This Quick Reading Assessment is designed to help you determine your student's approximate reading level.
Use the dots at the top of the screen to see your student's reading level.
- . (dash dot) for Readers K
. (dot) for Readers 1
. . (dot dot) for Readers 2
. . - (dot dot dash) for Readers 2 Intermediate
. . - - (dot dot dash dash) for Readers 2 Advanced
. . . (dot dot dot) for Readers 3, etc.
Reading level alone does not determine the Sonlight level your student should begin with. Here are two other important factors:
Age - Though your young child may read at a much higher level, sometimes the books in that Sonlight level contain material that is too mature for them. Use their reading level as the maximum level they could be in but look at the Sonlight Core or Newcomer information in your Sonlight Catalog or on our website to make sure your student is also in the age range usually used by that program.
Note: Once your student has a reading level above level 7 there is no need to consider their reading level as a factor to choose their Sonlight Curriculum program, they can go strictly by age.
Language Arts Abilities - Sonlight Language Arts programs are tied to the Readers in our Core programs. For example, if you choose Core 3 then the Language Arts 3 program would be your recommended choice because its assignments reference the level 3 Readers. Therefore, please consider whether or not your student has the language arts skills for a particular reading level. You can view the topics addressed at teach Language Arts level by looking at the Topics and Skills list on our Language Arts IG samples, which can be found here. These skills include (but are not limited to): mechanics (capitalization, punctuation), grammar (subject verb agreement, etc.), writing ability and fine motor skills. Fine motor skills especially is a big consideration for very young advanced readers—like the 5 year old who reads at a 3rd grade level.
At the top of each of our product pages there are two indicators to help you determine if that product is appropriate for your student. They look like the examples below. One is for the ages this product is usually used by and the other is the reading levels that the product is usually used by. Just keep in mind the two rules listed above.
EXAMPLE: If a product is displaying the age and reading level indicators shown above then it is usually used by a student between the ages of 7-9 who has a reading level of grade 2, 3 or 4. Even if a six-year-old has a reading level of 3, this product would not be appropriate for them because of their age. Furthermore if an 8-year-old has a reading level of 4 but their language arts skills are actually at a much lower level it would be better to select a lower reading level to begin with.
There are many key product samples located on certain product pages to let you see exactly what is involved.
For more advice you can also visit Sonia, our online internet advisor or you can get in touch with one of our live Sonlight Curriculum Advisors. Get better advice while browsing Sonlight by filling in your student profiles on our site.
Once you've found your student's reading level, go ahead and have them try the next screen to see what words they know beyond the grade level achieved.
You can jump right to a specific reading level word list by clicking on the links with the dashes and dots below.
Kindergarten Word List:
No test needed. For children who are ready to learn the alphabet.
Readers 1 Word List:
pet
the
hut
tan
lid
naps
hop
mix
eggs
duck
Readers 2 Word List:
string
think
chin
sinking
owe
soap
bedtime
heat
flee
whale
Readers 2 Intermediate Word List:
chief
stool
stream
point
annoy
house
word
book
blue
outlaw
Readers 2 Advanced Word List:
cookies
disagree
foolish
garage
dozen
future
kindly
father
raise
rewind
Readers 3 Word List:
city
middle
moment
frightened
exclaimed
several
lonely
drew
since
straight
Readers 4 Word List:
decided
served
amazed
silent
wrecked
improved
certainly
entered
realized
interrupted
Readers 5 Word List:
successful
business
develop
considered
discussed
behaved
splendid
acquainted
escaped
squirming
Readers 6 Word List:
bridge
commercial
abolish
trucker
apparatus
elementary
comment
necessity
gallery
relativity
Readers 7 Word List:
amber
dominion
sundry
capillary
impetuous
blight
wrest
enumerate
daunted
condescent
You can also do this offline using 3x5 cards. Put each word list on a separate card. On the back of the card put:
- . (dash dot) for Readers K
. (dot) for Readers 1
. . (dot dot) for Readers 2
. . - (dot dot dash) for Readers 2 Intermediate
. . - - (dot dot dash dash) for Readers 2 Advanced
. . . (dot dot dot) for Readers 3, etc.
This way, if you drop the cards you can sort them out again, but an older student cannot readily tell what grade level s/he is reading at.