No Weekly Report!

No school this week - too busy getting ready to head to Disney World tomorrow! We're all packed and ready (and I'm really hoping that I'm not forgetting anything)!

All About Spelling

All About Spelling is one of those products I’ve seen mentioned on the homeschooling message board I frequent but I never really paid attention to the comments because I had already purchased a spelling workbook. I figured that if TJ ran into any problems with the program I had picked then I would start looking at other programs. I’m very glad that this opportunity fell into my lap, otherwise I might never have looked at this program.

All About Spelling is a mastery-based program that utilizes Orton-Gillingham principles using multisensory methods to teach children the language of spelling. There is something here for every learning style as each concept is slowly introduced and developed through various activities – separating words into individual sounds, using letter tiles to spell words, spelling rules to memorize, writing words and phrases from dictation. One of the major components is that the child is taught the rules of spelling and is constantly reviewing those rules and applying them to the words he is learning.

Level one ($29.95) is the introductory level. Young children can take their time progressing through each of the 24 steps or older children can move more quickly. After the introductory steps each lesson follows a similar format:

• Daily review of phonogram cards, sound cards, key cards, and word cards
• New material – a new key card, sound or phonogram, etc.
• Spelling with tiles
• Spelling on paper
• More words to practice
• Phrases for dictation
• Periodic review of mastered material

Each step can easily be broken down into daily, manageable portions depending on a child’s age and ability. Concepts taught include: 32 phonograms, segmenting words into individual sounds, short vowel words, forming plural words, compound words, choosing between ‘c’ and ‘k’ at the beginning of a word, and many more concepts. You can see a scope and sequence for this level here (pdf). There are also sample lessons available at the website.

Level two ($39.95) begins with a review of the material covered in level one and quickly moves onto new material, following the same format as the previous book. Level two also includes a few new things:

• Syllable tags - children are taught to label words with the tags
• More dictation – phrases for dictation are still present, but this level also includes sentences for dictation
• Concept review – focusing on a concept or rule that the student has already learned

A few of the concepts included in this level: dividing words into syllables, identifying and labelling various syllables, silent-E words, and spelling rules for vowel combinations. The scope and sequence for level two can be found here and there are also sample lessons at the website.

The Starter kit ($26.95) is a helpful component of the program and includes the letter tiles (a necessary component to the program), magnets for the tiles, and a phonogram cd-rom. This is where the initial time is spent – cutting out letter and phonogram tiles and attaching magnets to the tiles.

What sets this program apart is the built-in review and the way that spelling rules and strategies are taught. Each level’s student material packet includes cards (phonograms, sounds, keys, and words) that are constantly reviewed. They are filed separately behind dividers – cards that haven’t been introduced, cards to review and cards that are mastered. This is my favourite part of the program – there is no remembering to review this or that spelling rule – it’s automatically included at the beginning of each step.

We are really enjoying this program. TJ loves the hands-on nature of the letter tiles and the activities and she really loves reciting her phonograms – especially the vowel sounds. The one aspect that I appreciate the most is that the spelling rules are taught and reinforced with each lesson. It makes my job as the teacher very easy!

All About Spelling is easy to use and the results are easy to see. Each level comes with a teacher’s manual (scripted lessons) and a student material packet (flashcards, dividers, a progress chart, and a certificate of completion along with any other incidental items needed for each specific level). Check out the Crew blog if you’re interested in reading what other homeschool families thought of this program.

Disclaimer: I was given this product free of charge to review as a member of the Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation for my review. All views expressed are my opinions only.

Booking Through Thursday

What books and authors are you particularly thankful for this year?

C. S. Lewis - I read the Chronicles of Narnia as a child but had never read anything else by him until this past year. So far I've finished reading Mere Christianity and Surprised by Joy and I've discovered how much I really enjoy his writing style. He has a way of saying profound things in simple ways. I'm looking forward to reading more of his works.

Weekly Report

Ugh! It was another one of those weeks! Why do I find it so difficult to get back into the swing of things after a week off? We didn't get very much accomplished this week - a few math lessons, a few reading lessons, some spelling and writing. Definitely not as much as I had planned.

There won't be much done this week either - we leave for Disney on Saturday! TJ is much too excited to sit still and work and I'm busy packing and cleaning and getting last minute things finished up. I guess it will be an early start for Christmas vacation! (But I'll probably still try to squeeze in a bit of work over vacation so we can catch up on a few things)

First Grade Curriculum

I’m getting my lists finalized and will be purchasing the last of our materials soon. Here’s what we’ll be using:

Bible - We'll continue using Grapevine Bible Studies and The Children's Bible in 365 Stories.

Language Arts – TJ will finish working through The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading by the end of February so we’ll be starting a few new subjects. I’ll be adding in First Language Lessons after Christmas break and after she’s had time to adjust to that I’ll add Writing with Ease. She’s already doing copywork (mostly sentences from our Beatrix Potter books – I just love the writing style) so I don’t think she’ll have any problems. I’m still undecided about which route we’ll take with spelling. We’ve been using Spelling Workout, which TJ enjoys, but I’m reviewing All About Spelling for the Homeschool Crew and we really like that one too! So, I’m still trying to figure out which one to do.

