Printable Guides: Your First Week (ParentTutor Training)

Apricot Tree AcademyParentTutor Training

Module 1 · Sheet 1

Your Week at a Glance

One full lesson, four short practice days. Here is Lesson 1's actual week, straight from the Teacher Guide.

Monday The full lesson: introduce syllables, then reading and writing practice with short a sounds. You lead, the Guide scripts it. 60 min

Tuesday Syllable review activities and reading practice with short a: wordlist, sentences, and a story. Mostly independent. 30 min

Wednesday Quick drills, handwriting letter a, and writing practice with short a. Parent-led writing review. 35 min

Thursday Syllable review worksheet and reading practice: wordlist, sentences, and the week's second story. 30 min

Friday Quick drills, handwriting letter a, and the Memory Matching Game to end the week on a win. 30 min

The one rule Monday stays intact. Move it to another day if you must, but don't split it, and don't skip it. Everything else flexes (see Sheet 5).

The practice basket

Student Workbook · Short Vowel Posters · Sound Cards (letters a–z)
Phonemic Awareness Mat · colored blocks or tiles · Tile Mat with letter tiles
Syllable Song queued up on your phone

One basket, zero setup time. That's the difference between starting at 4:00 and negotiating until 4:20.

Our lesson day is and our practice days are .

Apricot Tree AcademyParentTutor Training

Module 1 · Sheet 2

The Monday Lesson, Piece by Piece

Twelve activities in a fixed order, about 60 minutes. Cover what fits each time window. The order is the method.

Short Vowel Posters

Trace with two learning fingers, say the key word, exaggerate the sound.

2–3 min

Quick Drill Decoding (Sound Cards)

Short, concise sounds: /b/, never “buh.” Set a 3-minute timer.

2–3 min

Phonemic Awareness Drill

Spell words with colored blocks, by ear. Tap each sound, then say it fast.

2–3 min

Introduce the Concept

The week's new skill, scripted word-for-word in the Guide. Never skip.

3–5 min

Lesson Activity

Hands-on practice for the new concept: a word sort, picture sort, or counting game.

3–5 min

Word Reading

Real words then nonsense words. One column is fine. Always include some nonsense words.

3–5 min

Sentence Reading

Eight sentences offered; a few read well beats all eight rushed.

3–5 min

Quick Drill Encoding

You say a sound, your child finds it on the tile mat: ear to hands.

2–3 min

Spelling on the Tile Mat

Build whole words with tiles before pencil ever touches paper.

2–3 min

Writing Words & Sentences

Start small: 3–4 words, 2–3 sentences. This is the longest seat-work block.

8–10 min

Editing with CHOPS

One sentence edited well beats three rushed (script below).

3–5 min

Read a Story & Comprehension

The finale, where the week's skills become actual reading. Never skip.

10–15 min

CHOPS: how good writers check their work Capitalization · Handwriting · Out-loud (read it aloud) · Punctuation · Spelling

Half of these you already know Posters, Sound Cards, blocks, and the tile mat are the Module 2 drills. The genuinely new parts of any Monday are one concept and one sort.

Apricot Tree AcademyParentTutor Training

Module 1 · Sheet 3

Monday, On the Fridge

Lesson 1's actual Monday checklist and materials list. Check the boxes as you go. Every week's Monday looks like this.

Monday ChecklistObjective: syllables + short a

Short Vowel Posters 2–3 min
Sound Cards 2–3 min
Phonemic Awareness Drill 2–3 min
Introduce a Syllable 3–5 min
Count the Syllables Activity 3–5 min
Word Reading 3–5 min
Sentence Reading 3–5 min
Find a Sound on Tile Mat 2–3 min
Tile Mat Spelling 2–3 min
Writing Words and Sentences 8–10 min
Reading Story 10–15 min
Comprehension Questions 3–5 min

Materials Needed

Student Workbook
Short Vowel Posters
Sound Cards, letters a–z
Phonemic Awareness Mat
Colored blocks or tiles
Syllable Song (queued)
Tile Mat with letter tiles a–z

Illustration of a girl writing at a desk

Apricot Tree AcademyParentTutor Training

Module 1 · Sheet 4

The Practice Days

Tuesday through Friday, you run a list. You invent nothing. These are Lesson 1's real checklists; every week repeats this pattern with new pages.

TuesdayIndependent, with assistance as needed

Listen to the Syllable Song (do the hand signals)
Syllable Counting (workbook pg 4) 3–5 min
Read Wordlist (pg 10) 3–5 min
Read Sentences (pgs 11–12) 3–5 min
Read Story + comprehension questions (pgs 13–15) 10–15 min

WednesdayParent-led writing review

Phonemic Awareness Blocks: top, mop, map, sap, cap, cop, cot, cat 2–3 min
Review Short Vowel Posters · Sound Cards 4–6 min
Handwriting letter a (pg 16) 2–3 min
Word Writing (pg 17): jam, ram, fad, pan, cat, sad, van, lap 3–5 min
Sentence Writing (pgs 18–20), then check with CHOPS 10–15 min

ThursdayIndependent, with assistance as needed

Listen to the Syllable Song (hand signals again)
Syllable Counting (pg 21) 3–5 min
Read Wordlist (pg 22) 3–5 min
Read Sentences (pgs 23–24) 3–5 min
Read Story + comprehension (pgs 25–27) 10–15 min

FridayParent-led, end on a win

Phonemic Awareness Blocks: ban, can, cap, lap, lop, lot, lit, bit 2–3 min
Review Short Vowel Posters · Sound Cards 4–6 min
Handwriting letter a (pg 28) 2–3 min
Memory Match Game (pgs 30–36) 10–15 min

Apricot Tree AcademyParentTutor Training

Module 1 · Sheet 5

The Three Flexes

Official ways to bend the week, straight from the Teacher Guide. None of them are cheating.

Move the start day. “Monday” means “lesson day.” If Monday is piano, Wednesday works fine. Pick the day you can protect 60 minutes.
The 3-day week. Lesson day intact + Tuesday-and-Wednesday merged into one ~60-minute day + Thursday-and-Friday merged into another.
One week over two weeks. Halve the word and sentence lists; repeat the stories and sorts. Built for kids who need more reps to build the pathways. It's a feature, not a setback.

Illustration of a family reading together

Inside a session

Flex the amount, never the order. Fewer cards, one word column, three sentences: all correct.
Set a timer per activity. Move when it rings, finished or not. Speed comes from repetition, not from pushing.
Two exceptions run the other way: Introduce the Concept and Read a Story & Comprehension. The Guide says never skip either.

The 30-minute target Practice days are built for about 30 minutes. Running 45+ regularly? You're covering too much per activity. Shrink the lists, not the schedule.

Our week is because .