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AlphaKids Guided Readers and Little Reader Twin Texts Review by Shari Dawson
Sundance Publicationshttp://www.sundancepub.com/
Sundance's Readers are visually enticing to a variety of ages. My two-year-old liked them just as much as my eight-year-old. The readers are beautifully and colorfully illustrated. Many books have nice glossy photographs. Their reading program seems comprehensive and the Teacher Guides for each of the programs are educational, easy to follow, and give a lot of ideas on how to further the reading comprehension along with strengthening phonics, sight words, and vocabulary of the student.
The purpose of the Twin Texts is to teach students to distinguish the difference between a factual text and a fictional text within the same subject.
I really liked the non-fiction science related early readers. At an early age a child can start reading about and understanding simple things about nature - something all children are inquisitive about. The Teacher Guide gives ideas for each book and subject to support further learning for a motivated child.
The AlphaKids program and the Twin Text Program are both good programs. If you like lots of books, you'll like this program.
The AlphaKids Guided Readers Set 1-5 runs $110.00 for 30 books. The Teacher Guide is an additional $25. While kids would enjoy just the books themselves, I don't think the program would be as effective without the Teacher Guide.
The Twin Text Collection is $184.80 for 48 books. The Teacher Guides are an additional $25 each. There are three guides. The nice thing about this collection is that it incorporates other subjects such as science, math, and social studies into reading at an early level - very cross curricular that adds to the value.
I recommend getting a catalog and looking at their other programs. This company's programs are not just reading programs, but complete communication and literacy programs. I was impressed.
Feel free to request their colorful catalog by calling the order line at 1-800-343-8204, or visit their website at www.sundancepub.com.
