Find the right starting point for your student
Answer six quick questions about your student's reading and we will recommend where to begin in the Stevenson program.
Question 1 of 6
How old is your student?
Question 2 of 6
Does your student know the alphabet and basic letter sounds?
Question 3 of 6
Can your student read simple words or short sentences on their own?
Question 4 of 6
Has your student been diagnosed with or shown signs of dyslexia?
Question 5 of 6
Who will be teaching with the program?
Question 6 of 6
What is your biggest goal right now?
Beginning Green Level
Your student needs to build from the ground up. The Beginning Green Level develops letter recognition, phonemic awareness and foundational reading skills.
What is included in the Green Level:
- Letter sounds and phonemic awareness
- Double vowel digraphs and sight words
- Open and vowel-consonant-e syllable patterns
- Students typically reach a 2nd grade reading level
Why start with Green?
Stevenson is a carefully sequenced program, with each level building on the strategies taught before it. The Green Level introduces the memory tools and reading strategies students will continue to use throughout the program.
Even if your student can already read some of the words taught at this level, starting with Green helps ensure that important foundational skills are in place and that your student learns how to use Stevenson strategies to figure out unfamiliar words independently.
Basic Blue Level
Your student knows the basics but needs structured support to build real fluency and confidence.
Where should my student begin?
Although your student's quiz results place them at the Blue Level, we recommend beginning with the Overlapping Strategy.
Stevenson is a carefully sequenced program, and the strategies introduced in Green are used throughout the later levels. Even students who demonstrate Blue-level skills may have gaps in these foundational strategies.
The Overlapping Strategy combines essential Green instruction with the beginning portion of Blue, allowing students to fill any learning gaps while continuing to move forward. It provides an accelerated path without skipping the foundation and is especially effective for older students who already have some established reading skills.
What is included in the Basic Blue Level:
- R-controlled and closed syllable patterns
- Diphthongs, spelling options and prepositions
- Grammar including nouns, verbs and adjectives
- Students typically reach a 4th grade reading level
Intermediate Peach Level
Your student is ready for advanced material. The Intermediate Peach Level tackles complex spelling, grammar and comprehension, building toward a 7th grade reading level.
Where should my student begin?
Although your student's quiz results place them at the Peach Level, we recommend beginning with the Overlapping Strategy.
Stevenson is a carefully sequenced program. The strategies introduced in the earlier levels become tools students rely on as words and reading tasks become more complex. A student may demonstrate strong reading skills and still have gaps in these strategies—or simply have never been taught them.
The Overlapping Strategy combines essential Green instruction with the beginning portion of Blue, allowing students to quickly learn the Stevenson strategies, strengthen any missing foundational skills, and prepare for the more advanced instruction in Peach.
Students with stronger skills can move through this material at a faster pace. The goal is not to hold them back, but to give them the Stevenson tools they need to succeed with increasingly complex reading.
What is included in the Intermediate Peach Level:
- Consonant-le syllable patterns and prefixes and suffixes
- Latin, Greek and Anglo-Saxon word roots
- Students typically reach a 7th grade reading level
Still not sure where to begin?
The quiz is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your student's situation is more complex, we are always happy to talk it through with you.