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Vocabulary

IMPROVE YOUR VOCABULARY WITH LIGHTSAIL

See how LightSail takes a spiral approach to teaching vocabulary that is both immersive and individualized.

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Try Spelling Bee

Spelling Bees in LightSail build phonemic awareness and vocabulary skills while providing a child with words at their precise Lexile® level, which constantly adjusts as they progress.

Parents can create and assign Spelling Bees to their child using LightSail’s premade word lists or by choosing their own words.

Synonym Web

Key: 🟡 Noun

Basic Spelling Rules

  • Short-Vowel Rule: When one-syllable words have a vowel in the middle, the vowel usually has a short sound. Examples: cat, dog, man, hat, mom, dad, got. If the letter after the vowel is f, l, or s, this letter is often doubled. Examples: staff, ball, pass.
  • Two-Vowels Together: When two vowels are next to each other, the first vowel is usually long (the sound is the same as the sound of the letter) and the second vowel is silent. Examples: meat, seat, plain, rain, goat, road, lie, pie.
  • Vowel-Consonant-e Pattern: When a short word, or the last syllable of a longer word, ends in this pattern vowel-consonant-e, then the first vowel is usually long and the e is silent. Examples: place, cake, mice, vote, mute.
  • Y as a long I: The letter y makes the long sound of i when it comes at the end of a short word that has no other vowel. Examples: cry, try, my, fly, by, hi.
  • Y as a long E: When y or ey ends a word in an unaccented syllable, the y has the long sound of e. Examples: money, honey, many, key, funny.
  • I before E: Write i before e when the sound is long e except after the letter c. Examples: relieve, relief, reprieve. When there is a c preceding, then it is ei : receipt, receive, ceiling, deceive, conceive.
  • E before I: Write e before i when the sound is long a. Examples: weight, freight, reign. Another way to remember this is: “I before e except after c, or when sounding like a as in neighbor and weigh.” When the ie/ei combination is not pronounced ee, it is usually spelled ei.
  • Oi or Oy: Use oi in the middle of a word and use oy at the end of a word. Examples: boil, soil, toil, boy, toy.
  • Ou or Ow: Use ou in the middle of a word and use ow at the end of words other than those that end in n or d. Examples: mouse, house, found, mount, borrow, row, throw, crow.
  • Double Consonants: When b, d, g, m, n, or p appear after a short vowel in a word with two syllables, double the consonant. Examples: rabbit, manner, dagger, banner, drummer.
  • The ch sound: At the beginning of a word, use ch. At the end of a word, use tch. When the ch sound is followed by ure or ion, use t. Examples: choose, champ, watch, catch, picture, rapture.

All 220 Dolch words by grade in frequency order

Pre-Primer Primer First Grade Second Grade Third Grade
the one he now of take would write if full
to my was no his every very always long done
and me that came had old your made about light
a big she ride him by its gave got pick
I come on into her after around us six hurt
you blue they good some think don't buy never cut
it red but want as let right those seven kind
in where at too then going green use eight fall
said jump with pretty could walk their fast today carry
for away all four when again call pull myself small
up here there saw were may sleep both much own
look help out well them stop five sit keep show
is make be ran ask fly wash which try hot
go yellow have brown an round or read start far
we two am eat over give before why ten draw
little play do who just once been found bring clean
down run did new from open off because drink grow
can find what must any has cold best only together
see three so black how live tell upon better shall
not funny get white know thank work these hold laugh
like soon put first sing warm
this our does wish
will ate goes many
yes say
went under
are please

http://www.dolchword.net/

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Our Approach

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In this digitally connected world, children love the motivation and encouragement they get from letting their friends and family celebrate their accomplishments and cheer on their progress.

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Assignment Module

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Meet the educators who contributed to our vocabulary modules.

Chrsitine Roman-Lantzy (Ph.D)
Chrsitine Roman-Lantzy (Ph.D)
🎓 Behaviors Characteristic of CVI and SPED Teacher

Christine Roman was raised in Michigan and received degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education/Visual Impairment at Michigan State University. She worked as an itinerant teacher of the visually impaired in the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area for 17 years prior to becoming a Research Assistant in the Vision Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. While at Pitt, she completed studies in Orientation & Mobility and received a Master’s Degree in Medically Fragile/High Risk Infants.

Her doctoral studies were also completed at Pitt where she completed a Ph.D. in 1996; her dissertation, Validation of an Interview Instrument to Identify Behaviors Characteristic of Cortical Visual Impairment in Infants revealed that caregivers of infants can reliably report regarding the presence or absence of the characteristics of CVI.

