Reading level 1: what it looks like and what to practise
A Peabody level 1 story has sentences of up to 8 words and 2 to 10 words a screen, too short for a Flesch–Kincaid score. Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade readers start here. Below: a real sample, the skills practised and free games, all free through the end of 2026.
| Measure | Level 1 |
|---|---|
| Longest sentence | 8 words |
| Average sentence the writer aims at | 3 words |
| Words per screen | 2 to 10 |
| Sentences per screen | 1 to 2 |
| Flesch–Kincaid range | none (sentences are too short for the formula) |
| Most words off the familiar-word list (Dale–Chall) | 6% |
| Children who start here | Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade |
| Free stories at this level | 38 stories |
What a level 1 story reads like
This is the start of Can I Pet It?, one of Peabody's own stories at level 1 (measured reading ease -2.5). The whole story is free to read, with no account.
Can I pet the dog? Yes! Can I pet the cat? Yes! Can I pet the hen? Yes! Can I pet the goat? Yes! Can I pet the pig? Yes!
The story teaches 5 words, each with a kid-sized meaning. A few: pet (touch softly), goat (climbing farm animal), hen (mother chicken) and bee (buzzing bug).
Level 1 is the bottom of the ladder: an absolute beginner, with no word knowledge assumed. Below it the library has a floor of first books (level 0) that no reader is placed on.
What Peabody practises at level 1
At this level the practice brain works on phonics (sounding words out), first sounds and sight words. The skills it holds, in the order it teaches them:
| Skill | What is in it |
|---|---|
| phonics (sounding words out) | 16 steps, from "s a t p i n" to "-ing -ed -er -est", with 590 practice words |
| first sounds | 291 picture words across 25 first sounds |
| sight words | 220 words, the Dolch pre-primer to third-grade lists plus Peabody's heart words |
A word a child gets right is done for good and is not asked again, so practice moves on rather than looping. The sight-word lists are pre-primer (40), primer (52), first grade (41), second grade (46) and third grade (41). The full phonics scope and sequence is a free guide.
Free games that practise these skills
Every game below asks questions from the same practice brain, as three big boxes to tap, with no typing. They start from a child's grade, not their reading level, so a game's questions fit the grade they pick.
| Game | Asks | From | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deep Dig | phonics, first sounds, sight words | K | Read the word on the block to dig deeper. |
| Critter Farm | phonics, first sounds, sight words | Pre-K | Plant, water and harvest by sounds and numbers. |
| Dino Dash | phonics, first sounds, sight words | Pre-K | Hatch dinos, ride them through nine lands, chomp wrong eggs. |
| Astro Rescue | phonics, first sounds, sight words | K | Jump through space and free the lost bots. |
| Temple Escape | phonics, first sounds, sight words | Pre-K | Run eight temples on a companion you hatched, and take the arch with the right answer. |
| Cell Break | phonics, first sounds, sight words | Pre-K | Dig out of jail: find letters, finish words, win your lunch. |
| Last Word | phonics, first sounds, sight words | Pre-K | Give the zombies their words back. Survive the night. |
| Choose Your Own Adventure | phonics, first sounds, sight words | K | Pick a story. Every choice changes how it ends. |
| Onslaught | phonics, first sounds, sight words | K | Build a maze of towers. Hold back the Clankers! |
| Number Trails | phonics, first sounds, sight words | K | Sail a map of numbers. Pick +10, ×2 or −1 to reach the treasure in the fewest moves! |
| Potion Shop | phonics | 2nd | Read the orders and brew the right potion. |
Two word games sit outside the learning list: Word Rescue (catch falling letters to spell words from your story) and Word Blocks (hop on the word you hear).
The arcade also has two action games with cartoon violence, Sniper and Doomcrawl. We leave them off these lists on purpose; every game is on the games page.
Free stories at level 1
The 38 open stories at level 1 include 7 retold classics. Their themes include pattern, being funny, animals, cats, ducks and fairy tale.
All level 1 stories are free to read without an account. Each ends with questions of a few kinds: inference, literal and word-in-context.
Other levels
Level 2 · all levels and grades · the reading levels cheat sheet
Questions parents ask
Which children start at level 1?
Peabody starts a child one level under the grade they say they are in, so the first stories are easy: Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade readers start at level 1. The level moves up when books run easy.
How is level 1 measured?
From the text, never from the child. The limits are a longest sentence of 8 words, 2 to 10 words a screen, no Flesch–Kincaid score and at most 6% of words off the Dale–Chall list.
Is it free?
Yes, free through the end of 2026, with no sign-up. Peabody is a reading app, not an assessment: it cannot hear a child read, so a teacher is the one to ask about fluency.
Checked against how Peabody works on 18 October 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher.