Raproot follows two things separately: how your child writes, and how your child reads. Here is exactly what you see as a parent, and the full reading tree your child climbs.
Most children are further along in one than the other. That is normal, and it matters that we do not pretend otherwise.
What your child can do when they compose a story, across six craft skills. Spark coaches each one, and a skill only counts as secure once it shows up in three of your child's own stories.
How demanding a text your child can handle: sentence length, vocabulary, and how much they have to work out for themselves rather than being told. This decides which version of a story we give them.
This is the parent view, shown here with an invented child so you can see it before signing up.
Three bands, from getting a whole story down to writing on purpose. Your child moves through them at their own pace, and Spark marks their writing to the standard of the band they are in, never a harder one.
Seven growth bands, from first sounds to reading between the lines. Your child climbs it at their own pace, and every story they read is picked to fit where they are.
Three steps, and we would rather tell you plainly how light-touch it is than dress it up.
Every child begins at the band that usually suits their school year. This is a starting guess, nothing more, and we do not report it to you as a finding.
Three short passages, each with one question, at the end of the welcome activity. About ninety seconds. Your child can skip it, and skipping costs them nothing.
After each story your child says whether it was easy, just right or a bit tricky. The band shifts gently over time, never by more than one step at once.
A reading band can do real damage if a child is made to carry it around. So it stays with you.