Dr. Roman is the Director of The Pediatric View Program at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA and a former Project Leader of the CVI Project at The American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, KY.

She has lectured extensively regarding the CVI educational materials she has developed. These materials include: The CVI Range an assessment of functional vision, and The CVI Resolution Chart & CVI/O&M Resolution Chart used to plot and monitor progress both of which will be available in a book in press (working title, CVI: Identification, Assessment & Intervention) with The American Foundation for the Blind.

🎓 Behaviors Characteristic of CVI and SPED Teacher

Christine Roman was raised in Michigan and received degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education/Visual Impairment at Michigan State University. She worked as an itinerant teacher of the visually impaired in the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area for 17 years prior to becoming a Research Assistant in the Vision Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. While at Pitt, she completed studies in Orientation & Mobility and received a Master’s Degree in Medically Fragile/High Risk Infants.

Her doctoral studies were also completed at Pitt where she completed a Ph.D. in 1996; her dissertation, Validation of an Interview Instrument to Identify Behaviors Characteristic of Cortical Visual Impairment in Infants revealed that caregivers of infants can reliably report regarding the presence or absence of the characteristics of CVI.

Dr. Roman is the Director of The Pediatric View Program at The Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA and a former Project Leader of the CVI Project at The American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, KY.

She has lectured extensively regarding the CVI educational materials she has developed. These materials include: The CVI Range an assessment of functional vision, and The CVI Resolution Chart & CVI/O&M Resolution Chart used to plot and monitor progress both of which will be available in a book in press (working title, CVI: Identification, Assessment & Intervention) with The American Foundation for the Blind.

Kelli Trenga (Ph.D)
Kelli Trenga (Ph.D)
🎓 Educational Leadership and SPED-Elementary

Kelli Trenga, Ed.D. is the coordinator of PENNCREST Cyber Academy in western Pennsylvania. She previously taught various levels of elementary education for over 15 years, with heavy emphasis on literacy instruction and special education. During that time, Kelli was honored with the Crawford County’s Educator of the Year award. She holds degrees in Elementary and Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction from Mercyhurst University and Gannon University, respectfully.

Her passion for education drove her to pursue her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Liberty University. Her dissertation was a phenomenological study of dental professionals’ preparedness to manage the behaviors of patients with autism spectrum disorder during dental treatment. In addition to professional pursuits, Kelli serves on local boards for the United Way and Child to Family to Connections. She resides in Meadville, Pa. with her husband and two sons.

🎓 Educational Leadership and SPED-Elementary

Kelli Trenga, Ed.D. is the coordinator of PENNCREST Cyber Academy in western Pennsylvania. She previously taught various levels of elementary education for over 15 years, with heavy emphasis on literacy instruction and special education. During that time, Kelli was honored with the Crawford County’s Educator of the Year award. She holds degrees in Elementary and Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction from Mercyhurst University and Gannon University, respectfully.

Her passion for education drove her to pursue her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Liberty University. Her dissertation was a phenomenological study of dental professionals’ preparedness to manage the behaviors of patients with autism spectrum disorder during dental treatment. In addition to professional pursuits, Kelli serves on local boards for the United Way and Child to Family to Connections. She resides in Meadville, Pa. with her husband and two sons.

Amanda Strout
Amanda Strout
🎓 Reading Specialist

Amanda Strout, M.Ed., is a Reading Specialist who has taught children with language-based learning disabilities for over 15 years. She has worked with children at the pre-school, elementary, and middle school levels. She has worked as a reading teacher, a 2nd grade self-contained classroom teacher for kids with LBLD, and a learning specialist focusing on students who need individualized academic remediation.

Amanda is trained in multisensory phonics and math programs and likes finding new ways to teach familiar skills. She loves teaching reading and writing as well as sharing great literature with children. She finds no greater joy than watching a student gain the confidence to accomplish a skill themselves.

In her free time, Amanda loves reading, cycling, and traveling with her family. She is always searching for new great children’s books and can spend hours at the library or looking at book lists.

🎓 Reading Specialist

Amanda Strout, M.Ed., is a Reading Specialist who has taught children with language-based learning disabilities for over 15 years. She has worked with children at the pre-school, elementary, and middle school levels. She has worked as a reading teacher, a 2nd grade self-contained classroom teacher for kids with LBLD, and a learning specialist focusing on students who need individualized academic remediation.

