Hi ACARS,
You did not say whether you are going for the PPL or the NPPL, but the exams are the same. You may find the NPPL syllabus a useful checklist of topics to be studied. Go to:-
http://tinyurl.com/y9n4mdk
and click on ‘Simple Single Engine Aeroplane’ to get the document.
I guess most people deal with exams one at a time. I did not attend ground school, but read the textbooks and discussed any problems with my Instructor. It is often easier to follow the points when one is learning to fly at the same time as studying the topics. The PPL Confuser is an invaluable aid, but it seems to be out-of-print at the present time. Try and borrow a copy if you can.
The Trevor Thom series of books is not the only one. I used ‘The Private Pilots Licence Course’ by Jeremy M. Pratt, which some find much more readable. The set consists of:-
PPL 1: Flying Training
PPL 2: Air Law, Operational Procedures and Communications
PPL 3: Navigation and Meteorology.
PPL 4: Principles of Flight, Aircraft General Knowledge, Flight Performance and Planning
PPL 5: Human Factors and Flight Safety
You can find more details at the bottom of the page at:
http://tinyurl.com/y9nhem6
If you click on each of the titles you will see a synopsis of the contents.
You can buy the full set from AFE with a 20% discount, but you may find them at less cost on the Amazon website. It is possible to do without Book 5 if you have the PPL Confuser.
Good luck with the studying.
Lurker06