Transforming lives by improving educational foundations through the Word of God
Our story
40L began in 1993, when a few military members started tutoring math, mostly for college and high school students. In 1994, after a move, we joined a literacy group that taught with whole-word methods. After a month with little progress, we switched to phonics, and our students started making great strides.
We wrote our own phonics lessons for older children and adults, adding multi-syllable words that follow the same patterns as the short words. Older students learn long words quickly, and sounding them out after years of failure is a big encouragement. Greek and Latin roots came next. The lessons were put on video so parents could keep going after we moved.
In 2010 we added Webster’s Speller and created Syllables Spell Success for groups of public school children, taught with the help of volunteers. Volunteers are now working on shorter lessons so new volunteers can get started quickly, plus more Spanish resources and help for students with dyslexia.
Two websites
www.40L.org (this site) is the nonprofit. The Phonics Page is where the lessons, tests, and printables live. The Phonics Page is a ministry of 40L.
Time, not money
40L has no paid staff. Donations used to pay for DVDs and printed books. Now the videos are free online and every book is a free PDF, so we don’t take donations.
Give your time instead, in your own community, where you can see what it does. Ways to help
40L is a Christian nonprofit. We believe the most important foundation is faith. Read the Bible so you can choose for yourself whom to serve.
Forty words for a lifetime of reading
Our name stands for forty words that start with L, each one tied to literacy, learning, or faith. A good reader will read thousands of words like these, and every one of them can be sounded out. These forty are just the beginning.
- Learning
- Lord
- Lifelong
- Literacy
- Logos
- Lively
- Lofty
- Labor
- Love
- Liberate
- Letters
- Listen
- Launch
- Light
- Leverage
- Lion
- Lodestone
- Lamb
- Lyceum
- Loom
- Lighthouse
- Leapfrog
- Lovely
- Latin
- Long-range
- Ladder
- Levity
- Lamp
- Landmark
- Laser
- Lattice
- Lift
- Logical
- Lessons
- Lead
- Lantern
- Link
- Language
- Lasting
- Lore