Amanda is trained in multisensory phonics and math programs and likes finding new ways to teach familiar skills. She loves teaching reading and writing as well as sharing great literature with children. She finds no greater joy than watching a student gain the confidence to accomplish a skill themselves.

In her free time, Amanda loves reading, cycling, and traveling with her family. She is always searching for new great children’s books and can spend hours at the library or looking at book lists.

Kelsey Thompson
Kelsey Thompson
🎓 Speech Language Pathologist

Kelsey is an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) certified speech language pathologist who is also licensed by the state of North Carolina. Kelsey earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University in Boston, MA, where she earned awards for academic achievement and research.

Kelsey has worked in pediatric private practice since 2015, serving children birth to 22 in the home, school, daycare, and clinic settings. Kelsey has experience working with a variety of diagnoses including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Dysarthria, Down Syndrome, expressive/receptive language disorder, fluency, articulation/phonological disorder, dyslexia, ADHD, as well as a number of genetic and feeding disorders.

Notably, Kelsey has specific experience treating children with apraxia and working with middle school and high school age students on higher level language processing, executive functioning skills, and reading. In addition to her clinical experience, Kelsey is currently pursuing her PhD in Speech & Hearing Sciences.

🎓 Speech Language Pathologist

Kelsey is an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) certified speech language pathologist who is also licensed by the state of North Carolina. Kelsey earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University in Boston, MA, where she earned awards for academic achievement and research.

Kelsey has worked in pediatric private practice since 2015, serving children birth to 22 in the home, school, daycare, and clinic settings. Kelsey has experience working with a variety of diagnoses including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Dysarthria, Down Syndrome, expressive/receptive language disorder, fluency, articulation/phonological disorder, dyslexia, ADHD, as well as a number of genetic and feeding disorders.

Notably, Kelsey has specific experience treating children with apraxia and working with middle school and high school age students on higher level language processing, executive functioning skills, and reading. In addition to her clinical experience, Kelsey is currently pursuing her PhD in Speech & Hearing Sciences.

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Why Children Love LightSail

Come see what parents of struggling readers have to say about LightSail.

Shawna from Different by Design | Homeschooler of an Older Struggling Reader

LightSail is an excellent option for struggling readers. Every step of the way is designed in an accessible, multisensory format. And, best of all, it accommodates both reading level and maturity in it’s application.

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Virginia from That Bald Chick | Homeschooler of a Child with Dyslexia and Vision Issues

LightSail also has tools for struggling learners. The line isolator tool is a game changer and I literally had tears when I found it. In addition to dyslexia, my daughter has a history of saccadic eye movement which makes reading even more difficult.

She did vision therapy for years and does eye exercises to control the rapid shifts of gaze, but when she’s tired, isolating lines is very helpful for her. She can change the number of lines that are isolated and she can change the color of the isolated lines and background. She can also have the lines read to hear. Game. Changer.

I am really excited about are the LightSail fluency tools. These tools allow your child to record themselves reading a portion of a book aloud and send it to you for assessment. Students can play their own recording back and re-record it until they are happy with it. It then allows you to listen to the recording with text on screen, so you can assess what they’ve omitted, inserted, mispronounced, substituted, repeated, or self corrected.

This is huge for us, since our 12yo has dyslexia and fluency is a struggle. It’s difficult to assess at times, though, because I either have to be reading over her shoulder (which she hates) or I have to have a second copy of the text (which can run expensive). This will enable us to work on fluency in a non-intimidating way.

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Christine from The Homeschool House | Second-Generation Homeschooler

[T]here are several tools to make reading easier for the child who might struggle with distractions or overwhelm.

I found this particularly helpful for my 6-year old son who is still a budding reader.

You’re able to have them focus on just one word at a time and really reduce outside distractions.

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Jill from Blessed Beyond a Doubt | Mom and Reading Teacher

One of my favorite aspects of LightSail is the TED Videos that you can assign to your students. I love to introduce my units or concepts with a video, so I found this very useful. You can assign a video on a topic to your students, and LightSail will give you suggested books on a topic.

I love the fact that the whole family can read the same book. This will create wonderful and intriguing conversations at the dinner table.

The program contains all of our favorite classics that we read growing up. It includes The Bobbsey Twins, Aesop Fables, Shakespeare, and Beatrice Potter, and so many more.

The price is a steal when you consider all that LightSail has to offer.

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Erin from The Curriculum Choice | A Read-Aloud & Child-Led Homeschooler

An online language arts curriculum is no longer a mythical unicorn in the homeschool world. Now you can combine reading, writing, vocabulary, and fluency for pre-K through high school, all with one unique online program!

