And it can be if you’ve got the right attitude and the right products. We recently were given the opportunity to check out the first level of the Start To Read series from School Zone. I brought it into my classroom to use with one of my higher level students and after trying it out I will not hesitate to purchase School Zone products for my own children when the time comes. I didn’t realize it until I looked around my classroom but I already own many School Zone products and I use them every day! They make great flash cards & puzzle cards that I’ve been using since my first year of teaching.

The kit includes 2 books, 2 CD’s containing read-alongs and songs, 2 journals with a pencil, stickers and stencils, 16 laminated comprehension sheets for each book and a dry erase marker & eraser. If all of their kits come with similar items, you’ll never need to buy anything else for your reading “lessons.” (Other than books – kids should have lots and lots of books in every room!)

This kit is labeled “level 1″ but is way beyond kindergarten students at the beginning of the year. I didn’t look into what they mean by “level 1″ but it contains sight words and word families that wouldn’t be decoded by most kids until at least late kindergarten or into the fall/winter of grade one. I’d recommend this kit for the time when your child already knows the initial consonant sounds and short vowel sounds, can recognize some basic sight words (a, the, is, it…) and is ready to move on from there. It’s very thorough and would be a great tool for the summer break between ECS & grade one or as a supplemental tool for home reading practice. One tip, though – make sure you do it with your child and don’t just sit them at the table with a workbook. That’s not how kids learn to love to read.

Be sure to check out the bargain bin for specials too!

You could win the pictured kit! To enter, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com before midnight MST on 10/2/07 with School Zone in the subject line and tell us another School Zone product that you’d try out if you could. Congratulations Jenna!