thoroughly taught exactly what each letter/team says! I wasn’t sure of the spelling rules or how they worked. The Phonics Road has changed all of that and has taught my oldest (and myself) the “how & why” of spelling words!
Teacher-Friendly – I love being able to watch Mrs. Beers teach the lessons on the DVD. However, if you don’t want to take 30 minutes per week to watch the week’s lesson, then this program may not be for you. The bulk of the explanation for the lesson is found on the DVD. The Teacher’s Manual does have a summary of each day, but it does not explain new concepts. However, it is a very teacher-friendly program since it shows you exactly what and how to teach. Of course, in true homeschooling fashion, you can tweak it to meet your child’s needs.

And, more …

Flexible – Sometimes, we need to take the day off for medical emergencies (which seem to happen all too often around here), and then we will pick back up where we left off the next day or week. This program is set up by numbered weeks, and each week has 5 days of lessons. There are 34 weeks of lessons in level three and 52 weeks in a calendar year. That gives us a lot of flexibility!
Advanced – I’m not sure how a 5 or 6-year-old could ever completely do level 1, or if an 8 or 9-year-old could be ready for level 3! This program is very rigorous and advanced! It requires a lot of writing right away in level 1 and only gets more advanced with each level. For this reason, I tweak the program to fit my children’s needs. For example, Josiah did level one at age 7, and we did it all verbally without writing. He had already taken phonics through another curriculum in K5 and grade 1 and was BURNED OUT on writing and seat work. He could read well but wasn’t great at spelling. A lot of level 1 was review for him, but a lot of it was new and necessary to have a solid foundation in spelling and grammar. This worked for us. He tests extremely well on his CAT each year, well above average for his age in language arts. Even though he started this program a little later, it still works well. It is part of the blessing of homeschooling to work at the stage your child needs.
Interesting – I love that the history of the English language is included in many lessons throughout the program. We learn whether the English word came from German, Latin/Greek, or French. We learn why English words are spelled the way they are. We learn about Old English. There are tidbits of interesting facts sprinkled throughout the program, keeping us interested (or at least me!).
Child-Friendly – The Rule Tunes and music are lovely, funny, catchy tunes. My kids love them and even listen to them for fun!
Classical AND Charlotte Mason-y AND Textbook-y – Between the Latin emphasis, notebooking, dictation, and seatwork, The Phonics Road combines a few styles of learning/teaching to create a beautiful language arts curriculum! It’s the best of all styles, in my humble opinion. And, as with most homeschooling families, we can tweak it to best fit our eclectic style!
It Is Exactly What I Want In A Phonics/Language Arts Program – That pretty much sums up why we love Schola Publications and why I believe it is the best phonics curriculum! I couldn’t be happier with this language arts program. It is solid and flexible. It is perfect for our family.

Overview of Level Three

As with the first two levels, level three has 10 DVDs for the homeschool teacher. It is intended for the teacher to watch a DVD lesson at the start of each week, and Mrs. Beers walks the teacher through one week at a time.
This is one of my favorite parts of the program since I enjoy her style of teaching and methods. Her explanations throughout the DVDs are wonderful and informative.
I feel like I am being taught the things I have either forgotten since childhood or were not taught at all. I thoroughly enjoy English Grammar, Latin Roots, and everything in between, so this program is a lot of fun for me.
As always, construction terms are used throughout the program. Foreman, Journeyman, Building Codes, Framing Codes, and Designing Codes, etc. If you are not familiar with these terms, well… you should be! I grew up familiar with construction work, so these terms make sense to me.
Since level two introduced the student to cursive in the last few weeks, level three is done completely in cursive. This is causing my (almost) 10-year-old to feel a little nervous, and in his words, “I feel excited, nervous, and scared to start level three because I am not very good at cursive.” I reassured him that he will be writing in cursive like a natural by the end of the year. (He already has better penmanship than I.)
Level three has the completed Foreman’s Construction Guide (teacher manual), the Journeyman’s Guide (student’s workbook), and a reading/composition guide binder for two books. The books are included in the complete package. Everything that the student is expected to complete throughout the year is already completed in the teacher’s sections to ensure easy reference when needed.

After watching the intro and lesson 1, this is what I have concluded to expect this year:

The first half of the year will be spent mostly in a review of what has been previously learned in spelling and grammar. The literary guide for Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman will be included in the first half of the year, as well.

The second half of the year will be adding new spelling words and grammar (Designing Codes). We will also tackle the literary study of Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin. Latin roots, meanings, and words will be introduced and studied.

It should also be noted that there are some supplies needed to complete level three, including paint, crayons, colored pencils, and cardstock.

Conclusion

I feel similar to my son. I am nervous and excited to start level three of The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading! If I were trying to teach it on my own without Barbara teaching me on the DVDs, I know I would not be able to do it… But with the DVD instructions, I feel confident in accomplishing what’s ahead!

Update 2025

After graduating my oldest child in 2023 and teaching several children to read, I have changed some things to make life easier with multiple children. I benefited tremendously from using The Phonics Road with my older children, but I switched to using Spell to Write and Read for a couple of years (very similar to TPR, but easier to use with multiple children).

Then I switched to using MasterBooks language arts curriculum with my younger children from K4 onward, and we are still using MasterBooks for language arts in grades six and seven! However, I do not believe that I (personally) would have taught my younger children well using MB if I had not already used The Phonics Road with my older children. I learned so much from Mrs. Beers and am forever thankful to her!

Comments

Mindy says

April 17, 2015 at 9:35 PM

Sounds too good to be true. We are struggling with spelling around here and I'm not sure why. Would you recommend this for older kids who need to learn spelling better? I've looked into it enough to see that they do have a recommended way to use it for older kids on their site.

Clarissa says

April 17, 2015 at 9:40 PM

Email her through the website and ask her what she thinks. Tell her your kids' ages and needs. I'm really thankful I found it when Josiah was still young and we could start at level 1. If you wanted to get it for your younger kids, I'd suggest buying level 1 and then having the older kids sit in on the video lessons when you watch them, that's obviously how I learned through the program (by watching the DVDs).