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Over the years since Delightful Reading first came out, we have seen many faces light up as parents discover Charlotte Mason’s brilliant method of teaching children to read. Her techniques work with both new readers and reluctant readers and have helped many a student enter the wonderful world of reading with confidence!
As many of you know, and as Delightful Reading has outlined, Charlotte’s approach to teaching reading is a three-stage process: (1) learn the letters and their sounds, (2) do word-building with basic phonics, (3) do the actual reading lessons.
The first two stages are described in the original Delightful Reading teacher book prior to the reading lessons, but many parents we talked with have expressed a desire to have those stages expanded. “We would love a ready-to-go kit with lots of ideas,” they say. “One that will walk us through the stage step-by-step.”
Today we are happy to announce that Delightful Reading is becoming three separate and convenient kits, one for each stage.
- Delightful Reading, Level 1: Playing with Letters and Sounds—The first kit gives you more than 100 multi-sensory games and activities to teach your child the first step to reading—learning the letters and their sounds. Charlotte believed that this step should be “no more than play to the child” (Vol. 1, p. 202), so you can be sure that this kit is all about learning through play!
- Delightful Reading, Level 2: Words I Can Build—The second kit continues with Charlotte’s informal play approach and presents more than 90 multi-sensory games and activities to teach basic phonics and guide your child into the delightful world of building and reading words! True to Charlotte’s methods, your student does not need to know how to write to do these activities.
- Delightful Reading, Level 3: From Words to Books—The third kit details Charlotte’s fabulous multi-sensory lessons that will move your child from reading beginning words to reading entire sentences and books with confidence!
(Those of you who already have the original Delightful Reading Kit can rest assured that the reading lessons you have are the same as those presented in the new Delightful Reading, Level 3: From Words to Books Kit. We have simply separated and expanded those first two preparatory stages and given Delightful Reading a fresh, new look.)
With three ready-to-go kits, you can easily jump into the process wherever your child happens to be. If he hasn’t learned the letters and their sounds, grab Delightful Reading, Level 1: Playing with Letters and Sounds and have fun!
If he is ready to take the next step and start putting letters together to form words, keep things relaxed and enjoyable with the activities in Delightful Reading, Level 2: Words I Can Build.
If he can build and read several short-vowel and long-vowel words and knows several blends, Delightful Reading, Level 3: From Words to Books will help him make the transition to reading whole sentences and paragraphs with confidence.
Teach your child to read the delightful way with the new Delightful Reading kits!
A Is for Art: A Fine Art Alphabet Book
One of our favorite parts in the new kits is a beautiful ABC book created to go with Delightful Reading, Level 1: Playing with Letters and Sounds. One copy is included in that kit, but we wanted to make the book also available separately because it is so gorgeous!
A Is for Art: A Fine Art Alphabet Book is unlike any ABC book we have seen. It features thick, glossy paper with large, full-color works by master artists, including
- Winslow Homer
- Diego Valezquez
- Henry Ossawa Tanner
- Raphael
- Frederic Edwin Church
- Claude Monet
- Carl Larsson
- William Merritt Chase
- John Singer Sargent
. . . and more!
The corresponding simple yet elegant text draws the child’s attention to details in the artwork that begin with each letter of the alphabet.
What a beautiful way to introduce letters and sounds . . . and worthy art!
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Is the original kit still available?
The original kit has been discontinued, but the same reading lessons on pages 37–161 of the original teacher book are contained in the new From Words to Books kit.
Is there anything different in the third kit versus the original kit, other than preprinted cards? I want to order the first two and am wondering if there is any advantage to ordering the third as well.
The cards, which replace the word and letter tiles, are the most significant difference between the original Delightful Reading kit and the new From Words to Books kit. If you already have the original kit, you have all of the lessons in the new Level 3 kit.
What?!?! I am so excited by this! I just purchased the other kit though, LOL! I’ll still use it but I am definitely planning to get this for our younger child when the time comes! It looks great!