The Curriculum Choice

Betsy

Betsy lives near Puget Sound with her dear husband of 29 years, her teenage daughter, and their two cats. Betsy is a waldorf-inspired homeschooler who loves unit studies and art. In her free time, she enjoys writing, cooking, growing veggies, and doing photography with her daughter. Betsy has been homeschooling for almost 11 years now, and loves to teach writing and help her daughter become all she was meant to be! Betsy offers Homeschool Consulting for families who would like support on their homeschool journey. She is happy to discuss any questions, or homeschool how to's, etc. For more information, please visit her Facebook.

Facebook

Evan-Moor’s Building Spelling Skills – 2nd grade

Age, Elementary, Language Arts, Spelling No Responses »

May 162012

When my daughter was a second grader, she loved to write and create her own sentences and little stories. I was so pleased that she liked to write but not pleased with the number of misspelled words! I didn’t want to correct each word, as that would affect her free thinking writing attempts. So I consulted with the staff at our local teaching supplies store and the homeschoolers in my group. They all agreed that correcting each mistake was unnecessary and that the spelling skills would come over time with practice. When I found Evan Moor’s Building Spelling Skills – Grade 2, I knew I had found what we needed! Easy to use and fun spelling practice for my daughter.

Features of BUILDING SPELLING SKILLS – Grade 2:

A well set out program, which meets state standards. Each lesson includes 10 spelling words and room to add two more.
Spelling words are based on the 200 most commonly used words in the English language and the words frequently misspelled by second graders.
They are printed in large font with black and white illustrations.
Lessons are centered around common phonetic elements – easier to learn!

Each lesson in BUILDING SPELLING SKILLS includes the following activities:

Visual Memory Shape Activity, using the shapes of the letters to make a puzzle.
Spell Vowel Sounds - Practice with the sounds/vowels.
Word Study – Cut and glue activities.

The activities in this book are repeated in a predictable sequence. This helped my daughter to feel mastery and to work independently. All I needed to do was to remind her when it was spelling time, give spelling tests and to reinforce her work! We used stickers and a chart for rewards. My daughter would chose her own stickers at the local store. Friday was sticker day – after the spelling test! She loved Fridays. With time, my daughter became a good speller. She began to integrate her knowledge of English (from her reading), with the spelling skills (from SPELLING SKILLS – grade 2). Gradually there were more correctly spelled words in her writing! And this learning happened naturally. There are many good spelling programs out there but for my family, we liked BUILDING SPELLING SKILLS.

For more information, please go to www.evan-moor.com

Building Spelling Skills curriculum is available for grades 1 to 6.

Here’s to equipping the next generation with the skills to become excellent writers!

~Betsy lives near Puget Sound with her husband of 29 years, and her teen daughter. As a waldorf-inspired homeschooler, she loves using art with academics. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, writing, and being out in nature. She also offers consulting to families who would like some support for their homeschool journey. To reach Betsy just send a message to Jane Sproger on Facebook.

Other related titles:

Beginning Geography, Grades K-2 (Beginning Geography (Evan-Moor))

Set 6: Making Inferences (Hot Dots Reading Comprehension)

Reading Success Mini Books – Word Families

Age, Elementary, Language Arts, Phonics, Preschool, Reading, Vocabulary 1 Response »

Apr 062012

One day, while doing phonics with my first grader, I realized that we needed a break from our regular curriculum – for both of us. My daughter understood the concepts in her phonics book but was just becoming tired of it. I wanted reading to be enjoyable and hands on! I searched our local teacher’s bookstore. I found a book that worked for us: Scholastic’s Reading Success Mini Books – Word Families.

This book turned reading into fun by helping my daughter make her own Word Family Mini Books. Now, I could have developed this activity myself but I liked the way this book made the whole thing easier for me and fun for my daughter! All that is needed to make the Mini Books is a pair of scissors, some crayons and felt pens, if desired. There are 20 Word family Mini Books to make in all.

Benefits:

Builds your child’s reading vocabulary through learning word families.
Includes all the pages that you need to make 20 Interactive Mini-Books to read aloud, color and collect.
Each book features the same sounding word ending, such as ack, ag, am, ape, ing, ink, ug ump, etc, thereby teaching the concepts of word families.
This offers practice in writing and reading word families, with lines to write in.
Includes illustrations of each rhyming word, ideal for students who like to color.
Builds self-confidence through hands-on learning.

My daughter not only enjoyed making her mini books, but also loved sharing them. She prided herself on her writing, and enjoyed reading it out loud all to her family – especially to her dad at dinner! This gave her a feeling of confidence in the sometimes difficult process of learning to read. And being the author of the book herself didn’t hurt! My favorite experience with this book was when my daughter would read her word family mini books to her dolls! (I think they must have learned a lot too!)

When we returned to our regular phonics curriculum, my daughter had not only gained new vocabulary words but also brought with her new confidence to the whole process of reading!

For more information, please go to www.scholastic.com.

