Reader Packages for Cores P4/5 through 2

From the ages of about 3 to 8, children vary dramatically in their reading abilities, one child to the other and, sometimes, the same child from one month to the next. To give you the best opportunity to select the right Sonlight Reader packages for your younger students, Sonlight has varying designations for our early elementary Reader packages...and for the Language Arts programs to go along with them.

As you consider what packages to buy for your early elementary children (3- through 7- or 8-years olds), we urge you to consider their reading abilities, pick up the appropriate Readers and matching Language Arts programs for each student, and combine them with whatever appropriate Core P4/5 through Core C package you prefer.

A couple of examples:

• Suppose you are teaching two children ages 5 and 8 and have decided to use Core B.Your first step is to determine your students' reading abilities. Let's say your 5-year-old has a "K" reading ability (i.e., s/he is just ready to begin to learn the letters and their sounds). Your 8-year-old, meanwhile, is set for a "2 Intermediate" reading package. You can readily select Core B with Grade 3 Readers and add the Grade K Readers and Language Arts package for your 5-year-old.

Or,

• You have just pulled your son out of second grade because he is struggling to read. You decide you like our Core B+C program with Grade 1 Readers and Language Arts. We believe that children, as they learn to read, need to read every day. Therefore, note that all early elementary Reader packages include 5-day schedules only.

Grade K Readers Package

Designed for children who are ready to learn the alphabet. Introduces them to each letter and the primary sound(s) it makes. Reinforces learning through carefully structured stories built around the specifi c letter sounds your children have learned. First stories use common letters that children fi nd easy to recognize (p, t, m, and so forth). Later stories include less common letters and those whose sounds are harder to distinguish (y, e, z, x, q).

Features the Sonlight-exclusive Fun Tales.

• 27 enjoyable booklets offer stories built on short, readable, phonetically-correct sentences.
• Every page includes a zany illustration that children will enjoy.
• Stories use only letters learned.

Grade 1 Readers Package

Designed for students who know the alphabet and are ready to learn how to read three-letter words. By the end of this program your children will be ready to read chapter books. Includes selections like...

• The wonderful rhyming book, A Big Ball of String, which shows how a boy sick in bed can still find ways to do fun things — "with something as simple as string!
• Dr. Seuss' unforgettable, witty books like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham.
• The engaging I Can Read It! series, a Sonlight-exclusive, four-volume collection that includes controlled-vocabulary stories with real plot, action, and humor to engage your children's attention and interest. Illustrated and easy to use.
• Put Me in the Zoo, about an animal full of amazing tricks who wants to be on display.

Grade 2 Readers Package

Ideal for those who have progressed to reading long-vowel, 5- and 6-letter words with moderate fl uency and who require extra white space between sentences and fewer words on a page. Books sport short chapters, lots of illustrations, and an easy-to-hold size. Eighteen easy reader books carry your children into engaging worlds of imagination where they will...

• Learn the finer points of amphibian bathing suits and true "snail mail" delivery times...with the humorous books in the Frog and Toad series.
• Be pulled in by famous, historical Bible stories lovingly edited and simplified into highly readable adventures in The Beginner's Bible.
• Enjoy the silly antics of hyper-literal Amelia Bedelia.
• Discover wondrous microscopic life forms in Greg's Microscope.

Grade 3 Readers Package

Ideal for children who read long-vowel, 5- and 6-letter words fl uently but could still benefi t from more practice with more complex chapter books. Compelling short-chapter stories use controlled vocabulary and illustrations to encourage reading. Books require mid-fi rst through third grade reading levels. A sampling:

• What do you do when you've left your home in Missouri to prospect for gold only to find there is no gold? The family in Secret Valley must face this disappointment and decide where true wealth and happiness may be found.
• Clara, a young farm girl growing up in rural Maryland at the turn of the 20th century, dreams of being able to read and to learn, but her father won't let her. Find out what happens when a traveling "bookmobile" arrives at her farm in Clara and the Bookwagon.
• Prairie School, a historical novel set on the open prairie in the 1800s. Follow the adventures of a nine-year-old boy whose family has just moved from Maine to Colorado.
• When 9-year-old Gregory experiences disasters in his life, he responds by creating a fantastic chalk garden on the charred walls of a burned-out factory behind his house. Along the way, he finds a voice through his art in the wonderful story, The Chalk Box Kid.

Grade 4-5 Readers Package

Excellent for students able to read anything you hand them, but who you'd like to protect from the grittier "realities of life"Â that more advanced books often deal with. We've chosen the titles in this package with special attention to their content. These books cover gentle topics. The 20 books in the Early Elementary Grade 3-5 Reader package will take your children on adventures from the Wild West to Marco Polo's travels. Some of the "stops" along the way include...

• Socks, a hilarious tale told through the eyes of a pet cat who must contend with a new addition to the family he lives with — " a baby boy — "and overcome his feelings about being "second best."
• In Frindle, a boy aggravates his language arts teacher when he invents a silly new word for pen, and soon the whole country is using his term. An unforgettable classroom fantasy.
• Shadrach, a tale about a young boy and his pet rabbit who provides warm friendship and hilarious adventure.
• Lumber Camp Library, a poignant novel about a 10-year-old girl who overcomes her loneliness when a kindly blind woman fuels her love for reading and books.