LightSail gives you access to some of the best books in the world. You don’t have to worry about multiple trips to the library, library fines, or if the unthinkable happens and the library gets shut down again!

[LightSail] is customizable through LightSail’s Childsafe Content Control Service, making it perfect for all types of homeschoolers, from classical to interest-led and everything in between. You can even turn off certain features if they do not work for your kids.

LightSail is entirely customizable to your child and their needs!

I think LightSail is a fantastic resource for homeschoolers from Pre-K through high school and an excellent option for struggling readers.

It’s perfect for interest-led homeschoolers because there are so many rabbit trails to follow. One book can lead to other similar articles, subjects, and videos. There is a wealth of information at your fingertips. Best of all, I don’t have to worry about my kiddos stumbling onto inappropriate content while diving deep into the subject of their choosing. That’s awesome.

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Clare from Homeschool of 1 | A Homeschool Transplant from the UK

With over ten thousand books they are sure to find something they enjoy.

The writing program complements the reading assignments, and for us more importantly, they are in small chunks. So no struggling to write for hours at a time.

The first thing that caught my attention was how bright and colorful this program is.

What is great with Lightsail is that the child can record themselves reading aloud, and send the recording to us, the parents!

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Ticia from Adventures in a Messy Life | Homeschooler of 3 Teenagers

The key to enthusiastic readers is having a wide variety of books available. However, building that personal library can get expensive. Even if you’re using the library, there are still late fees (come on admit you frequently have overdue books). Well, Lightsail for Homeschoolers has solved the problem of building your library with an online reading program you’ll love.

This site is a bonanza of books for any homeschoolers using Living Books, or Classical Education.

I like their search and the ability to not just search by grade level, but also topics of all sorts from history, author, current events (like political topics), themes, and more.

[T]he big thing that will appeal to homeschool moms of all stripes is the ability to pre-approve different types of books depending on different categories.

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Elizabeth from That Homeschool Family | Mom of Reluctant Readers

"I am a busy lady. Throughout any given day, I’m homeschooling the kids, working on the blog, creating new educational resources, cooking, cleaning, running errands. Like so many other parents, I’m running around and taking care of approximately a billion things before my head hits the pillow each night.

Using the LightSail for Homeschoolers program for my own kids takes a load off my shoulders."

The LightSail for Homeschoolers Library is enormous. Not only does the library include texts on a variety of subjects and content areas, but videos, audiobooks, images, and even TED talks are all available at my disposal. It’s no longer necessary for me to scour the internet for appropriate videos or drive over to the library to borrow books (that, inevitably, will result in late fees because…life) to supplement our homeschool lessons. Now, I just need to log-in to my LightSail for Homeschoolers account, search by keyword or subject, and then assign my findings to my kids. As my kids would say, “easy peasy, lemon squeezy!”

LightSail parents have real-time access to meaningful data about their children’s reading and writing trends, comprehension, and growth that allows them to guide, create, and enhance the learning experience.

LightSail for Homeschoolers IS a language arts platform, but I absolutely love that I can take advantage of its offerings to supplement and teach my kids in all of their homeschool subjects.

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Heather from Living the Full Life | A SAHHM (stay-at-home/homeschooling mom) of 4

Do you remember 2020? . . . Oh, how I wish I knew of LightSail – a homeschool online reading program during those months of not having access to books.

Another great function tool of LightSail is selecting if you want faith-based material offered, and if you do, you are then able to include what faiths.

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Destiny from Some Call It Destiny | Homeschooling Since 2014

My kids go through books so fast! Having tons of books available for them to read without having tons of library books getting lost at my house is a big win. When they finish a book, there is always another one available.

I’m probably a little more excited about LightSail’s ChildSafe Content Controls than a normal person should be, but well, this is one company that got it right.

What I like about their ChildSafe Content Control is the different levels of management. I can choose to completely block entire categories if I know my child is not yet ready for them or if they are simply controversial topics. But, I can also choose to have my child ask permission and this would allow me to make decisions on a case-by-case basis.

One of the biggest benefits of an online language arts program that includes all the books online, is you can easily take it with you. Beautiful day out? Head outside. Traveling? No problem. Being online makes it easy to adapt to where you are.

These features along with LightSail’s four pillars of literacy (reading, writing, vocabulary, and fluency) make LighSail for Homeschoolers the best online language arts platform I have found. Because LighSail uses active home educators in developing their content, they know what we as homeschoolers are looking for.