If you are looking for a nice, hands on break from the usual, I recommend Word Families – Reading Success Mini-Books for any of your early readers.

Look for more reviews of other Scholastic books for young learners by this author.

~Betsy lives with her husband, daughter and two cats near Puget Sound in the northwest. A waldorf-inspired and unit study-loving homeschooler, she offers Homeschool Consulting to new families at Jane Sproger.

Other related titles:

Microsoft Office Home & Student 2010 - 3PC/1User (Disc Version)

Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)

Pin It

Evan-Moor Science Series – All About Plants

Elementary, Nature Study, Preschool, Science 1 Response »

Mar 192012

When it came time to start our veggie garden, my six-year-old daughter couldn’t wait to help. She was filled with questions about how things grew. I wanted a little book that would explain simple botany concepts, one step at a time. I found All About Plants, from Evan-Moor’s science series. It covers very simple botany principles on a K/1^st grade level through hands on learning. It was lots of fun for my daughter.

All About Plants covers the following concepts:

types of plants
the parts of flowers
parts of a tree
seeds
plants that we eat

Many of the concepts are taught through coloring! When we finished in the garden, my six-year-old ran inside and did a page in All About Plants. She especially liked the cut and paste activities. I loved it when she showed me what she had learned in the garden the next day. Can’t get better hands on learning than that!

Benefits:

This workbook is written to the child.
The language is developmentally appropriate, clear and simply written.
It teaches through coloring, cut and paste, read alouds, and a simple experiment.

One day we planted corn seeds together. We planted the seeds inside to protect them from the cold weather in the early spring. Waiting for the stems to appear was almost impossible for my daughter. But she kept busy studying the parts of the plant in All About Plants! Soon the early leaves appeared in our corn plant.

“That’s just like my book!” she exclaimed.

And as our seedlings grew in our garden, she could identify the parts of each plant. There is nothing like gardening with children! And All About Plants made it even better for my family. It helped my six-year-old to understand the true miracle of the growing and appreciate it all the more.

If you are looking for a fun, simple approach to science for your young child, check out All About Plants. For more info on this series, go to Evan-Moor. This title is also available in ebook format. Watch for more titles in this Science Series by Evan-Moor, for young learners, in future reviews by this author.

Other related titles:

Knowing God

Zero Day

Pin It

Spectrum Writing-8 Review

Middle School, Writing 1 Response »

Feb 152012

Have you ever wondered how to help your young teens progress with their writing skills? And how to evaluate how they were doing?

We did, when my daughter was 13 years old or so. We looked through a number of great homeschool writing curricula and then chose one that writes to the student: SPECTRUM WRITING grade 8. We love their writing exercises and how well they describe the steps of the Writing Process, in clear, simple language. Each chapter includes a section which helped me to evaluate my daughter’s work, right along side her.

SPECTRUM WRITING grade 8 – offers a variety of essays and fiction activities to chose from. I followed my daughter’s interests, and had her pick which she would like to do. She decided to try short stories first and later take on essay writing. By the time she was ready to tackle the essay writing, the story writing practice made her writing confidence strong.

As a published writer myself, secondary to being a homeschooler, I recommend starting with whatever writing is the most comfortable and familiar. For example, a child who loves science might like to try Chapter 6, as it is the most like science experiment write-ups. The young cook might like Informational Essays, as they are step-by-step similar to recipes. It’s all a matter of putting pen to the page!

Pick and choose what works for your young writers. In our homeschool, we started with Chapter 4, then went on to Persuasive Writing much later.

SPECTRUM WRITING grade 8 – Chapters:

Writing Basics
Expressive Writing (includes personal narrative)
Descriptive Writing (includes sensory)
To entertain (story writing)
Persuasive Writing (debate kids would love this chapter)
Explanatory Writing (such as science experiment write-ups)
Informational (includes recipes, how to’s)

After each activity or assignment there is a section called “Revise” which includes questions to help the teacher evaluate the student’s work. Each question guided me as to what to expect from the work.

Benefits of SPECTRUM WRITING grade 8:

Written directly to the student.
Each chapter has sequential writing activities, which are straight forward and easy to follow.
Writing terms, such as “voice” are defined clearly.
Reviews writing basics, and includes fiction writing and a variety of essays .
Includes many clearly written forms which help the student to put her thoughts down on paper.

When my daughter finished, her story writing was ready for essays. Next, we chose persuasive writing. First there was a web form, to help generate ideas. Then to build the essay, another form was used to list each of her points, see photo.

Once the first draft was written, she worked on editing and then publishing her writing in its final form. My daughter enjoyed printing it out from her computer.

We always waited to discuss any grammar, spelling or mechanics issues until after the first draft. That helped the words find their place on the page! My suggestion is whatever helps the creativity and work to flow out. Whatever the student writes, follow his or her interests, and the writing skills will follow, too.

For more information, please visit www.FrankSchaffer.com

Watch for more SPECTRUM WRITING reviews in the future, from K to 12.

