This no-frills program is contained in two books:
The book on the left contains the actual readers, each of which is printed on a single page which you fold into a little 4-page reader. In addition, this book contains flash cards which you must cut out to use. There are also bitty word cards you can use to play a noun/verb game (see below).
The book on the right has brief teacher notes for each of the readers. Each reader's note explains the "rule", gives a few vocabulary words to go over, and often a faith-based discussion question.
For example, for Level 3, Book 7, the story titled "Running the Race" and is about a Grandpa explaining how he "races". The children wonder how, since Grandpa has a hard time with his old feet, but they eventually learn that it is Grandpa's soul that is racing. It is running away from sin and toward Heaven. In the teacher notes, the suggested discussion topic is "are we once saved always saved" with Bible and Catechism of the Catholic Church references given.
(Here is an example page below):
The readers are divided into 4 levels, each level being a different color. Altogether there are 45 little readers.
The front page usually introduces a particular "rule" and gives a few practice words.
The two interior pages are usually the "story". On the interior pages the earlier levels usually have cute hand-drawn black-white images. As the levels progress, the font becomes smaller and the number of interior illustrations shrinks. The back page is usually a practice page (earlier levels) or a continuation of the story (upper levels)
I really like the stories themselves. They are not preachy at all, but they manage to convey virtuous living, happy family relationships, and components of the faith in a very natural way. Stories feature both Mom and Dad, several siblings, love between family members and for neighbors, Church and prayer as an integral part of their lives, and good character. There is also one little story when a visiting boy gets to learn about how his friend is homeschooled and wistfully wishes he could be homeschooled too. (Living in an area where homeschooling not common at all, I was thankful for this story.)
The sheets of paper which are folded into the readers would be very easy to photocopy. However, the program's copyright does not allow for this, even for use within the same family. Although the program's price is very reasonable, I like to re-use what I have in order to save $$. We take good care of our little booklets and store them in a plastic zippy bag. For each session Allie reads two "old" readers and then her newest one. They are getting worn and I'm not confident that they'll last through three more children, but we'll see... If they don't then the re-purchase will be worth it. They really are great little books.
