ABOUT OUR LOWER SCHOOL READING PROGRAM

It is doubtful there is any single skill more valuable than the ability to read. A love of reading that carries past a person's school years into the rest of their life is more than a pleasure – it is a necessity. A love of reading is just about the best guarantee that a person will continue to keep learning well into their adult years. Reading unveils undreamed-of worlds and opportunities. At Connect The Thoughts, we want to do everything we can to encourage your student to want to read.

Most reading (or literature) programs are dry lists of required books. Some person somewhere has decided that students of a certain age should be required to read certain books. How are such decisions made? We have no idea. We only know that such lists don’t work. They are too restrictive as a rule, too small, and they cannot represent a student’s unique, individual interests. Enter out basic reading program. While we do provide an extensive list of possible books to read, we also provide a system that allows the student (and parents) to use any book as a part of the reading program, and to score it correctly. Most states have reading requirements, as much as a book a month. We have developed our program to help your student comply with requirements, while allowing complete flexibility in the selection of books and reading materials. We believe that if your student has a real say in what they read, they will enjoy reading more – and be far more likely to want to read. We believe if this approach is used steadily, it will help a student grow up as an avid reader.

We also provide a few reading lists that revolve around very popular "genres", or kinds of stories. Carefully researched, a student who reads the books recommended in order will read the very best books in that genre, and receive a history lesson in the genre. These include science fiction, and fantasy.

We provide massive literature guides built around the greatest writers. Charles Dickens (a Christmas Carol); Mark Twain (short stories); Edgar Allan Poe (short stories and poetry); Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes short stories); Washington Irving (scary short stories); and H.G. Wells (The Time Machine). These remarkable guides provide the entire text for all the stories – there are no other books to find or buy. They offer a history of the time period each piece was authored in, and help the student to understand history and how it influences the author. Provided is a history of the author, and of the publication of the stories themselves. Every chapter (or section) is broken down to make it easy to study. Difficult words are defined before the student reads, to assist in his enjoyment the first time he reads the piece. Exercises are provided to help the student decide how relevant to his own life the work is. We even offer links to filmed versions (free) on the Internet, in each Literature Guide! And each guide further discusses elements of great writing, allowing the student to learn about (and see how that author uses) plot, characters, dialogue, conflict, surrogates, and other elements of great writing.

Finally, this is where you’ll find the FREE Reading Test for Connect The Thoughts’s Lower School (ages 9-10). The test consists of samples from actual courses for the age group. if you're unsure which level to start your student at, our free reading tests can help!