Math – TJ has been working through Horizons K after we finished up with RightStart A. We will start RightStart B after Christmas break and fill in with Horizons whenever TJ needs time and maturity for any difficult concepts we encounter to sink in.

French – We’ve almost finished our first run-through of The Easy French Jr. and after Christmas we’ll start going back through the book at a slower pace and doing more of the activities.

History – We’ve really been taking our time with our geography study but I’ve got Story of the World book 1 waiting in the wings when we finally finish up.

Science – TJ loves using the Sonlight science kits and watching the DVD. After she finishes up the ‘Science with Air’ section we’re going to do a human body study, then study plants in the spring, and start another level of Sonlight science experiments after that. Or we might continue doing one experiment a week from the Sonlight kit as well as our human body/plants studies.

Fine Arts – We’ve been using our tea time to do art study using Lucy Micklethwait’s books, read poetry or listen to music. We’ll continue that as well as the next book in the God Made Music series (sometime in the spring). After we’ve had a few weeks of full subjects and if TJ has an interest I’ll add in How to Teach Art to Children.

That’s our line-up for the end of kindergarten/beginning of first grade.

AVKO Educational Research Foundation

AVKO is a non-profit educational research foundation offering materials for spelling and reading. Their focus is on helping children with learning challenges such as dyslexia. They offer numerous publications including a spelling program (Sequential Spelling) and To Teach a Dyslexic, an autobiographical book by author Don McCabe.

One feature of the website is a membership area with the following benefits:

• Various discounts for printed materials
• Several e-books
  • The Reading Teacher’s List of over 5,500 Basic Spelling Words
  • The Patterns of English Spelling
  • To Teach a Dyslexic
  • The Teaching of Reading and Spelling
• Mp3 recordings of Don McCabe’s AVKO workshops, including the following:
  • I Think my Child might be Dyslexic
  • The Mechanics of English Spelling
  • Create your own Spelling Program that really works
• Supplemental materials for Sequential Spelling
• Readings for comprehension – includes puns and short stories

I enjoyed reading some of the materials provided but didn’t find much that was of use in our homeschool. If you use Sequential Spelling or have a child with dyslexia or difficulty with spelling then a membership would be beneficial. Or if you haven’t found a spelling program that fits your family, you can use some of the provided materials to create your own program using The Patterns of English Spelling. They’ve even teamed up with SpellingCity.com to make your work a little easier. 

I must point out one caution – under the Readings for Comprehension section there are some puns that may be offensive. If you do use those materials, please be sure to pre-read them before handing them to your child.

A year-long membership to AVKO is $25 and I think it would be a great help to families who are dealing with dyslexia or other reading or spelling difficulties. If you are interested in what other homeschooling families thought check out the Homeschool Crew blog.

Disclaimer: I was given this product free of charge to review as a member of the Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation for my review. All views expressed are my opinions only.

Not a Weekly Report

We've been dealing with the flu for the last two weeks so there hasn't been much school done. TJ is on the mend so we'll probably be back to work next week. Not sure what I'll be doing about the missed work - possibly do some extra work over our Christmas break. We've got a full month off so I think I can fit a bit of work in there to make up for lost time.

American Heritage Education Foundation

The American Heritage Education Foundation is a non-profit organization “dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America's factual and philosophical heritage to promote constructive citizenship and Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility among our students and citizens.”  To further this goal, they provide free educational material focusing on America’s historical legacy. The lesson plans they offer are divided by age levels – elementary, middle school, and high school.

Since my daughter is 5 years old I focused on the elementary lesson plans. The first unit, American Heritage Themes, discusses the ideas of freedom, progress, responsibility, and unity. Each of the following units spotlights one or two of those themes. The units include: 

• Colonial America
• The Declaration of Independence
• A Famous Signature
• George Washington
• The U. S. Presidents
• The Great Seal
• The History of Thanksgiving Day
• The United States Flag
• The Star-Spangled Banner
• The National Motto
• Statue of Liberty
• The Pledge of Allegiance and Creed
• America the Beautiful
• What is an American?

Each unit begins with an overview page highlighting the lesson’s purpose, objective, and theme, as well as listing materials needed and preparation required. The pages following the overview include a list of classroom activities ranging from making a Statue of Liberty puppet to playing a game about independence. Some lessons also include worksheets or puzzles for the children to complete, though I find the quality of many of the worksheets lacking.

The lesson plans are geared to a classroom setting so homeschooler’s will have to sift through the 184 pages of teacher’s materials to find things suitable for use on a smaller scale. I found some interesting activities but since I only have one child many of them wouldn’t work well in our situation. I do think it could make an interesting unit study if you added interesting books to each unit and it’s something I’m considering when TJ is a bit older.

This material is provided for free (CD or PDF download) from the American Heritage Education Foundation. If you’re interested in reading how other homeschool families used this product you can check out the homeschool crew blog.

Disclaimer: I was given this product free of charge to review as a member of the Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation for my review. All views expressed are my opinions only.