Tomorrow Trail K→1
A summer trail through reading, writing, math and nature, one short stop at a time.
Free courses kids actually want to open Fox & Fern
Practice that feels like play.
Fox & Fern makes kid-friendly practice that treats children like capable, curious learners: phonics from pre-K, reading, math for kindergarten to Grade 5, Home Helpers and Kitchen for real household jobs, and the Tomorrow Trail summer review. Online, read-aloud where it helps, and free every week. No downloads, nothing to buy.
Reading, writing, math and nature
Tomorrow Trail
A read-aloud trail of short daily stops that keeps kindergarten skills fresh and gets kids ready for first grade.
Phonics and early reading
Sound Trail
Step-by-step phonics with Ferris the Fox: hear the sounds, learn the letters a few at a time, and read real words from the second week.
Sound Trail Pre-K to K
12 weeks of step-by-step phonics: hear the sounds, learn the letters, and read real words.
Sound Trail Grade 1
12 weeks of first grade phonics: digraphs, blends, silent e, vowel teams and more.
Sound Trail Grade 2
12 weeks of second grade phonics: vowel teams, soft c and g, syllables, prefixes and suffixes.
Reading comprehension
Story Trail
Read for meaning with Chris the Coyote and Ferris the Fox: one reading strategy a week, a new short story or guide every day, and questions that send you back to the text.
Story Trail Grades 2-3
12 weeks of reading for meaning: questions, story parts, characters, main ideas, fables and more.
Math
Number Trail
Kindergarten to Grade 5 math with Bennie the Bear: counting and adding with real things first, then place value, times tables, fractions, decimals, measuring and shapes.
Number Trail K
12 weeks of Kindergarten math: counting, comparing, adding, taking away, teen numbers and shapes.
Number Trail Grade 1
12 weeks of Grade 1 math: adding and subtracting within 20, the equal sign, tens and ones, time and shapes.
Number Trail Grade 2
12 weeks of Grade 2 math: facts to 20, story problems, place value to 1000, adding and subtracting, measuring, time and graphs.
Number Trail Grade 3
12 weeks of Grade 3 math: multiplication and division, fractions, area, time, measuring and graphs.
Number Trail Grade 4
12 weeks of Grade 4 math: big numbers, multi-digit multiplying and dividing, fractions, decimals and angles.
Number Trail Grade 5
12 weeks of Grade 5 math: decimals to thousandths, fraction operations, volume and the coordinate grid.
Life skills
Home Helpers
Twelve real jobs at home, from making the bed to laundry and mending, with Ferris the Fox and friends.
Home Helpers K to 2
Twelve real jobs at home, from making the bed to kind words, with Ferris the Fox and friends.
Home Helpers 3 to 5
Laundry, kitchen, plants, plans and mending: twelve real-life skills with Ferris the Fox and friends.
Cooking
Fox & Fern Kitchen
Twelve weeks of real cooking with a grown-up for Grades 3 to 5: food safety, measuring, fractions, allergy swaps and reading a recipe, ending in a Family Feast. A grown-up always handles the stove, oven and knives.
Kitchen 3-5
12 weeks of real cooking with a grown-up: food safety, measuring, fractions and recipe reading.
About Fox & Fern
Fox & Fern is a Lantern Learn imprint that makes free online courses for pre-K to Grade 5: phonics, reading, math, and life skills like Home Helpers and Kitchen. Ferris the Fox and his friends lead the way.
We believe the best practice is short, playful and confidence-building. No overwhelming pages. No drill-and-kill. Every course is built around one clear job to do: bridge the summer, master the alphabet, build phonics confidence. Every week of every course is free.
From the Fox & Fern blog
Phonics at Home: What the Reading Research Says to Do in Kindergarten
Sounds first, then letters, then blending. A plain-language walk through the US Department of Education's K-3 reading guide, with five-minute games you can play at home.
· 2 sources cited
Sight Words at Home: A 10-Minute Routine That Actually Sticks
What sight words are, which ones are worth flashcards, and a short daily routine for kindergarten and first grade built on the US Department of Education's reading guide.
· 3 sources cited
How to Prevent the Summer Slide Without Misery
A short, parent-tested approach to keeping summer learning gentle: 15 minutes a day, a few books your kid likes, and zero crying at the kitchen table.
Pre-K → Kindergarten: The Skills That Actually Matter
Forget the 100-item readiness lists. Here are the five things that will quietly determine whether your kid has a smooth first month of kindergarten.
The Grade 2 → 3 Cheatsheet for Parents
What to actually shore up over the summer between second and third grade, multiplication readiness, fluent reading, and writing in paragraphs.
Summer Reading by Grade: 5 Picks Per Level
A short, parent-tested reading list for each grade band, Pre-K through Grade 6. Books your kid will actually pick up.
15 Minutes a Day: A Summer Routine That Actually Sticks
A practical summer learning routine, sample week, what to do when your kid resists, and why fifteen minutes is the right size.
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