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Sarah from Homeschooling 4 Him | Homeschool Mom with 10+ Years Teaching Experience

I love that this program is based on science and that it is already proven to be effective with millions of students. As a teacher with a degree in education, I am always looking for ways to incorporate the science of how kids learn best in my homeschool. I was excited to see all the ways that LightSail for Homeschoolers uses the research to help kids learn better with this platform.

LightSail’s platform is an effective reading program that is designed based on the science of reading and writing and is already used by more than 5 million students in public schools. Now a team of home educators has customized LightSail for home use to create an amazing homeschool curriculum!

The library inside LightSail for Homeschoolers is the best thing about this program! The collection includes over 12,000 books and multimedia resources from publishers including World Book and Lerner Publishing. There are also faith-based collections and classic homeschool books.

I like that LightSail leaves it up to individual parents to decide what content they would like their children to be able to access.

The LightSail parent dashboard is a really helpful tool for homeschool parents. The dashboard allows me to see at a glance exactly which books my kids are reading. I can see which assignments they have completed and where they are in the learning process. I can also see their Lexile scores, and how many questions they answered correctly in the books they have read.

It is great to be able to create a customized goal for each child, and then assign a reward from me that will display when they complete their goal. I love that parents can create both the goals and the rewards for their kids themselves. This is such a meaningful way to celebrate their kids’ hard work.

My son has always had a love of reading, but he tends to read quickly and has a hard time remembering what he has read. I noticed that the comprehension checks forced him to slow down and think about what the text was saying. I am already seeing improvements in his reading comprehension, and I know that this literacy program is making him a better reader.

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Cindy from Homeschool Mom Extravaganza | Former Teacher & Homeschooling Mom of 2

"When reading in LightSail, the minutes read are automatically tracked and recorded. This is super helpful for me because record keeping is not my strength.

MOM-WIN At the end of the year, I’ll have a record of all the online books read (including minutes and pages)."

LightSail records the books, minutes and pages read. The gradebook keeps track of assessments. At the end of the year it’ll be there ready and waiting!

RJ (third grade) loved recording her voice and listening to herself reading.

Using ChildSafe Content Controls, I am able to block or require approval for books based on content. For example, I’ve blocked content that includes scary imagery from my third grader. She has too many scary dreams!

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We're here to help!

Find answers to frequently asked questions or contact us for more support.

You can email us at

[email protected]

How many parent accounts are included with a childs license?

Every family account includes 2 parent accounts

I am part of a homeschool group and we share teaching responsibilities. How can I access those accounts?

LightSail has created a Teacher/Coach role that can connect with multiple accounts. This is available as an add-on purchase. This account acts as additional parent with full teacher control to all connected accounts.

Is your platform only Faith-Based?

LightSail is available for both Faith-Based and Non Faith-Based families. A parent can choose to allow Faith-Based content or hide Faith-Based content including Library Collections and Lesson Plans. LightSail has created hundred of Faith-Based and non Faith-Based Library Collections, Bookmarks, Quotations, and Lesson Plans.

If I want to purchase a book with your E-Commerce store, do I have to buy a copy for each license I purchased?

No, when you purchase a book using our E-Commerce store you only need to purchase 1 copy for your entire family. Your purchase includes unlimited checkouts.

How does LightSail’s childsafe protection work?

At LightSail, a parent’s ability to oversee their child’s online experience and align it with their faith and values is of the utmost importance. To this end, LightSail contains an entire suite of parental control features and never-before-seen ChildSafe Content Controls giving parents ultimate peace of mind.

These content controls contain dozens of nuanced subcategories for potentially objectionable material based on both maturity and religious factors. Then, it shows parents if a book contains a reference to any of those subcategories and allows them to block or allow single titles or entire subcategories for each child individually. Our ChildSafe Content Controls offer unprecedented insight into and control over the content your children consume without the need to read every book in advance.

  • Block or allow individual pieces of content.
  • Block or allow entire subcategories of content.
  • Require a child to request parental approval before opening entire subcategories of content.
  • Block, allow, or require requesting parental approval for all Classics library content.
  • Block or require requesting parental approval for all unrated content.

Click here to learn more about all of our parental controls.

Chat with Support or call

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About Us

About Us

We are LightSail for struggling readers - a complete language arts platform built on the shoulders of LightSail Education, advancing the literacy skills of struggling readers through individualized, evidence-based strategies and content.

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Struggling Readers have deserved technology that assists them in accessing and comprehending text while finding the true joy in reading.

Our team of professionals have developed an amazing reading tool to help your child. Join me as I walk you through how LightSail can transform your child’s reading.

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