This curriculum guide is aimed at Adult Basic Education (ABE) directors, teachers, paraprofessionals, and volunteers who are working in the local programs. Developed around adult performance level (APL) objectives, it provides teaching/learning activities and resources for helping adult learners develop basic skills and knowledge necessary to everyday life. It aims at learners with reading abilities from grades 0-8. The five knowledge areas covered are consumer economics, occupational knowledge, health, community resources, and law. The skill areas developed are communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing); computation; problem solving; and interpersonal relations. Part 1 contains an explanation of how to use the guide, what the focuses of adult education include, understanding the adult learner, defining the learner's needs, scouting the community for learning materials, adapting the guide to ESL, and taking a closer look at the ABE program. Part 2 focuses on the five knowledge areas through performance objectives, suggested teaching/learning activities, suggested materials and resources, and vocabulary lists. Overall performance objectives, a professional bibliography, publishers' addresses, and a subject index are appended. (CT)