Comprehensive Curriculum. Research-Based. Teacher-Trusted.
Essential Skills offers one of the most extensive collections of K–6 online learning programs available — over 70 comprehensive titles covering reading, math, science, geography, and English language learning. Our curriculum is carefully sequenced and research-based, providing explicit instruction and thousands of interactive auditory, visual, and kinesthetic activities to ensure complete skill mastery for every student.
“These programs teach the skills that young children need in a sequential, systematic manner. These are high quality, research and evidence based programs.”
— Sandra Crandall, Reading Specialist, Moiola Elementary
Developed by experienced classroom teachers and trusted by thousands of schools for over 25 years, our programs deliver real depth and real results — not just digital practice. Every lesson is designed to build confidence, close learning gaps, and support diverse learners, including ELL and special education students.
🔎For an overview of what’s included in every Essential Skills subscription, start with Essential Skills Complete. This highlights the major bundles but not individual programs like Phonemic Awareness, Reading Comprehension, Mastering Numeration. Remember, our new all-inclusive subscriptions include everything listed on our website.
Basic Skills Series
This program teaches over 500 grade appropriate vocabulary words using hundreds of activities, including 60 activities to teach 35 sets of homophones.
Designed for: Grade 6
This comprehensive program teaches students in grades 3 through 5 the basic rules of everyday grammar and punctuation. The program is organized into 9 main units: Sentences, Nouns, Plurals, Adjectives, Pronouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Capitalization and Punctuation.
Designed for: Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5
This program uses a structured approach to teach key concepts of the writing curriculum for grades 3 to 5. Among other skills, students learn how to create clear, concise, interesting sentences and how to write a paragraph with a clear…Read More
Designed for: Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5
Teaches students in grades 3 through 5 the components of a well-written, creative story. It also shows students how to evaluate writing at four levels of complexity.
Designed for: Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5
This program uses sound blending and rhyming to teach 200 grade 1 spelling words.
Designed for: Grade 1
This program uses a phonics approach to teach over 400 grade 2 spelling words. The word lists are grouped by short and long vowel patterns, consonant blend and diagraph patterns.
Designed for: Grade 2
This program uses phonics to increase accuracy in spelling of more than 370 grade 3 spelling words. The words are grouped into lists using 37 common spelling patterns such as long vowels, consonants and "r" with vowel patterns.
Designed for: Grade 3
Introducing Spell Master Ultimate, the cutting-edge spelling app designed for teachers and students! Choose from hundreds of premade spelling lists or easily add your own in just a few simple clicks. With text-to-speech audio for each word and 12 engaging…Read More
Designed for: Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6
Introducing Spell Master Ultimate, the cutting-edge spelling app designed for teachers and students! Choose from hundreds of premade spelling lists or easily add your own in just a few simple clicks. With text-to-speech audio for each word and 12 engaging…Read More
Designed for: Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3
Teaches the spelling and pronunciation of more than 500 grade 4 spelling words. Spelling is taught using long vowel patterns, digraph and diphthong patterns consonant combinations, "r" with vowel patterns and spelling stumpers.
Designed for: Grade 4
Teaches over 500 essential grade 5 spelling words. 38 lists teach important spelling patterns for grade 5 such as igh, ion, eigh and ough patterns. Also taught are 35 pairs of homonyms.
Designed for: Grade 5
Teaches more than 500 grade 6 spelling words as well as grade-appropriate spelling rules. There is also a section to teach 21 sets of homonyms for grade 6.
Designed for: Grade 6
More than 500 engaging activities teach the 400 most frequently misspelled words from grades 1 to 5.
Designed for: Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5
Teaches the 450 most frequently misspelled words from grades 5 to 9. The program teaches grade-appropriate spelling rules with follow-up activities.
Designed for: Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 6 Plus
First Words for ELL builds a strong foundation in English vocabulary by teaching the meaning, spoken forms, and written forms of essential words, while connecting these forms for deeper understanding. Developed by teachers and reading specialists, the program features optional…Read More
Designed for: Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 6 Plus