~Written by Betsy, a veteran homeschooler who likes unit studies and offers Homeschool Consulting, as a volunteer, to new and experienced families. She can be reached on her Facebook, at Jane Sproger.

Other related titles:

(3 Packs) iPhone 4 Anti-Glare, Anti-Scratch, Anti-Fingerprint - Matte Finishing Screen Protector

Chalkboard Contact Paper, 18" x 6'

Pin It

Draw, Write, Now

Art, Elementary, Handwriting, Language Arts No Responses »

Jan 092012

Draw Write Now handwriting and art program helped my daughter develop her printing skills and have fun while doing it! The series consists of eight books, each with a different theme and all written at the same level. You can start with any of the eight books. I took my daughter to the nearby children’s book store and she chose Book 1 – On the Farm, Kids, Critters. It was full of her favorite animals to draw!

When we opened the book together, we saw that each lesson included a shape or animal to draw and a short story to copy. Each story included facts about the animal or shape, such as “Rabbits eat plants” or “Ducks have webbed feet.” My second grader enjoyed copying down these new facts, and of course, drawing her new animal!

My daughter’s favorites were the sheep and penguin.

Benefits:

This program is built on success! Each animal or shape is explained in step-by-step drawings.
Explanations are very easy to follow.
While drawing, my daughter was developing her fine motor skills! We placed special drawings into frames and, of course, posted on the frig!
Draw,Write Now was a good fit for my daughter because she knew how to form each letter but needed a lot of practice in her printing.
Drawing also helped my daughter practice following a sequence – which improved her reading skills!

Skill building: As we worked through three of these books, my daughter developed better control of her pencil. Then while copying the sentences, she began to think up her own stories! Soon she was writing down these stories and illustrating them. The following year, she wrote a story about a toucan and illustrated it for a story contest.

Draw Write Now is aimed at the first or second grade level.
Although we chose from the animal books, Draw Write Now also offers a number of science and social studies topics.
Each of the eight books has 64 pages and is non-consumable.
Draw, Write, Now also offers lined paper, books to draw in, pencil grips and grasp positioning guides and more on their site.

Below are the eight Draw, Write Now titles:

Book 1 On Farm, Kids, Critters
Book 2 Columbus, Autumn Harvest, Weather
Book 3 North America, Native Americans, Pilgrims
Book 4 Polar Regions, Arctic, Antarctic
Book 5 U.S, From Sea to Sea
Book 6 Animal Habitats, Land, Ponds, Ocean
Book 7 Animals of the World, Part 1, Tropical
Book 8 Animals, part 2, Savannas, Grasslands

In summary, I would recommend Draw, Write, Now to families with young children who know how to form letters – and want to improve printing skills in a fun and creative way!

For more information, please visit the Draw Write Now site. You might also like Shannon’s review of Draw, Write, Now.

Other related titles:

Scribblenauts

Apple iWork '08 - Old Version

Explode the Code

Elementary, Language Arts, Online, Phonics, Preschool 1 Response »

Dec 072011

Explode the Code is a phonics based program I consider invaluable in helping my daughter learn to read!

The series starts with three Primers, all introducing the child to the consonants sounds and written letters. Then the series moves on to the vowels and basic phonics patterns in Book 1 and Book 2. The best thing was that my daughter loved doing it! First thing in the morning, she would ask for her Explode the Code book.

This program did not require any prep on my part. All I needed to do was read any new letter sounds out loud, or read her “listening sentences” for her to write down. And of course, celebrate the learning!

We started with the Primers in kindergarten. Some families choose to do these in the preschool years. The primer workbooks are entitled Get Ready, Get Set, and Go for the Code. These books, full of child drawn illustrations, really caught my daughter’s eyes. Meanwhile, she was learning all the lower case letters and sounds.

The primers prepared her for the first official book in the series, Explode the Code, Book 1. Each lesson followed the same format with the fun child illustrations. My daughter quickly became independent in her work. Through reading, spelling, writing and copying, she prepared herself for early readers. She was so proud of herself.

Explode the Code then goes on to Book 2. (There are also additional workbooks labeled 1/2, such as Book 1 & ½ for extra practice). Following the same consistent pattern, the series progressed to more advanced phonics, such as consonant blends and phonetic patterns, preparing the child for intermediate reading. The consistent format and layout of the lessons helped make the learning easy.

As we continued in the series, with Book 3, Book 4, etc, my daughter strengthened her phonics skills and her reading. These more advanced books included breaking words into syllables, diagraphs, three letter blends, diphthongs, etc. These concepts were all laid out in an easily understandable manner and could still be done independently.

The Explode the Code offers a series through Book 8. We chose to work through Book 5, which, in my opinion, gave my daughter a solid foundation in phonics. She also became a good speller. I would highly recommend Explode the Code for any family looking for a well thought out and FUN phonics program.

Where to find Explode the Code: For more information, please visit Explode the Code online or view the entire line of workbooks here.

~Written by Betsy, an experienced homeschooler who likes waldorf-inspired approaches and uses unit studies in her homeschool.

Other related titles: